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HomePod Mini

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Re: HomePod Mini

#411

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…

On Synology you can install iTunes Server [0] and then just use native AppleTV's music player to access your library.

[0] https://www.synology.com/en-global/dsm/packages/iTunesServer

Re: HomePod Mini

#412

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, that'll be a differentiator for me. We have a few Echo Dots, which are pretty neat devices, but I'm not a huge fan of providing audio to Amazon and Google. Also, my neighbor was getting swatted and narrowed it down to his Echo Dots.

I find it odd that you say you're not a huge fan of providing audio to Amazon, yet have bought a few devices that actually do that and then have proceeded to put them into your home...? For someone who isn't a fan of providing audio, you seem to have willfully done so. I am genuinely confused.

They are not currently plugged in, and I don't have any plans to do so.

Re: HomePod Mini

#413

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I must be getting old because playing an audio track, looking up some information or changing the volume seems a first world "problem" and is still incredibly easy just by using the device that is performing the task, eg. playing music. Back in the day, using my CD player or cassette player didn't seem like hard work. The gulf between the "issues" that these devices solve and real problems in the world (starvation, w…

Turning off one light is not hard. Walking through the house in the evening to make sure the kids didn't leave lights on (and to lock up the various doors, and set the thermostat back, etc) is annoying. Being able to speak a single voice command to do all that on my way upstairs is much more convenient. Could I still do it by going to a different room? Absolutely. Is it nicer to not have to do that? Definitely. Why d…

Audio fidelity! CDs were better than cassettes, even the later metal coated tape! CDs had no easily-discernable hiss for the most part (although a few early tape to CD transmissions were very hissy). Having said that, cassetes were far more robust and I regret getting rid of my Walkman with Bass Boost, that's for sure.

Re: HomePod Mini

#414

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I must be getting old because playing an audio track, looking up some information or changing the volume seems a first world "problem" and is still incredibly easy just by using the device that is performing the task, eg. playing music. Back in the day, using my CD player or cassette player didn't seem like hard work. The gulf between the "issues" that these devices solve and real problems in the world (starvation, w…

A sign of getting old indeed: when the technology at stage `n` is surely good enough and you see no reason for `n+1`. ;-) You also set up a nice straw man there. Nobody’s saying that these things are “solving problems”. They’re just cool new technology. Being able to ask for an album while I’m chopping the vegetables for dinner is cool. Why not?

I must accept I am out of touch with the kids, like Principal Skinner...

"why not" is quite a good question though. I will ponder, thanks.

Re: HomePod Mini

#415

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh I see, that stinks. I know this isn’t what you were looking for, but here are some options if you are willing to be creative: https://www.reddit.com/r/HomeKit/comments/hzc7lr/powerboardp...

a) That's an interesting post, thanks! b) It's crazy that the best option I've seen so far for HomeKit compatible power boards is to custom flash some noname Chinese brand. I thought Apple was known for their slick, well-suported products!

Agreed!

Re: HomePod Mini

#416

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Turning off one light is not hard. Walking through the house in the evening to make sure the kids didn't leave lights on (and to lock up the various doors, and set the thermostat back, etc) is annoying. Being able to speak a single voice command to do all that on my way upstairs is much more convenient. Could I still do it by going to a different room? Absolutely. Is it nicer to not have to do that? Definitely. Why d…

Audio fidelity! CDs were better than cassettes, even the later metal coated tape! CDs had no easily-discernable hiss for the most part (although a few early tape to CD transmissions were very hissy). Having said that, cassetes were far more robust and I regret getting rid of my Walkman with Bass Boost, that's for sure.

So? I'm sure you could understand the words just fine on cassette. Wanting to hear a bit less hiss in your recreational music listening seems like a pretty "first world problem" to me...

Re: HomePod Mini

#417

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was gonna say it, but then you did. My non-tech partner 100% agrees. “Love it” is a term that I’ve heard. I do have a few (literally a few) custom shortcuts for weird things that it just couldn’t figure out, like playing specifically our local radio station, but other than that it’s amazing. “Hey Siri, play ” while we make dinner. “Hey Siri, turn it up!” Hey Siri good morning, turn the lights on, set a timer, she m…

I must be getting old because playing an audio track, looking up some information or changing the volume seems a first world "problem" and is still incredibly easy just by using the device that is performing the task, eg. playing music. Back in the day, using my CD player or cassette player didn't seem like hard work. The gulf between the "issues" that these devices solve and real problems in the world (starvation, w…

I've been a homeowner for nearly a decade now and I have to say I sympathize with you, even if for slightly different reasons, mainly the "hassle" factor. I see most of these "smart" things as just one more thing that can break.

Sure it may take a bit longer for me to initially run some wire for speakers (or cost more on a new home build), but once it's set up it is one-and-done. My stereo receivers are a little bulky, but they hide in a corner and the last forever and I don't need to debug their internet connection when I change my Wi-Fi password.

In engineering we talk about building solutions that are as simple as possible, and no simpler. Light switches and door locks are the epitome of this; adding batteries and wireless communication yields a "wow" factor at first, but I cringe at the idea of the numerous ways these can all fail now! I have enough to deal with just keeping up with maintenance on the simple stuff. I'll keep my nightly routine of manually turning off lights and locking doors, thank you.

Not to mention the fact that all of this is changing so fast. Are my HomeKit compatible devices even going to work with whatever phone/speaker/tv setup I have 10 years from now? Am I going to have to pull out all my light switches then? You know what's compatible with the human finger I expect to see at the end of my hand in 10 years? A normal freaking light switch.

I expect that by the time my kids are grown up everything will have settled on a common standard and "smart" devices will be a boring commodity product made by boring brands like GE on my boring Home Depot shelf. At that point I'll probably consider putting it in the wall. Right now I see 50 different one-off Chinese brands racing to the bottom competing with $100 top-of-the-line latest-and-greatest Apple techs and it's all just not worth the effort.

Re: HomePod Mini

#418

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm pretty deep into the Apple ecosystem (iPhone, Watch, iPad, MBP), but when it comes to smart speakers, I've always used a combination of Echo and Alexa-compatible Sonos devices. 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…

Binged Schitt’s Creek over the last few weeks and David shouting “Alexis!” triggered all of my Sonos speakers. Every. Single. Time.

I mean, if you binge The Witcher TV series you’ll probably trigger your apple voice products a lot. It’s the unfortunate consequence of choosing real names for virtual assistants. Only google home is really immune to this.

Re: HomePod Mini

#419
post #56

I don’t get it. Siri is the absolute worst compared to Google assistant, the only compelling reason to buy the HomePod is for sound quality. So unless this has some other redeeming quality over “Siri in your living room”, I don’t think it will sell well. The original HomePod regularly went on sale for 33% off already.

I'm curious to know what 90% of people do with their home assistant devices. I have a Google Home. I know it can do a huge array of things, but almost all I do with it is play music, control lights, and set timers. Siri can do all of those things.

For one, I can use them as a speaker for my non-Apple devices. My household is almost entirely Apple products, but considering I have a few devices I would like to occasionally pair like a PC, it makes more sense to buy a home assistant/speak device from Google or Amazon that will work with everything I own, rather than a Homepod that will work with 90% of what I own, even if I like everything else about the Homepod more.

Re: HomePod Mini

#420
post #331

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AirPlay is garbage. It has a 2-second lag, and still regularly loses sync for me. Apple didn't even bother to update macOS to support stereo homepods over Airplay.

For what it's worth, Airplay 2 addresses at lot of those issues, but it does require a rework and support from the host app.

Is Spotify on Airplay 1 still?
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