HomePod Gaining New 'Ambient Sounds' Siri Feature This Fall, Radio Station Support Launching September 30

Wednesday September 11, 2019 9:53 am PDT by Mitchel Broussard
Apple this week quietly updated the HomePod's product page on Apple.com, including a few release dates for upcoming features (via 9to5Mac). HomePod will gain the ability to tune into live radio stations through Siri controls on September 30, after this feature was first announced at WWDC in June (and made available to some users in Germany this July).


Additional ‌HomePod‌ features, including multi-user support and music handoff, will not launch until "later this fall." With iOS 13, ‌Siri‌ on ‌HomePod‌ can recognize the voices of different ‌HomePod‌ users, queuing up each person's favorite music on the speaker. Handoff lets any media you have playing on your iPhone or iPad be handed off to the ‌HomePod‌.

One new feature has also been added to the ‌HomePod‌ page on Apple.com, called "Ambient Sounds." Apple says that you'll be able to relax to sounds like ocean waves, forest birds, rainstorms, and more with this feature, also coming in the fall.


It sounds like the company is working on making ambient noise a big new feature of the ‌HomePod‌, after being requested by users since the speaker launched in early 2018. Although Apple Music has a multitude of ambient noise playlists, this should make it even easier to start playing relaxing sounds on ‌HomePod‌.

There have been numerous announcements from Apple this week thanks to the ‌iPhone‌ event yesterday, including the all new iPhone 11 family, the new 10.2-inch iPad, and Apple Watch Series 5.

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840quadra
19 weeks ago

Apple pushing back even more software releases and features at the last minute. What is going on over there?

Damned if they do, damned if they don't. Release too early and we don't forgive them for software issues and security flaws. Delayed, we give them vitriol over having to wait for new features and advancements.

I am glad to see them slow down with some of the mass releases in hopes they kill bugs before they impact our devices.
Rating: 17 Votes
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scamper
19 weeks ago
I’m sure I’m an outlier, but I use HomePod for ambient sounds as much as for anything else. When I’m writing and want to block out the neighbors, nothing (at the moment) beats “Hey Siri, play ‘Brown Noise without fade,’ on repeat.” (“Without fade” to differentiate this “song” from a competing one that has an annoying fade out at the end.) It’s a warm, lush sound, thanks to HomePod’s excellent bass response, that insulates me from the world.

So I’m definitely looking forward to “native” sounds!
Rating: 15 Votes
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H3LL5P4WN
19 weeks ago
I'm actually pretty excited to see whats on tap for ambient sounds. I might have to pick up another pair to put in the bedrom if they're that good.

I can’t believe radio station streaming wasn’t one of the original features. That’s one of my main uses for my Echo speaker - listening to live NPR news.


The main use for your Echo speaker is for Amazon to listen to everything you say and do.
Rating: 12 Votes
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Unity451
19 weeks ago
I honestly forgot the HomePod even existed.
Rating: 11 Votes
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cipher29
19 weeks ago
So much hate for the HomePod... I absolutely love the 4 that I have in my house.. I have full intentions to double that number in the coming year..

They sound amazing and work as advertised IMO .. If it's not a product that's up your alley, not sure why people have to unleash their hate for all the world to see - especially on a product they don't even own ...

I have zero intensions on buying a mini-van - perhaps I should seek out all the mini-van forums and tell everyone how much they suck... smh...
Rating: 10 Votes
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citysnaps
19 weeks ago

I keep hearing about all of these "new features" with Siri, yet she cannot do even the most basic tasks correctly. Is Tim Cook living in a fantasy world?


I’ve been using my HomePod for about a year and a half and Siri works great.

How long have you been using yours?
Rating: 6 Votes
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JustSomeInfo
19 weeks ago

I adore my HomePod. I can't believe I can be blasting some seriously aggro music and from 25 feet away in another room say "hey siri" barely above a whisper and it HEARS ME. It's incredible tech.

It's ability to pick up what I say is the most impressive thing to me. It really is an impressive bit of work.
Rating: 6 Votes
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lewisd25
19 weeks ago
All these new features are cool, but why haven’t we received a sleep timer yet?
Rating: 5 Votes
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Laptopdog78
19 weeks ago
Radio station feature!!!
Good god I have been a long time apple fan, but I have truly started to get frustrated with them myself. I have various Sonos smart speakers and I can play any radio station, can play from practically any music streaming service, including my favourite Spotify. I can use my choice of voice assistants. My choice is Alexa, and here is the killer..... I can use Apple airplay 2 for all the content from my iPhone, and stream Apple Music if I ever wished to. And before anyone starts about sound quality, they are absolutely superb. Apple get a Grip, I wouldn’t touch your HomePod as it is in a million years!!
Rating: 5 Votes
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blasto2236
19 weeks ago
Thank god for ambient sounds. I use thunderstorm sounds albums on Apple Music when I sleep, but it has absolutely ruined all the recommendations in the For You section despite me telling it I don’t like those albums for recommendations. My New Music mix on Friday is loaded with the stuff every week. It sucks.
Rating: 4 Votes

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