Benjamin Mayo, 9to5Mac:
> Whilst HomePod works best with an Apple Music subscription, allowing users to ask Siri to play any of the 40 million tracks in the Apple Music catalog, it does not require a subscription to function. We have learned that the HomePod can play content purchased from iTunes, stream Beats 1, and listen to podcasts without needing a subscription.
And:
> Users can continue to buy albums from iTunes and expand their collection of purchased songs associated with their iTunes Store account, and ask Siri to play those on HomePod.
But:
> If you add music to your home iTunes library that was not acquired through a purchase, HomePod will not be able to access it. It appears HomePod doesn’t have Home Sharing, which would enable that kind of feature.
Judging from the huge HomePod interest on my Twitter feed, and from the volume of questions I’ve been getting on issues related to HomePod and Apple Music, I think HomePod has big potential.
In the short term, buyers might skew heavily towards folks already subscribed to Apple Music. But I see HomePod as a potential Trojan horse, bringing new subscribers to Apple Music, assuming the HomePod reviews are positive.
But you’ll be able to stream to the HomePod using AirPlay.
What about iTunes Match?
yes but evidently that isn’t good enough anymore. Does anyone know if the Google or Amazon speakers allow you to play local music by voice?
This is very disappointing. I was hoping for a device that would be somewhat more ecumenical in function.
“If you add music to your home iTunes library that was not acquired through a purchase, HomePod will not be able to access it.”
That eliminates most of the music I’ve ever purchased from other sources.
“In the short term, buyers might skew heavily towards folks already subscribed to Apple Music.”
You think? 😉
As far as my personal use is concerned, this makes HomePod the equivalent of a table radio that only receives one station, and a paid one at that. Oh, well. I look forward to hearing how it works for the rest of you.
Same with the Apple TV. They won’t play my stuff, so I won’t buy their product. I don’t think they think ‘user experience’ means what they think it means.
That is very disappointing, if true… I mean a patch could fix the problem … potentially.
I understand the Apple TV as a conduit and interface for licensed video services, two or three of which I actually subscribe to. But the reason I don’t own an Apple TV is that, like you, I already have a sizable collection of video that I don’t care to pay a second time to watch. It’s why we pipe video to our tv set through an old MacBook.
My music collection is much larger and goes back a lot farther. Apple expects me to pay for all of it again for the privilege of hearing it on their new device, which isn’t going to happen.
I expect more than a few early HomePod purchasers will be returning their devices after having realized this.
So is Apple more evil or less evil than Google?
Which company is more likely to protect my personal data, again?
Restricted, proprietary hardware isn’t “evil.” It’s just foolish.
I don’t necessarily see an incentive for Apple to allow this. Certainly Apple Music subscribers seem untroubled by the limitation.
What do you have that Plex, VLC, and Infuse won’t handle?
Could Apple make this any more underwhelming?
It would be awfully hard, wouldn’t it?
Whats wrong with Airplay?
Considering iTunes Match converts your music collection into iTunes content, I assume it will be compatible.
Wouldn’t the incentive be customer experience? The very thing Apple claims to be at the center of their DNA?
My interest in owning a homepod declined to zero once I realized that it would not play music that I ripped from CD.
Exactly. What’s the point, otherwise?
Ideally. It’d be nice if their roadmap for HomePod included wider capabilities. We’ll see.
I think so too. Without Home Sharing, I won’t be buying one, and I wanted to. I have a lot of CD’s that are now burned to iTunes. I guess I’ll be waiting a little longer.
I could live with the HomePod being little more than an awesome AirPlay speaker — IF Apple would finally allow syncing playcounts across devices. As it is, if I want to use iCloud Music Library and access all those Apple Music songs, it breaks my smart playlists.
I play stuff in my car on my iPhone, come home to find the exact same set of just-played songs on my iPad, which also can’t update what’s in iTunes. Why would I want yet another device showing me the exact same smart playlist sets?
I understand Apple wants to entice people into becoming Apple Music subscribers, but this lack of continuity, to use Apple’s current favorite word, is a real turnoff.
Nothing, far as I know. I just don’t ordinarily make use of the combination of devices that it benefits. Also, isn’t that just adding another link to the chain?
Can’t play the iTunes Library on my Mac Mini? Screw you Apple. Just screw you, really.
We have a LOT of apple products, but if I can’t play any of my previously purchased thousands of tracks ( NOT music purchased in iTunes or Apple music) of music on the Homepod it won’t be getting anywhere near us. Will stick to Sonos if that is really the case.
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IT WILL! It has full support via Bluetooth 5 and AirPlay.
at least, the apple tv plays from 3rd party services like netflix and amazon natively, and their content is even integrated in it‘s search. spotify, etc. won‘t play from the homepod unless you stream it via airplay – and unlike on other smart speakers.
i don‘t have a problem with it not streaming my local library, as that‘s already duplicated online via itunes match. as long as the homepod plays itunes match WITHOUT an apple music subscription, I‘m good. If it doesn‘t, i won‘t buy it.
But I think, that‘s it‘s greatest stumble block. $350 is fine for people who appreciate good speakers, but if the first generation of homepods is practically tied to an apple music subscription, it‘s a hard sell. if otherwise you need to get your phone out for streaming, then the siri functionality is redundant and there are quite a few other nice bluetooth speakers out there in that price range, e.g. the boPlay A2 which has a battery and analog-in and is also compatible with your friend‘s android phone.
won‘t it play itunes match content?
I don’t subscribe to Match, either. Someone else might have the answer to that question.
Uh… Assuming you have an ATV 4 or 5, can’t you use Plex to play all of that? Or Home Sharing if it’s connected to a Mac?