- Natural Language Search is now available in HomePods
- Enhanced Dialog is here for Apple TV and HomePods 2 only
- The software should install automatically
iPhones aren't the only Apple devices to get an important software update this week. Your HomePods just got a new feature that'll enable them to ignore and/or disappoint you in new and exciting ways.
There are two new features in the HomePods Software Version 18.2, which is available now for your HomePod, HomePod 2 and HomePod mini.
The first is exclusive to HomePod 2 and gives you the new Enhance Dialog feature, which does exactly what you'd expect from its name when you use your HomePods as Apple TV speakers. And the second is Siri integration with natural language search in Apple Music. And that's potentially much more fun.
What can you do with natural language search in Apple Music?
Natural language search is designed to make your music app more useful by responding to natural queries – so for example you might ask for "songs like Espresso", or "big hits from the 80s".
According to Apple, the feature enables you to use "any combination of categories like genre, mood, decade or activity". So you can ask for upbeat dance tracks, songs about cats, moany-faced emo for rotting in your bedroom, or anything else you fancy. We haven't tested that latter one so we can't confirm if it works.
It's a clever feature but, for me at least, it's a slightly annoying one, because Siri on my HomePods and HomePods mini is still really bad at paying attention and understanding what I'm saying: asking something simple like "play new music by X artist" often produces a sullen silence or music by a completely different artist.
I don't have a particularly strong accent and I'm not mumbling to Siri while using a power drill, vacuuming the living room and poking a baby in the ribs to make it cry, but I still often find myself repeating things increasingly loudly like Siri's an old-time grandmother with an ear trumpet. Hopefully your experiences with the new natural language search are more delightful.
The new software should install automatically, but if you've disabled auto-updates for whatever reason you can manually update individual HomePods and HomePods mini via the Home app on your iPhone, iPad or Mac.
You might also like
- See our HomePod 2 review
- Check out our HomePod mini review
- HomePod 2 vs HomePod mini: which is the better buy?
