HomePod has got way more tricks up its sleeve than you may know. Aside from letting you take control of the smart home devices, stream music, and answer queries, the Siri-powered speaker can also notify you when it detects smoke or carbon monoxide alarm sounds. Yet to bring this feature into action? Read on to learn how to get an alert from your HomePod if a smoke alarm goes off.
Set Up and Use Smoke Alarm on HomePd
To ensure there is no roadblock left lurking around, let’s first sort out the doubts related to this new add-on and also figure out whether or not your HomePod is onboard!
What is the requirement for getting notifications about smoke alarm sound from HomePod?
To begin with, make sure that your connected iPhone or iPad is running iOS 16.4/iPadOS 16.4 or later. If the device is not updated yet, head over to the Settings app -> General -> Software Update. After that, you will need to wait for a few seconds to let the device check for the available update.
What about the HomePod compatibility? Note that you must have the second-generation HomePod or the HomePod mini to be able to use this feature. That means if you have the first-generation HomePod, you are out of luck – unfortunately.
Now, you must be wondering how accurate this built-in smoke detector is and whether or not it works as expected. Well, while it’s a pretty helpful feature for folks who don’t have a smart detector, it’s not perfect. Moreover, you shouldn’t rely on it in critical or high-risk situations.
Enable Smoke Alarm on HomePod 2 and HomePod mini
- On your iPhone or iPad, open the Home app.
- Now, tap the triple-dot icon aka the ellipsis button at the top-right corner of the screen.
- After that, choose Home Settings in the menu.
- Next, scroll down and choose Safety & Security.
- Then, select Sound Recognition.
- Head over to the “Sounds” section and make sure the Smoke & CO Alarm toggle is turned on.
- Finally, turn on the toggles next to the HomePod devices that you would like to activate Sound Recognition for.
Going forward, your HomePod will notify you as soon as it recognizes smoke sounds. As already mentioned above, it is not without flaws and therefore must not be relied on in circumstances where people may get harmed.
For those unaware, Apple introduced the “Sound Recognition” feature in iOS 14. Though this Accessibility feature is specifically designed for people with hearing disabilities, anyone can take advantage of it to keep track of a wide range of sounds such as sirens, doorbells, baby crying, and more.
Notably, the sound recognition feature for HomePod is limited to detecting just smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, unlike its iPhone counterpart. However, I won’t be surprised if that plethora of sounds finds its way into the Siri-driven speaker sooner than later.
Frequently Asked Question
1. Which are the best alternatives to HomePod?
Amazon Echo and Google Home are the best alternatives to HomePod.
2. Can HomePod play Spotify?
Yes, you can set up and play Spotify on your HomePod.
