HomePod Leak Hints Variety of Scene Options, Microphone Kill Switch
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Sunday afternoon, Filipe Espósito, of 9to5 Mac, tweeted a screenshot of an assets file he discovered in iOS 11.2.5. The image shows new icons that appear to be meant for the Home app and Apple’s upcoming HomePod speaker.
The new icons suggest that users will be able to choose from a variety of different scenes, including a few that mute the HomePod’s microphone.
Other always-on listening devices have similar options such as Echo’s on/off button or Canary’s “Private Mode.” This will be perfect for times where you just want to use HomePod as a speaker or don’t want Siri listening in on your conversations.
Other scenes appear to show parties, movie nights, and more. The scenes appear to be for the Home app as they are found within the HomeUI private framework.
According to the Home app assets, users with HomePod will be able to create "scenes" that disable Siri temporarily. It will probably be very useful for parties. pic.twitter.com/k2gPc50Kmr
— Filipe Espósito  (@filipekids) January 21, 2018
Coming Soon to an Apple Store Near You
Apple’s HomePod was announced at last year’s WWDC and was meant to be available in December; however, it has been pushed back to “early 2018.” New reports suggest HomePod could be available for purchase soon, including recent FCC approval documents.
Unlike Amazon Echo—which is primarily a home for the virtual assistant Alexa—HomePod is billed as a powerful speaker that is capable of adapting to the environment around it. In addition to being a smart, high-quality speaker, HomePod will feature Siri to allow you to control the speaker and certain aspects of your home and life.
The speaker will feature seven beamforming tweeters, a six-microphone array, and a high-excursion woofer for premium 360° audio. HomePod will be able to detect and adapt to the environment around it, and other HomePods in the vicinity.
It will work with Apple Music and will be available for $349 when it launches this year.
[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]