Had one … sold it … went back to Echo and Sonos. HomePod not having, audiobooks, radio apart from Beats1 (I’m not 16, therefore, Beats1 is not my bag), ability to read ebooks, etc. makes it just an expensive speaker. Also, that expensive speaker allows for no adjustment to bass and treble (who are Apple to dictate how I enjoy my music) many use cases necessitate reducing bass (which is far too heavy on the HomePod) such as listening at a low level to avoid waking others, listening in an apartment (bass is not appreciated by neighbors above and below) or listening for those with hearing impairments (high levels of bass either hurts or becomes muffled). I lost over £150.00 but am happier with the features of Echo and the audio quality and adjustment ability of Sonos.
It’s a shame Apple don’t allow the EQ to be adjusted via Siri, obviously it can be adjusted via Airplay. Could you not return your Homepod for a full refund rather than sell?
P.S. Never let music taste and age be directly linked, it’s a slippery slope! I love Beats 1 and I’m deep into my 30’s!!!
Has to be adjustable via Siri as I’m paralysed from the neck down. I had had it over two weeks trying to make it work within my mainly Apple eco-system.
I’m the same about music and age, I’m 45 and my music tastes run from Jazz (1940’s - Present), Rock (1950’s - Present), Metal (1970’s - Present), Classical, Country, Folk. However, Beats1 seem very orientated to Rap, R&B, Pop which in most cases covers teen - mid-twenties tastes.
I teetered for quite a while, but then I sold the MacBook Air that I was hardly using to the lady next door, and used the cash to buy a HomePod. Just set up today. The sound is fantastic. I guesss I’ll get used to talking to it after a while. (I’ve never been a Siri user…)
I first encountered a HomePod on a trip to England visiting a friend. She activated it with her voice to play Mozart and within 20 seconds I knew that I had to get one. So we went to the Apple Store the next day and I brought one home with me.
I absolutely love it. I’ve never heard so much music around the house as I do now. Instead of watching TV in the evenings, I listen to music now. It has completely changed my relationship with music. I just hope Apple never bails on iTunes Match as I have no interest in an Apple Music subscription. I have far too much music, I have never listened to already.
I’ve had a lot of problems with my Homepod ever since I purchased it and had to it set up the first time.
The problem is that it doesn’t connect well other devices. Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn’t and it can shift really quickly.
I’m not sure what the problem is. But when it’s not connected then I can’t add things to my Grocery List via Siri. Then I get an error saying that it must be on the same network as my iOS device… It’s really quite annoying.
I also often want to see what song it’s playing by swiping up Control Center or opening the Music.app on my iPhone. But if it’s not connected then I can’t get that info and it just says “Connecting…”
I think the issue is my network setup. I have a router with two networks (2.5 and 5 Ghz) and I think the HomePod shifts between those two… But I’m not sure. I think the solution is to set up my home network again from scratch. But I will have to confirm this with Apple.
Dan Moren wrote an interesting article last week in Macworld about ‘growing pains’ of the HomePod. Ultimately he had so many problems with it thinking it was being spoken to he had to disable ‘Hey Siri’ and turn the device into a big Airplay2 speaker.
Of all the things in the world that I need, HomePod is low on the list. I’ve also never been especially into smart-home technology or even Siri. Yet, much more than the new iPhone that I need, I want a HomePod. Since I got AppleMusic a few months ago, I’ve listening to so much more of it. And working from home, I keep thinking how lovely it would be to have a HomePod I could call music out to while I’m working. I can imagine the music filling up our apartment and it’s a lovely thought. In fact, a central motivation for me waiting to see if the Xr works for me rather than me deciding on the Xs is with the hope that I could use the price difference to get a HomePod.
Even without having one, I’ve located two places in the apartment and one in my university office where I want to put them.
PS. My feelings about the Echo / Alexa are quite different for whatever reason. My brother has several and installed one in my parents’ place. Both at his house and at theirs, I’ve heard Alexa randomly suggesting purchases / upgrades of their current Amazon service. They don’t mind, but I found it pretty creepy.
Like others, initially I was sceptical, but now I’m keen for a HomePod for both Siri Shortcuts (time-tracking using CSV files) and home automation.
I’m having a bit of a problem with listening to podcasts. I mostly use Overcast. It has a button to hand off to the Homepod, which usually works the first time. After that, particularly if I tell Siri to pause or stop, I can’t get it to continue where It left off. I have to shut down the podcast app and start again, or switch to playing the podcast on another device. It’s annoying me.
That is bizarre: I’ve had a HomePod since the launch, and we’ve acquired 3 more since then. I can’t recall the last time I’ve experienced a false activation, they are so rare. More common is having to repeat my request because it didn’t activate the first time, or especially the problem of HomePod taking over for requests that it is not capable of handling (like telling me the battery level on my phone). Despite that, I’ve been a huge fan since the beginning, and it’s only getting better with things like Siri Shortcuts.
HomePod is still not good enough. Getting better - through software - but still not there. However, I expect it to become good enough in 2019. Then I might strike - with whatever hardware then becomes available.
@MartinPacker Good enough for what? And how have you reached that conclusion?
I think you should maybe define your criteria before generalising that it is ‘not good enough’?
I plan to put a HomePod on my Christmas list. Perhaps a member of my family loves me enough to gift wrap it. 
My trick is to ask for Apple gift cards - it’s unlikely someone would buy me an iPad Pro but they’ll give me gift cards towards it!
It’s still catching up in the software department. Good to see Multiple Timers, as one example of progress that’s been made.
The jury is, I think, still out on whether Siri Shortcuts has brought enough additional value.
To be fair, it’s quite likely we’ll acquire a HomePod or two in 2019.
I would love hearing about your use of shortcuts with csv files. I use csv files for record keeping.
Usually I blame @MacSparky for dents in my wallet, but this time is all on @katiefloyd.
This new HomePod replaced a pretty new Sonos One smart speaker which has already sold on eBay.
After spending the day with the HomePod, all I can say is WOW - this speaker is really great. I can’t believe this much sound and bass can come out of a package so small. And Siri worked flawlessly for me all day. I absolutely love having access to the Apple Music library with just my voice.
No buyer’s remorse here (unless a HomePod 2 is released next week!). Thanks Katie!
Is your HomePod sitting on top of a (wood-protecting) base?
Is your HomePod sitting on top of a (wood-protecting) base?
Yes - it’s sitting on a coaster to protect the table.