Apple's new HomePod speaker is a musical masterpiece that has Siri baked in. You can use Siri to control your music, get the news, check up on traffic and weather, set reminders, send messages, and have phone calls. It also functions as a Home Hub for your HomeKit setup and lets you control your smart home using your voice. So what home controls are possible? Everything you'd expect!
Controlling your smart home with HomePod
After you've completed HomePod's setup process, you'll be able to control your HomeKit-enabled accessories (provided it's using the same account as your HomeKit home) using just your voice. If you've used Siri on your iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, or Apple Watch to control your HomeKit-enabled accessories, then you'll already be familiar with the commands you can use. Here are a couple examples directly from Apple:
- "Hey Siri, turn on the lights." - This will turn on the lights in the room where your HomePod is located.
- "Hey Siri, make the room cooler." - This will adjust the temperature on a HomeKit-enabled thermostat.
- "Hey Siri, good morning!" - This will activate your Good Morning scene, which could include any number of adjustments to your HomeKit-enabled accessories.
- "Hey Siri, turn the lights blue." - As you might imagine, this will turn your color-capable smart bulbs blue.
- "Hey Siri, lock the front door." - Your HomePod won't be able to unlock your doors (that prevents strangers from shouting at HomePod from outside your house), but you can use the speaker to lock your HomeKit-enabled locks.
As long as you've got the necessary HomeKit-enabled accessories, you can use your voice to make all sorts of adjustments: turn on and off your lights, raise the blinds, close the garage, set your Good Night scene, turn on your humidifier, etc.
HomePod as a Home Hub
If you want to set up automations in the Home app for iOS, you're going to need to have a Home Hub — you can use your HomePod (as well as a 4th-generation Apple TV or iPad) to serve as your Home Hub. A Home Hub lets your HomeKit-enabled devices communicate with your network regardless of where you are. You can issue a command — "Hey Siri, what's the temperature in my living room?" — and the nearest Home Hub (be it an Apple TV, iPad, or HomePod) will communicate with the HomeKit-enabled temperature sensor in your living room, pulling the temperature reading and sending it back to you. Home Hubs keep things running smoothly and quickly in your HomeKit home.
Want to learn more about Home Hubs, including how to get 'em up and running? I've got a guide for you:
How to make your Apple TV, iPad, or HomePod a Home Hub
Questions?
Having trouble controlling your smart home with HomePod? Let me help! Leave a comment or shoot me a message over on Twitter.
