The HomePod is still the latest new product released by Apple and that means it is still far from a well defined product. Launched as a smart speaker in which sound quality prevails over other features, the reality is that its functions are incomprehensibly limited, which is a sign that the margin for better is large.
In a private beta that Apple would have opened only to some employees of the company itself and its stores, it seems that details are revealed such as new functions that could arrive along with the official launch of iOS 12 this fall. The ability to make or answer calls directly from HomePod, or setting multiple timers are just some of them.
The details have been revealed iGeneration and he talks about new and interesting functions such as the possibility of making calls with the HomePod, or answering incoming calls from the speaker itself. Right now calls must be made or answered from the iPhone, and once made they can be transferred to the Apple speaker, something really inexplicable and impractical that seems to be about to change. We will also have the possibility to tell HomePod to look for our iPhone and make it ring to locate it, as we can already do from the Apple Watch. Being able to set several timers and have them run at the same time would be one of the novelties too, along with the possibility of listening to our voicemail, participating in multiple FaceTime calls or something as simple as being able to change the WiFi network to which it is connected.
All these news would be included in that private Beta and would appear together with the final version of iOS 12 in a simultaneous update of the HomePod. We do not know if they will first appear in the Betas available for developersso we will have to wait for the final one. Perhaps this fall will also be the date for a definitive launch in more countries and the inclusion of other languages such as Spanish.