Apple Company • Page 327

yeah, i just noticed it the last day or so and didn't know. sounds like it might just be on my end then. hmm.

 

Apple Music Reportedly On Pace To Overtake Spotify In US

 

that actually surprises me a ton because i know very very few people in person who use apple music over spotify. even like, the music nerd friends of mine. like, a massive split. even with me telling everyone that they should definitely use apple music instead haha

 

Yeah I don't know a single person in my own life that uses Apple Music. Obviously not the case for some people but very interesting

 

Not surprising. Iphone is the most used phone on earth and apple music is pre installed. The majority of people aren't music nerds like us so not looking into it and just clicking "music" on the home screen is easy enough.

 

but it still requires a subscription right? i still feel like almost every single person i know uses spotify for streaming. unless it's like, these are people who don't even know what that is and just think this is their way of getting music?

pretty interesting

 

I think there's a lot more people that use Spotify over Apple Music, but a lot of them use the free version of Spotify (not subscribers).

 

iPhone is BY FAR not the most used phone on earth my dude hahaha

 

Everybody in my office that I'm aware of uses Spotify free because they just want to listen to a certain station while working. I actually don't know of anyone in my personal life who uses Apple Music. I recently switched to Spotify myself, and while it took some adjustment I prefer it now, if only for the playlists/discovery features alone.

 

spotify is definitely better if you want to find new music and are playlist focused. but i much prefer the organization/UI of apple music

 

There's little things I don't like in the Apple Music user experience but I'm not sure if that's cause I'm too used to Spotify.

 

Y'all know they're talking about paid subscriptions right?

Spotify has a money problem, they need paid subscribers (especially when they go public later this year). I wouldn't wanna be in their shoes if Apple Music is converting more people to the paid service.

 

Typically I use Spotify on my work PC, mainly because Apple Music through iTunes is a mess. Give me a stand-alone Apple Music app on MacOS and PC and I’d never open Spotify.

 

Apple HomePod review: locked in

And, in the worst omission, Siri on the HomePod doesn’t recognize different voices. This doesn’t sound like a big deal, but if you just click yes during all the setup prompts, literally anyone can ask the HomePod to send or read your text messages. Seriously, it’ll just read your texts to anyone if your phone is anywhere on the same Wi-Fi network, which usually reaches far beyond the same room as the HomePod. If your HomePod is in the kitchen and you’re in the basement, anyone can just roll up on the HomePod and have it read your texts. If you have kids, they can just text anyone at will while you’re in the bathroom and you can’t stop it. I tried it with the HomePod behind a closed door and it picked up my voice and it happily read my texts aloud, a nightmare for anyone who lives in a dorm.

This is also baffling: iPhones don’t answer to just anyone saying “Hey Siri” once you’ve trained them to your voice, and the HomePod runs a variant of iOS on an A8 chip, which allows for “Hey Siri” on the iPhone 6 when it’s plugged into the wall. I asked Apple about this, and there wasn’t a clear answer apart from noting that the personal requests feature that enables texting can be turned off. I agree: until Apple adds personalized voice recognition to this thing, you should definitely turn personal requests off.

Yikes

On another note, the reviews appear to agree it sounds phenomenal, which is to be expected.

 

If you think "Hey Siri" is secure and only recognizes your voice on your phone you're very wrong. I can trigger my GF's watch, iPad, and iPhone. That's ... not new. If you don't want someone to use Siri with your text messages, turn that off. Your voice is not a password.

 

Yup, I was talking to my Dad about how some podcast bleep "Alexa" to prevent triggering and said the same would happen with an iPhone. I yelled "Hey Siri" and his phone went off.

 

I don't think I've ever had Hey Siri turned on.

 

Okay, but your phone is usually always on you. If you walk out of the room with your phone on you, someone can still gain access to certain information on it via the HomePod. I believe that is the point.

Also, you set your phone up initially with your own voice by saying "Hey Siri" three times. If that command works with someone else's voice then it's already failing.

 

I think the account and phone it's attached to has to be in the vicinity for that to work. (If someone picks up an iPad with your iCloud account on it, it's no different.)

I mean, that's not true. It absolutely works with other people's voices. It just hears yours better and how you say it. And you can hold down the button and trigger Siri just as easily. Siri is not secure, it's convenient, and your voice is not a password.

 

If you put in my AirPods near my phone you can trigger Siri.

That people keep forgetting (intentionally?) what Siri is ... is strange to me. I bet a bunch "worried" about Siri have four number passwords on their devices.

 

What you're saying makes sense. I tnink I always had my 'Hey Siri' stuff set to only be usable if my device was unlocked, so maybe that's where I'm thinking it's more secure than it actually is.

They do a good job at telling you what others will be able to do during the setup.

 

Brutal review by The Verge... outside of audio at least. Makes me second guess it, but will probably keep mine anyways.

 

Anyone on the Apple iPhone Upgrade Program? Just learned about it and seems like a good idea.

I like the iPhone C for $56/month and AppleCare is included (which would be $$250).

 

for how long? It's all the same cost in the end

 

Heard a Homepod today. The sound quality is excellent.