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HomePod has been jailbroken with checkra1n

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51–60 of 171 posts

Re: HomePod has been jailbroken with checkra1n

#51
post #28

I hope this leads to some way besides Airplay to play arbitrary audio with no delay. If Apple had just included support for Bluetooth audio (or God forbid, an aux jack) I would've bought two full-sized Homepods to use as computer speakers two months ago.

What's the trouble with buying any of the competition, if you want those features? You can get a Klipsch R51 PM for quite a bit less than the price of two HomePods. Better audio, Bluetooth, aux, optical, USB, even phono pre-amp in case you have a turntable.

I think they're (one of?) the only smart speakers on the market to automatically calibrate themselves to the room. I'm sure it's just some EQ and maybe a bit of phase adjustment, but the speaker doing it automatically for you whenever you reposition it is a nontrivial feature that makes the audio sound noticably better than much of the competition.

Re: HomePod has been jailbroken with checkra1n

#52
post #23
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's available in Europe, just not in all EU countries.

Being available in three European countries (out of 50) is not really "available in Europe".

I'm being pedantic, but technically, it literally is "available in Europe."

It is not available throughout Europe, however.

Re: HomePod has been jailbroken with checkra1n

#54
post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The aesthetics mainly. HomePods, for all their flaws, are very decent speakers in a small footprint. They blend in and are very minimalist, in my opinion, and that's important to me.

Depends on your taste, I guess. For me this is quite minimalist: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41A-xmDb8nL...

Yes, it depends on taste. Those are just boxes...

Re: HomePod has been jailbroken with checkra1n

#55
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Jailbreaking DOES break the security model though. Its literally performed to "break the jail". It takes a locked down system and removes the locks, resulting in a system that is more open; to yourself and an attacker alike.

Jailbreaking uses vulnerabilitities, but doesn't (by itself, of course it allows the user to) introduce any. It even allows you to patch the vulnerability behind you before Apple does officially (see JailbreakMe, 3.0 IIRC).

Jailbreaking by definition introduces avenues for exploitation against what device security requires. Apple pays millions of dollars for security staff, auditing and security research.

Re: HomePod has been jailbroken with checkra1n

#56
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not available here in Ireland though. A predominantly english speaking nation.

Oh, but that would EN-GB, which has nearly no similarities to EN-US. No way Apple can sell you a HomePod that would tell you to bring an "umbrella" because it is going to rain today. Though I imagine Apple is more worried about localizing the electrical plug than they are about what to call the large, wheeled vehicles used to haul cargo.

Ideally EN-IE, but I'd settle for EN-GB or EN-US. Although to be honest, there's no real differences between those three locales for most people other than keyboard layouts and the arse-backwards way the US uses to write dates, neither of which apply to a HomePod.

Re: HomePod has been jailbroken with checkra1n

#57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the trouble with buying any of the competition, if you want those features? You can get a Klipsch R51 PM for quite a bit less than the price of two HomePods. Better audio, Bluetooth, aux, optical, USB, even phono pre-amp in case you have a turntable.

I think they're (one of?) the only smart speakers on the market to automatically calibrate themselves to the room. I'm sure it's just some EQ and maybe a bit of phase adjustment, but the speaker doing it automatically for you whenever you reposition it is a nontrivial feature that makes the audio sound noticably better than much of the competition.

The Sonos Move has "Auto Trueplay", which is the same, and allows Bluetooth playback in a "dumb speaker" mode. Weirdly, not at the same time - Auto Trueplay is only supported in WiFi mode.

Re: HomePod has been jailbroken with checkra1n

#58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the trouble with buying any of the competition, if you want those features? You can get a Klipsch R51 PM for quite a bit less than the price of two HomePods. Better audio, Bluetooth, aux, optical, USB, even phono pre-amp in case you have a turntable.

I think they're (one of?) the only smart speakers on the market to automatically calibrate themselves to the room. I'm sure it's just some EQ and maybe a bit of phase adjustment, but the speaker doing it automatically for you whenever you reposition it is a nontrivial feature that makes the audio sound noticably better than much of the competition.

Google Home Max also does the auto calibration thing and also has an Aux jack and bluetooth support.

Re: HomePod has been jailbroken with checkra1n

#59
post #40

That it is necessary to jailbreak consumer devices is grotesque. I can totally understand that a car has a software / OS that is locked down. But a consumer device? - Apple is slowly moving the whole industry in a direction where in a couple of decades we can use electronic devices only in a way that the producer wants it to be used. Locking up systems, not allowing departure in any way, taking each and every freedom…

I don't see how it is grotesque. No one is forced to buy these products, they can just as easily buy a competitor's or go the distance and build their own.

I prefer to have my devices work with minimal effort on my part, and with "good enough" security I can trust.

Re: HomePod has been jailbroken with checkra1n

#60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the trouble with buying any of the competition, if you want those features? You can get a Klipsch R51 PM for quite a bit less than the price of two HomePods. Better audio, Bluetooth, aux, optical, USB, even phono pre-amp in case you have a turntable.

They do sound incredible. Though I don’t think I’ll ever own a voice assistant.

I keep Siri disabled on mine, and I use a Raspberry Pi for cloudless voice control. They’re pricy for dumb speakers, but worth it IMO.
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