HomePod, analysis: Apple’s musical DNA and Siri’s future

Music has always been a very important part of Apple’s DNA. From Vangelis’ spectacular «Chariots of Fire» used to present the original Macintosh to Dylan’s influences on Steve Jobs’ ideas: the company has always used this art as an evocative vehicle to conceive and transmit its products, very intimately involved in the company’s philosophy.

Without going back much further, the first product that was not a Mac – anticipated in the invitations of that keynote in this way – was the iPod itself. A bet by the company and Jobs itself for two markets that would eventually lay the foundations of the company and strengthen its future: mobility and music, combined, as the first great device that was not a computer and was focused on another field. For the rest of the life of this product – progressively overshadowed by the arrival of the iPhone since 2007 – the rest of the music world also succumbed to the charms of the iPod: contracts with renowned groups such as U2, the birth of iTunes and shopping services musical online became even more intertwined at Apple.

Today we will talk about the arrival of a new type of device within the family of the brand, which – like music – has very strong roots within the history of the company and in certain respects, can even be considered an heir to those values or iPod in many ways. Some – including myself, regard it as a reinvention of that concept. Welcome home, HomePod.

-The HomePod can be considered heir to the values of the iPod and Apple’s musical history, pure technology «wearable» only this time for home-

HomePod, home analytics

The HomePod is a device for listening to music and being used as a personal assistant. It is something that we will place at home, so it should be something that attracts attention as a decorative element but does not stand out within the decoration: a minimalist element with a certain neutral character that combines with classic and more modern environments, without losing the main utility of the product which is to offer the best sound as a smart speaker (that is, send sound and receive voice commands).

To do this, the HomePod is a cylinder 17.2 cm high and 14.2 cm in diameter coated with a seamless mesh in white or space gray (actually, it is practically black). This mesh has the material strokes of a few millimeters oriented perpendicular to the body of the HomePod, which facilitates the input and output of the sound, but gives the appearance of a protective «mesh dimension». Even the electricity cable (anchored to the body, it is not possible to remove or replace the country plug) has a coverage in this case of mesh with traditional texture that brings continuity to the design.

The appearance is almost decorative, with the total absence of physical buttons or visual power indicators or the like. The only user interface is through voice, and with a visual and tactile response area at the top: the Siri dial, and two zones for raising and lowering the volume. There is no on/off button either, we just plug the device into the electricity and Siri will start working after a discreet white illumination of your sphere. Synchronization with our iCloud account is done in the same way as we pair AirPods with the W1 chip: in the video included in this article you can see the short and fast pairing process for the first time.

Very powerful sound quality and excellent voice detection, its strengths

sound and in incredible voice detection from virtually anywhere in the house. For both situations, Apple has designed a sound system that complements it by again using its hardware and software manufacturer advantage. It uses the A8 chip to manage not only the spatial position of the device depending on your situation, but also the sound signal process boosting the bass: one of the most obvious signals of the work here is that these bass are even heard at low volume, achieving a very contrasting sound and well combined with the high nuances and the environmental interaction that comes to us indirectly.

When you first listen to music on the HomePod, you’ll find this quality sound that surprises even more thinking it comes from a device of such a small size and content. The weight goes up to 2.5 kg, and beyond being a consequence of the construction and instruments used in it, it also brings great stability to the product. We see this when we use the HomePod with music with tremendously powerful bass and even at maximum volume, the device does not move from the table.

If you have a smaller speaker at home, or too light, you will have noticed that many of them can move around giving small jumps with the consequent danger of fall and breakage. On the HomePod, this is not the case: in all my tests it has remained firm and stable regardless of the surface where I have used it, wood, glass or natural quartz (Silestone in kitchens, or similar). In addition, positional detection using sound equalization makes the room literally «flood» with the sound, and reaches other annexes without much trouble. My living room – about 35m2 – was more than covered with a single HomePod running without even having it at maximum volume.

-At first, it is surprising that such a small device can flood a room with such blunt sound-

The sound sure to surprise you, but I found the voice detection almost magical: here you can see it’s Apple’s effort for engineering covered by the HomePod, and this device is able to detect and receive our voice commands almost anywhere the house, if it is relatively square and – in my case – about 90m2 for example. And it doesn’t matter even if we have the music at full volume: the noise reduction system eliminates everything but voice and the A8 analyzes only our commands instantly. No doubt here you can see the years of experience and lessons learned from iOS products.

I have done tests from the other end of the house (again, you can see it in the video), from one end of the room with the music at full volume and even, leaving the HomePod in the bathroom and talking from inside the shower, with the screen closed and the water open. In either case my voice is recognized, and what I ask. That is, it is not that the order is received but it is received incorrectly: it is received even under these conditions and interpreted correctly. I have even had the iPhone XS Max nearby and when I say «Hey Siri» the HomePod is activated, at the other end of the house. Very surprised at how well this works, which on the other hand is a very important aspect within a smart speaker that functions as an assistant.

-In my tests, the HomePod correctly recognized and interpreted my voice almost from anywhere in the house-

Two HomePods complemented by AirPlay 2

One of the most anticipated features of the HomePod is the ability to combine two to enjoy an even more powerful and immersive stereo sound. The configuration of this function is completely null for the user: you don’t have to do anything else, you set up the second HomePod with the same iCloud account. Each device will then detect the position of the other and intelligently spread out the intensity and nuances of the sound.

At home I’ve tried it watching a movie using Apple TV – I chose Mad Max: Fury Road, for blunt sound – and it was quite an experience. The incredible power of each HomePod adds to each other to surround us almost literally with ambient sound with clear and very defined voices. The system automatically detects that there are two HomePods working together and we will only have to turn the volume up and down: they will already do whatever they have to do to ensure the sound quality. In the Interface of the Apple TV, we will see them joined by arrows, when both are selected:

We can disable this function, of course, simply by indicating which of the HomePods we want to use as sound output. If we only mark one, it’ll be the main one. If we mark the two, they will function as a single combined sound system. This is also part of the AirPlay 2 protocol, which allows you to distribute the sound among all the devices supported by it. For example, we can distribute sound from an iPhone to a HomePod in a given room – or again use both for a more powerful and immersive sound by selecting both. You don’t even need to use your phone: we can ask Siri to bring the sound to the device we want… and much more.

The HomePod as a personal assistant

If as we talked before, HomePod is good at recognizing voice commands, it’s your thing to take advantage of it as a smart assistant. The first of the uses where I tried it was with the phone call: the device is very useful in this case when for example it takes advantage of this detection technology to receive our conversation and the power of the speakers to direct it to us. We can use it in the kitchen while we cook to have a conversation or in a medium-sized room, without any problem and understanding the other interlocutor perfectly (and being understood as well) without problems. We can hang up and unhook directly by asking Siri, to which we can even ask for information about missed calls.

As a personal assistant, Siri also improves. Firstly because the latest software update that improved previously released devices in other countries – and already includes the Spanish and Mexican version – allows for example searches for song lyrics or use the Find My iPhone to ask you to find us a device. This adds to traditional capabilities to send or read new messages, ask for weather information, set timers while cooking… Everything we usually ask Siri for is available on the HomePod and works perfect with excellent sound detection.

-Shortcuts for iOS 12 or SiriKit open up new possibilities for Siri that will perfectly complement the HomePod-

In certain cases, there is a lack of greater interaction of Siri with the context of the conversation or spinning finer with what we ask of him – however, the use of Shortcuts in iOS 12 can improve and much the way we work with Siri. Beyond the use of SiriKit to integrate it into their applications as a perfect integration measure for the HomePod, creating our own shortcuts or routines using this new operating system app is itself a breakthrough.

For example, we can create a shortcut that when we say «Good morning», activate certain house lights, put our favorite song to recharge the morning of energy and adjust the smart thermostat to a temperature. Or prepare the house for a movie session using our own voice command «Hey Siri, today TV, sofa and blanket». This level of customization is important because we do not leave everything in the hands of the ecosystem, we can also contribute and make «more our» these devices.

Pure musical DNA updated

Without a doubt, the HomePod is one of the most interesting smart speakers of the moment, at a good price (349) with extraordinary sound quality and interesting personal assistant functions supported by the exceptional voice detection of the Device. It’s a product designed to squeeze the Apple ecosystem (Bluetooth 5.0 only works for the first setup, not to connect to another device) and leverages the Apple Music subscription for all music management via Siri (we can listen to any sound source, but Siri will only search Apple Music).

As points of improvement, it could have been added a model with battery to be able to move it more freely around the house: although this is not something frequent, it would have been more comfortable and even aesthetically rounded the concept of «360 design». As a note, it could be charged using a wireless charging dock when we leave it where we usually put it.

The HomePod is undoubtedly what the iPod went to music at the time: wearable technology but in this case not for us, but for our house with an exceptional sound in a size and a minimalist, elegant and functional design. As an extra, it accompanies the whole an outstanding integration and detection of voice commands that gives more value to an increasingly interesting Siri, especially since the arrival of Shortcuts with iOS 12. Without a doubt, it is pure musical DNA of the company turned device: a must for music lovers and also for those who want to make the most of the Apple ecosystem at home.