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HomePod HomePod 13.2 Questions

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pcd213

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Original poster
Jun 24, 2019
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I was about to type out two HomePod 13.2-related questions, but I discovered the answer for the first. I figured I would answer the question for the forum, as I'm sure I can't be the only one wondering. I still have a second question, if someone can help me out there.

(1) How do you have the HomePod play some of the new ambient sounds, such as ocean waves, birdsong, or rainstorms? When I ask Siri to "play rainstorms", she says, "just a sec...one sec..." and then "sorry that was taking too long". And then it's complete silence.
  • I learned that Siri responds to the request if you use the word "some" before the ambient sound. "Hey Siri, play some rainstorms" worked for me over "Hey Siri, play rainstorms". "Hey Siri, play rainstorm sounds" works, as well.

(2) How do you train HomePod to recognize different voices in the home, and to personalize their listening experiences? Does this happen automatically over time or is there something that the second user needs to set up on their phone with a connection to the HomePod?
 
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darthbane2k

macrumors 68000
Oct 22, 2009
1,763
1,866
Am I right to assume that if my Apple Music subscription is on my HomePod and now we have voice recgoniton, any requests to play music from somebody who isn’t myself will be denied? I’m hoping not
 
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pcd213

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Original poster
Jun 24, 2019
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That's a fantastic question. Anyone know? It's amazing to me opaque Apple has been about so much related to Siri and Apple Music on HomePod.
 
ChinaRye

ChinaRye

macrumors 6502
Aug 7, 2007
374
245
Washington, DC
I am equally confused about this update. I have two HomePods, and as of last month, I was able to ask Siri to play a TuneIn radio station, and it worked quite well. Earlier this month, it suddenly stopped working. I was hoping once 13.2 finally came out for the HomePods that this functionality would work again, but just downloaded and installed and still get the same error message.
 
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pcd213

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 24, 2019
600
685
I'm continually surprised that Apple doesn't spell out exactly what Siri and HomePod can do AND how to trigger it. Siri isn't smart enough to understand every type of way to deliver a query. Apple should be incredibly explicit on how to play a radio station or ambient noises, and provide sufficient detail on how to enable your HomePod for multiple persons and how a single Apple Music subscription will work in a home with many people. Apple is losing their focus on customer centricity.
 
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livelongdienvr

macrumors member
May 13, 2013
50
5
So how do you get multiple users to work? I updated my phone and homepod but I didn’t get any prompts to set multi users.
 
penajmz

penajmz

macrumors 68040
Sep 11, 2008
3,797
4,029
New York City
pcd213 said:
I was about to type out two HomePod 13.2-related questions, but I discovered the answer for the first. I figured I would answer the question for the forum, as I'm sure I can't be the only one wondering. I still have a second question, if someone can help me out there.

(1) How do you have the HomePod play some of the new ambient sounds, such as ocean waves, birdsong, or rainstorms? When I ask Siri to "play rainstorms", she says, "just a sec...one sec..." and then "sorry that was taking too long". And then it's complete silence.
  • I learned that Siri responds to the request if you use the word "some" before the ambient sound. "Hey Siri, play some rainstorms" worked for me over "Hey Siri, play rainstorms". "Hey Siri, play rainstorm sounds" works, as well.

(2) How do you train HomePod to recognize different voices in the home, and to personalize their listening experiences? Does this happen automatically over time or is there something that the second user needs to set up on their phone with a connection to the HomePod?
Click to expand...
Siri automatically recognized my voice and I didn’t do anything. I am assuming since it’s registered with your Apple ID it takes your Siri data from your phone, like when you first set Siri up.
 
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pcd213

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 24, 2019
600
685
I actually learned a bit more yesterday. I was one of the select few people who didn’t suffer from bricked HomePods after the 13.2 update. When another person says “Hey Siri”, a voice that Siri isn’t aware of, it asks that person to enable a particular setting in their Home app. I can’t remember exactly what Siri says but the user (a) needs to have downloaded iOS 13.2, (b) needs to provide some type of approval in the home app. I did it very quickly on my wife’s phone so I can’t remember all of the details. I’ll tell you this, though, it’s not at all intuitive. Not a great customer experience.

I did notice that Siri was a lot less snappy yesterday after the update. That may be due to all of the issues with the 13.2 update or for other reasons. But it is very noticeable to me how much lag there is in processing queries.
 
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pcd213

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 24, 2019
600
685
A new update. At least one of my HomePods now doesn’t respond to queries. It lights up but my iPhone steps in to take over. What is going on with Apple this year?!
 
StumpyBloke

StumpyBloke

macrumors 603
Apr 21, 2012
5,639
6,335
England
pcd213 said:
A new update. At least one of my HomePods now doesn’t respond to queries. It lights up but my iPhone steps in to take over. What is going on with Apple this year?!
Click to expand...

Mine did exactly the same today after the update. I powered the HomePod down for about 30 seconds, powered it back up and that sorted it
 
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pcd213

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 24, 2019
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685
StumpyBloke said:
Mine did exactly the same today after the update. I powered the HomePod down for about 30 seconds, powered it back up and that sorted it
Click to expand...
When you say you powered it down, did you unplug it and then plug it back in after 30 seconds? You don’t mean fully resetting it, right?
 
ascender

ascender

macrumors 603
Dec 8, 2005
5,025
2,898
Hmm, I can't even get a single HomePod to update - I get "update requested" and then it never gets past there. I've tried requesting it form macOS and iOS.

Any ideas?
 
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pcd213

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 24, 2019
600
685
Despite being updated to 13.2.1 on her phone, I can get the homepods to recognize my wife’s voice. We’ve accepted all of the right settings on her phone and mine. There should be no reason why it continues to tell us to set it up for her when we already have. I see it set on both phones. What a mess.
 
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robnbill

macrumors regular
Jul 5, 2007
118
34
Northern VA - Fairfax Area
pcd213 said:
Despite being updated to 13.2.1 on her phone, I can get the homepods to recognize my wife’s voice. We’ve accepted all of the right settings on her phone and mine. There should be no reason why it continues to tell us to set it up for her when we already have. I see it set on both phones. What a mess.
Click to expand...
Question: Are you and your wife each using your own Apple ID?
 
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pcd213

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 24, 2019
600
685
robnbill said:
Question: Are you and your wife each using your own Apple ID?
Click to expand...
Yeah, we each are using our own separate Apple IDs. I invited her to our “home” HomePod network in the Home app. Oddly enough, when I view her profile in the Home app on my phone, it says that Recognize My Voice is on for her along with Personal Requests, but that middle section is a bit dim. Also, I can’t check on “Update Listening History” for her. The toggle won’t recognize my tap. I’m attaching a screenshot to show what I mean. It’s very odd.
 

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roncito

roncito

macrumors 6502a
Apr 21, 2015
682
512
Poconos PA
pcd213 said:
Yeah, we each are using our own separate Apple IDs. I invited her to our “home” HomePod network in the Home app. Oddly enough, when I view her profile in the Home app on my phone, it says that Recognize My Voice is on for her along with Personal Requests, but that middle section is a bit dim. Also, I can’t check on “Update Listening History” for her. The toggle won’t recognize my tap. I’m attaching a screenshot to show what I mean. It’s very odd.
Click to expand...
This is the same problem I’m having with my home. I have had her redo her hey Siri setup, turn on and off recognize my voice and restarted the HomePod and nothing works. Siri recognizes my voice no problem but not my wife.
 
StumpyBloke

StumpyBloke

macrumors 603
Apr 21, 2012
5,639
6,335
England
roncito said:
Someone on Reddit has found a fix/workaround on the family voice recognition. This worked for me so hopefully it will work for you.


One HomePod, Two Users - How Can Siri Recognize Us Individually?
r.tapatalk.com

One HomePod, Two Users - How Can Siri Recognize Us Individually?

Yes. All Homekit hubs/Homepod and phones are on the latest. Someone on reddit posted this fix. I haven't tried it yet.
r.tapatalk.com r.tapatalk.com
Click to expand...

Link doesn’t work unfortunately...for me at least.
 
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