6 cool Apple HomePod improvements coming this fall

by Jonny Evans · July 23, 2018

HomePod’s are the best-sounding and most private smart speakers you can get.

No sooner has it introduced stereo pairing than we learn that Apple this fall will once again show us why HomePod is the smart choice for a high-end smart speaker, with a second wave of software-based enhancements.

Hey Siri, what HomePod improvements are coming?

Siri rarely spills the beans on future products, but rumor across the Interweb (from France’s iGeneration) tell us to expect a whole bunch of cool things. That report tells us Apple has seeded a significant OS upgrade to HomePod and that it should ship with iOS 12 in fall. So, what’s coming?

Hey Siri, call…

Siri on HomePod will let you make and take calls, dial specific contact numbers, and search your call history.

Lyric search

The report claims Siri will be able to search for songs based on what you can remember about song lyrics, which is nice.

Food tips

Siri in macOS Mojave and iOS 12 improvements will gain knowledge about food and nutrition. That means you can ask it to tell you nutritional information about specified foods, health data and find out how much fat, how many calories or which vitamins are inside what you eat. The good news? Something like this is coming to HomePod too – I’m just hoping it (or a third-party developer) will figure out how to deliver step-by-step recipes, as well.

Multiple Timers

HomePod will at last allow you to set multiple timers – good for cooking?

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Find my iPhone

You’ll be able to ask your HomePod to find your iPhone. I wonder if it will be able to tell you which room in the house you’ve left it?

Support for multiple networks

As long as you have an iOS device connected to the network, HomePod will be able to join any network. That’s useful if you use your HomePod somewhere with multiple networks, or if you travel with the device.

What isn’t there (yet)

I haven’t yet heard of plans to introduce multi-user support (very high on most people’s wish lists), better Bluetooth support so friends can beam music to the speakers, and I don’t have any information yet on any other Siri enhancements (such as checked shopping lists, for example), but watch this space.