Apple is clearly about to move HomePods have come a long way in home TV sound. A few weeks ago, HomeUnder OS 27, the first mentions of the possibility of creating a total of four HomePods a true surround setup with front and rear speakers. Now the third one has arrived beta HomeUnder OS 27.2 and its code shows that Apple individual parts of the entire system are gradually put together. In addition to other elements for four-speaker surround, a new connection has also appeared Siri s Apple TV and even a new light animation HomeUnder.
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The most interesting thing is of course the surround. In HomeUnder OS 27.2 beta 3 contains the code that allows it to Siri recognize that a specific HomeThe pod belongs to a certain surround setup. HomeKit For this, it is counting on a new surroundSystem interface, while the system also includes other tools for managing speaker groups. This might not seem very interesting on its own, but combined with previous discoveries, it is starting to become quite clear where Apple is heading.
Oven-HomePod surround is almost here, and Apple is adding more capabilities to it Home software.
Highlights from audioOS 27.2 beta 3:
• Siri can match a speaker to its surround system. Code includes the diagnostic “Accessory [X] is a speaker in surround system [Y].” Relies on HomeKit exposing the surroundSystem interface.• When HomePod is part of a Home Theater group for an eligible Apple TV, it can now use a new proxy-activation path to pass Siri requests to Apple TV. A separate, older path still forwards microphone audio to Apple TV. (AFSiriActivationOdeonProxyVoiceTrigger)
• There's a new light animation for rejecting touch events on HomeUnder. As an example, here's a demo of HomeUnder the rejecting touch eventwith while Siri AI is in thinking mode. It's not clear yet when the new touch rejection may activate. (ShakeCircleAnimation)
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Four HomePods around the TV
Apple currently allows you to create a stereo pair HomePods and use it together with Apple TV 4K as the default audio output. However, the newly prepared system is to count on four speakers arranged as left and right front and left and right rear channels. Previously discovered code also pointed to automatic room calibration, mapping of individual speaker positions, timing adjustment, bass management, equalization or dialogue enhancement. In particular, the system is also to work with movies, multi-channel sound and music.
The fact that the entire system is no longer just a distant experiment was indicated by the second beta tvOS 27.2. FlatpanelsHD managed to do one thing in it Apple TV 4K connect two pairs HomePods, i.e. four speakers at the same time. The solution was not yet ready (for example, it was not possible to correctly determine the front and rear speakers), the current changes in HomeBut under the OS they look like another piece of the puzzle needed to Apple could make the surround work as intended.
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Siri will connect more with Apple TV
An interesting change also concerns Siri. if it is HomeUnder the part Home Theater setups supported Apple TV, HomeUnder OS 27.2 beta 3 includes a new way for a speaker to pass on a request Siri directly Apple TVAlongside it, there is still an older mechanism for transmitting sound from the microphone. HomeI'll go to Apple TV. What exactly does that mean? Apple is following, it is not yet clear and it would be premature to conclude from this, for example, the transfer of more computationally demanding functions Siri na Apple TV. Minibut we see little by little that Apple The connection between the two devices at the system level continues to deepen.
And what?onec there is one small thing that users will recognize immediately, unlike code. HomeThe Pod has a new light animation that can signal a rejected touch input. In the demo, it activates, for example, when Siri AI thinks and HomeDuring this time, the pod does not respond to touches on the top surface. However, it is not yet clear under what circumstances it Apple sononec will actually use.
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Of all the changes, however, the most interesting is the ongoing preparation of the surround. At the beginning of September, we had in our hands a few tracks hidden in HomeUnder the OS, but now Apple gradually connects HomeKit, Apple TV even themselves HomePods so that they can actually work with four speakers. Of course, nothing is officially confirmed yet, but everything indicates that a home theater of four HomeThe pods aren't too far away anymore.
