221–230 of 446 posts
This doesn't appear discussed in the copy: does anyone know if HomePod/(Mini) has been updated to be friendlier towards households with more than one adult user in them (families, roommates, whatever)? I initially found the HomePod alluring, but that it could pair only with one iPhone (and thus effectively one user) was a real turn-off when I last looked into it.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
...with the additional downside that it's from Google, and Google projects and devices have a tendency to be abandoned pretty quickly whenever their interest turns to something else.
Has Google ever abandoned consumer hardware, or their obligations to Nest customers?
So here is the thing I struggle with. I have a NAS. On it is my media (music, videos, photos) collection. I do not have a subscription to Apple Music, or the reset of the streaming services and I not want one. So how do I play my own music collection with this? Right now to do this I have an AppleTV on every TV. I have an app on the AppleTV called MrMC which is basically a paid for port of Kodi for the AppleTV. The M…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The APIs required for Spotify to support HomePod are available, but as usual Spotify has yet to take advantage of them.
That is an interesting reversal. You could also say that the SDK for Spotify is available [1], but HomePod is yet to take advantage of them. The Spotify SDK has been available for many, many years and is integrated into many devices already. There is a long history of Apple changing the rules on Spotify [2]. Given Apple's focus on promoting their streaming services, I would not be surprised if Apple is intentionally…
Even if we were designing the perfect tech ecosystem that was free of business or competitive constraints, it still wouldn't be a good idea to have an app developer, with their own motivations that may not be aligned to users, dictate SDKs and standards to ecosystems or platforms. It's a weird and unsustainable power dynamic that misaligns incentives. It'd only be viable if in the process the app developer opened the standard and shared control of its future.
As much as Spotify wants to be a platform, what they offer is just a service, and they're not positioned to be controlling such standards. I love Spotify and much prefer it to Apple Music, but what they're doing is choosing not to build features that their customers want on platforms their customers have chosen in order to gain leverage in the regulatory battle over the 30% cut. I respect the desire to have a more level playing field but their other complaints are disingenuous and are not in the best interest of their customers.
I think the killer feature is the Intercom
My initial reaction was the same — maybe we'd get one for our kid's room. But then I saw that Intercom supports all iOS devices, so probably we'd just put an old iPhone or iPad in there instead. But it's not 100% clear if when they say Intercom supports all iOS/WatchOS/MacOS devices, they mean you can communicate from one of those devices to a HomePod, or whether you can communicate amongst any of those devices (no H…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is a correct statement, which I have proven to you before. What's more, your earlier quibble about anonymizing the data doesn't even negate the statements I have made. Apple always sends your location to Apple, while Google and Amazon do not if you don't want them to. Just as you did then, you continue to ignore the even more egregious practice of not only tracking everything you install but tying it to your ide…
Even if it were true that Apple always sends a location home, which it is not, if it is anonymous, by definition it is not your location. But that’s the least of it: The text you quote in you your linked comment nowhere states that your location is sent to Apple every time it is requested. That’s not a quibble. It’s much more serious You wrote comment so you must know that what you just linked doesn’t support your ac…
That's a really wacky contortion. Whose location is it then?
> nowhere states that your location is sent to Apple every time it is requested.
You're right. It's worse than that. I pointed out in that post that Apple periodically gets your location even if no app requests it. Apple also says that you consent to having your location collected every time another app requests it, so even if it is not true now (which you have not been able to show and which would mean they wouldn't need such a scary consent, so I highly doubt it), it can be true tomorrow.
The actually privacy-respecting Android devices from Amazon and Google do not suffer from this issue. Nor do they require you to tell anybody if you install an app on your device, tied to your identity, which you have once again ignored.
The coolest part to me is that they're using the S5 watch SoC to power it. Pretty cool that Apple's various hardware teams can just grab a part off the shelf to use in a completely different class of device. I'd love to see them reintroduce AirPort routers powered by an A-series chip.
So here is the thing I struggle with. I have a NAS. On it is my media (music, videos, photos) collection. I do not have a subscription to Apple Music, or the reset of the streaming services and I not want one. So how do I play my own music collection with this? Right now to do this I have an AppleTV on every TV. I have an app on the AppleTV called MrMC which is basically a paid for port of Kodi for the AppleTV. The M…
You'd have to look at alternatives for the media server (Plex) if you want to use a Homepod though .. I'm pretty sure Plex doesn't support AirPlay.
If it's just wireless audio you're after and not a "smart speaker" then there's some not-too-tricky ways to do this in the DIY space. snapcast for instance supports AirPlay and might integrate nicely into your current setup: https://github.com/badaix/snapcast
HomePod mini works with your iPhone for requests like hearing your messages or notes, so they are completed on device without revealing that information to Apple. This is the big differentiating feature, along with the seamless integration within the rest of Apple's product line. EDIT: HomePod does this too but it was not at a price point nor size that competed with other assistants.
I don't even really use any other Apple products, and have never really been particularly comfortable with smart assistants, but I have to say that the steps that they've taken here with E2E, non-AppleID-tied identifiers, on-device computation, and of course the really good price point have got me seriously considering a purchase from them for the first time in a long time. For my family members that already have App…
The Alexa devices have always bothered me. Not just because of the baseline privacy concerns, but because it seems so damn easy to activate the trigger word on accident. The absolute worst part being a false positive activation of my Sonos system while watching a movie/show. When this happens (and it happens a lot), the audio volume of the show is lowered significantly to allow Alexa to hear the rest of the command.
Pause the show, wait til "she" stops listening, rewind the show very slightly because I missed whatever was just said due to the volume shift, resume the video, instantly pause again at the moment she was originally triggered until she stops listening, resume the show, this time without having to rewind since I paused soon enough not to miss any dialog.
Maddening.
And the fact that all of these false positives get sent straight to Amazon doesn't make me feel great.
I didn't need a HomePod for its audio quality since I already have great quality with the Sonos system, and couldn't justify the original HomePod's price as a command/control-focused smart speaker with a home already filled with Alexa devices.
All of that to say, HomePod mini is perfect for me.
I can throw out my Echos, disable Alexa on the Sonos system, and scatter a couple of Minis to replace the Echos.
This is something I didn't realize I wanted.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
According to Spotify, it’s Apple that’s making life hard for them [0]. And here is Apple’s rebuttal [1] [0] https://www.timetoplayfair.com/timeline/ [1] https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019/03/addressing-spotifys-c...
Spotify has to drag it’s heels and blame Apple now to support its legal case.