After the big flop HomePod, Apple has rethought and the sequel is called HomePod Mini. This is a compact speaker crammed with functionality.
When installing your HomePod Mini you need an iPhone or iPad, hold one of these close to the speaker to begin the installation. Make sure that the Home app is installed on your iPhone, then all settings will take place in here.
A very simple process but that unfortunately requires you to already own an iPhone or iPad. You cannot install a HomePod Mini with a Mac.
Music & Audio
The HomePod Mini has an incredibly good sound. Considering its size (only 9.8 cm wide), the HomePod Mini delivers rich sound with a large 360 degree register. It does this thanks to its neodymium magnet, in other words a very strong permanent magnet.
The new S5 chip in the speaker ensures that the sound sounds great no matter what volume you choose.
One of the big disappointments for most people here in Sweden is that HomePod Mini does not support Spotify as the default app. This means, for example, that you can't use Apple's voice assistant Siri to play music. Currently, only Amazon Music and Apple Music work. You can even use Apple's podcast app to listen to your Poddar. The only way to play music from Spotify on a HomePod Mini is to stream the music with Airplay. You can either do this from an iPhone or a Mac.
If you're listening to music, you can hold your iPhone against your HomePod Mini to carry over the playback of your music or pod. For example, if you come home and listen to a pod in headphones, just hold your iPhone against the speaker and tilt and the sound will play in the speaker. This also works with phone calls.
Stereo
The HomePod Mini has the ability to be paired with another to play stereo sound. This setting is easily done in the Home app. In this way, you can use the speakers as additional speakers for your Apple TV.
Intercom function
Apple's new intercom feature lets you easily send voice messages between your devices either using Siri or in the Home app. You can choose to send your voice messages to one or more HomePod Mini's at the same time.
If you live in a larger house, you can easily tell the family when the food is ready or when it is time for the children to go to bed. The intercom also works on your iPhone, Apple Watch and CarPlay so you can tell the family when you're on your way home e.g.
In the Home app, you can also choose who will be able to use the Intercom function in your home.
Voice assistant Siri
Unfortunately, this is where Apple is not successful. The competition from other big tech giants is far too great and Apple has not been fully successful. But there are glimmers of light.
When it comes to using voice assistant Siri to ask factual questions such as “Which city in Sweden is the largest?” Siri is pretty much useless. It's no wonder, on the other hand, that Google Assistant sits on most of the answers and Siri doesn't. Rumor has it that Apple may launch its own search engine in the future and then Apple could challenge on this front. But if it even becomes a reality, we'll probably have to wait a while.
Siri often misunderstands what we are saying and the result is usually wrong. After a while, you get crazy and realize that the HomePod Mini doesn't live up to what it promises.
After four months with the HomePod Mini, we find ourselves using only the voice assistant for our IoT gadgets. This is what we have included in our Home app. The response time is fast and the speaker usually understands what we are saying e.g. when we want to light a lamp.
Another feature that we use frequently is the timer function. Unlike the iPhone, on HomePod Mini you can set more timers at the same time, which is very convenient when cooking, for example.
Thanks to the four microphones that work together to reduce noise and listen for “Hey Siri”, you can talk to the speaker even if it's playing loud music or if something else in your home is disturbing.
When we compile Siri's overall capabilities as a voice assistant, there's more to be desired. There will be a lot of misunderstandings and Siri can't handle all the pronunciations in Swedish. Very often, Siri sends its response in the form of various Google searches to your phone, and this is not always what you want when using a voice assistant.
