How To: Hide Your Precise Location from Apps You Don’t Trust.
Hi, Speed: HomePod Mini
Hi, Speed: HomePod Mini
The HomePod mini is easy to explain—it’s just a smaller, cheaper HomePod. For $99, you get a flat-topped sphere that’s about half the height and two-thirds the width of the HomePod, which currently lists for $299. It works just like a HomePod, accepting commands via Siri and integrating tightly with the rest of your Apple and HomeKit devices. You can even combine two HomePod minis into a stereo pair, though you can’t combine a HomePod and a HomePod mini in this way.
The only technical advantage the HomePod mini has over the HomePod is Apple’s U1 chip. Apple promises that, later this year, the U1 chip will improve the handoff experience when transferring audio playback to or from an iPhone by holding it near the HomePod mini. Otherwise, as you might imagine, the larger HomePod has better sound thanks to its additional speaker hardware and spatial awareness capabilities.
Apple is also introducing an Intercom feature that makes it easy for family members to send voice messages from any HomePod to another. Intercom also works with the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, AirPods, and even vehicles equipped with CarPlay.
It may not be world-changing, but Tim is giving Apple all his money on this one and kicking all his Alexa devices out the door. The HomePod mini will be available for pre-order on November 6th, with delivery and general availability starting the week of November 16th.
(Images: Provided by our friends at Apple.)
Some great posts you should read right now…
More great tips from the archives…
- Two Secret Key Combos for Forward Delete on the Magic and MacBook Keyboards
- iCloud Photo Library Users: Do NOT Turn Off iCloud
- Ever Wondered Which Words to Capitalize in a Title? Use Capitalize My Title!
- Tips for Setting Up a Comfortable and Effective Home Work Space
- Tips for Better Videoconferencing
- Set Your Preferred Name and Photo for Messages on iOS
- The Fastest Way to Change Wi-Fi Networks in iOS
- What to Put at the End of Your Emails
- Apple Business Manager Is a Win for Apple-Driven Workplaces
- Find Wasted Space with Storage Management
- Forrester Research and IBM Studies Show Macs Are Cheaper than PCs
- Being an Apple User Means You’re Not the Product
- How to Ask for Tech Support So You Get Good Answers Quickly
- Apple Business Manager Is a Win for Apple-Driven Workplaces
Some other stuff we said in the past…
New Organization and Editing in Photos in iOS 13 and iPadOS 13
Tips and Tricks for iOS 7
Here are a few of our favorite tips, in no particular order, for optimizing and using iOS 7.
1. Reduce Motion.
It doesn’t look as cool, but it makes the interface feel even a bit quicker. Best of all, it doesn’t make you dizzy. Settings / General / Accessibility / Reduce Motion.
2. Larger Type / Bold Type.
Many people have complained that its a bit more difficult to read with the narrow typeface. Did you know you can make it all larger? Or even just make it bold. Super handy for when you are looking at your phone on the go. Settings / General / Accessibility / Larger Type. Then you can adjust the slider to decide just how much larger you want it. Feel like that isn’t quite enough? Bold Type is right there too. Settings / General / Accessibility / Bold Type.
Note Bold Type setting requires a restart to take effect.
