HomePod podcast strike: update should help

Apple posted a bug fix update for its HomePod series Siri speakers on Wednesday evening. The update listens to HomePod OS version number 15.1.1 and fixes an annoying bug related to playing podcasts and some radio stations.

The radio also disturbed

After installing HomePod OS 15.1, released with macOS 12.0.1 on October 25, the voice assistant Siri was unresponsive in some cases. If you asked the system to play a podcast, you received the usual confirmation that this was happening – but absolutely nothing was read. The same goes for various radio stations that have reached HomePod through Apple’s podcast directory. The issue that plagued both the (now discontinued) HomePod and the HomePod mini was apparently not an issue Apple could fix on the server side – hence the update.

HomePod mini is now more colorful

Apple has not provided any information on possible further improvements to the new firmware; HomePod OS 15.1.1 is also not yet available on Apple’s information page on listed security vulnerabilities. HomePod OS 15.1 brought support for Lossless Audio, Dolby Atmos, and Spatial Audio to the HomePod; however, the HomePod mini did not get spatial audio. The mini was also recently available in some regions – including Germany – in addition to white and space gray in three new colors (yellow, blue, orange – all similar to the iMac M1). The price remains at 100 euros.

HomePod OS becomes “homeOS”?

Apple, meanwhile, appears to be gearing up to expand the HomePod operating system. In a reappeared job posting the term “homeOS” as an operating system that the group does not currently offer. That name had been used before this summer – it remains to be seen whether Apple means an extended HomePod operating system or a significantly expanded operating system for home devices. There are rumors that the group may be planning a combination of HomePod speakers and FaceTime docking station for communication. Similar devices are available on Facebook and Amazon.

(baccalaureate)