iOS 14.1 HomePod Update Adds Intercom Feature, Siri Improvements and More

At its special event earlier this month, Apple had announced intercom support and a bunch of other new features for its HomePod smart speaker and today, these new capabilities have been enabled for all HomePod owners via a software update rolled out as part of iOS 14.1 (via The Verge).

The intercom feature, which has been available in Amazon Echo and Google Nest speakers for quite a while now, lets users record a message on one HomePod and send it to other HomePods in a house.

Later this year, Apple will be expanding this intercom support to iPhone, iPad, AirPods, Apple Watch, and CarPlay as well. This will allow users to record messages from pretty much anywhere and relay them to the people they live with.

Here are the release notes for version 14.1 for HomePod according to Apple, as we deduced from the update changelog:

HomePod mini

• Setup and transfer Apple ID, Siri, Apple Music and Wi-Fi settings to HomePod mini

Siri

• Siri suggestions show up in Maps when you ask HomePod for info about a location
• Web search requests from HomePod can be sent to your iPhone
• Siri can now stop alarms, timers and media across HomePod speakers
• Voice recognition for Podcasts for multiple home users

Intercom

• Make announcements to other HomePod speakers by asking HomePod
• Intercom feature to all HomePod speakers
• You can use Intercom to a HomePod in a specific zone or room

Other

• Add music to your alarms and wake up to a song, playlist or radio station from Apple Music
• Addresses an issue where stereo pairs don’t play in sync
• Better reliability when using Siri to control multiple speakers
• Siri performance optimized

This update for HomePod comes in at 760 MB.