The HomePod didn't get much (read: any) airtime at Apple's iPhone 11 event earlier this week, but that's not to say Apple has forgotten about it entirely.
In fact, the HomePod is set to get a raft of new features before the year is out – even if some of them should have been present in the first place.
Kicking off the feature-add this month is the introduction of radio station playback. From September 30, you'll be able to ask Siri to play one of around 100,000 global radio stations, and the smart helper will track it down using TuneIn, iHeartRadio and Radio.com.
It's a standard feature of practically all other smart speakers, so it's a welcome, if overdue, feature.
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Ambient extras
A little later in the year, a few more extras will be coming to the HomePod.
"Later this fall" Apple will be adding multi-user support, letting more than one family member be recognised by the Siri helper, as well as the introduction of music handoff.
Finally the HomePod will be getting an 'Ambient Sounds' feature that will play rain, birdsong and other relaxing noises without the need to beam them from an app.
All welcome features then, if a few steps behind the smart speaker pack.
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