The Apple HomePod is getting a lot smarter today, here is how to update!

When the HomePod came out earlier this year, already delayed, people were underwhelmed on the features or lack thereof, you couldn’t make phone calls, there wasn’t multi room support, you couldn’t even get two to set up a stereo setup.

Naturally with any new product from Apple it will get smarter over time as they add new features; and we saw this in May where we received AirPlay 2, a feature that allows us to set up two HomePods as a stereo pair, and multi room music so you can have the same song playing in every room of your home!

Since then we haven’t been getting any feature updates, until now…

Introducing phone calling, multiple timers, iPhone pinging, lyric searching by voice, and more!

Phone Calls

You can now make and receive calls on your HomePod, simply say “Hey Siri, call Alex” and if you do have an Alex in your contact Siri will call them, if not, well, go and make a friend called Alex, they are great!

You can also answer incoming calls with a “Hey Siri, answer” and it will pick up the call, “Hey Siri, hang up” to end it.

Any missed calls can be identified with a “Hey Siri, who just called?”

You can toggle where to route the call using the speaker button on your iPhone.

Multiple Timers

Great for the kitchen, you can now set a timer for the fish and chips in the oven, as well as a timer to remind you to grab laundry from the washing machine. Each timer is named so you know exactly what time is for what.

Say “Hey Siri, set a fish and chips timer for 20 minutes”

Named timers are also great to check on it, “Hey Siri, how long on my washing timer?”

Ping Your iPhone

If you are like me, you are for ever looking for your iPhone, it’s like the thing has legs!

Now with the feature found on the Apple Watch, if you ever need to find where your phone is just ask, “Hey Siri, where’s my phone” and it will make a sound.

Lyric Searching by Voice

Not exclusive to the HomePod but still a feature worth including, if you know lyrics of a song you can ask Siri to find and play it; just ask, “Hey Siri, play the song that goes dancing in the dark with you between my arms barefoot on the grass”.

Siri Shortcuts

Another feature not exclusive to HomePod, but yet extremely powerful, Shortcuts are routines to perform a list of tasks all at once with one command. Unlike scenes which is somewhat similar as you control only smart home products at once, Siri Shortcuts will work with third-party apps as well as your smart home products.

For example with a simple “Hey Siri, bye-bye” you can turn off your lights, lock the front door and order a coffee to pick up on your way to work.

Upcoming Language Support

Coming very soon in late October, Spanish in Spain, Mexico  and the US,; and Canada with Canadian French; HomePod will be able to be used by non-English speaking families.

As more language are rolled out, the HomePod will be the smart speaker of choice to homes that does not speak English as a first language, a serious competitor to the Google Home and Amazon Echo who’s choice of language support is lacking.

When is the Update?

Today on the 17^th of September, and going by Apple’s tradition it will be 6pm for us in the UK.

If you don’t see the update then or it’s taking a long time to download, more than likely thousands of people all around the world will be trying to download this update  as it’s quite a big one, so just try again later.

As of 6:10pm in the UK the update is now ready, go get it!

How to Update?

Just update your phone to the latest iOS update which is iOS 12, and your HomePod should follow suit.

If it doesn’t visit your Home app once updated to iOS 12, tap the top right button (Add and Edit Homes), tap Software Update and Install. This will update all the HomePods in your home.

Conclusion:

Siri compared to other voice assistant isn’t the smartest, but with more updates like this, Apple is closing that gap, and I look forward to future updates.

Want to chat with other smart home users on Facebook? Join our Accessible Smart Homes group, where the conversation of today’s HomePod  updates will continue!

Are you excited with the features added?

What new features would you like to see in future updates?

If you didn’t have a HomePod before, would this be enough to get you buying one?

Let us know below!