Your Apple HomePod will soon have calling features and easier connectivity

Just a heads up, if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale. It’s one of the ways we keep the lights on here. Click here for more.

An upcoming update is expected to make the Apple HomePod smart speaker even more so. Launching this fall, the software update is expected to add a slew of new features, including the ability to make and receive calls, according to iGeneration.

According to the report, the new calling features work with a synced iPhone and include the ability to answer a call, redial a number, search your call log, listen to messages on your voicemail, or call the emergency number. The update is also expected to include a tool that makes it easier to connect the speaker to a new Wi-Fi network. Currently, to do so requires a reset. The HomePod update will also add the ability to set multiple timers.

First announced in June 2017, the HomePod didn’t get released until February this year. Since then, the device has received only one significant update which added AirPlay 2 compatibility. Priced at $349, the Apple device is one of the most expensive smart speakers on the market. Early sales numbers have suggested that Apple will need to lower the price of the speaker or release one less expensive for it to better compete with market leaders Amazon and Google.

In April and May, rumors suggested a less expensive model would be coming under Apple’s Beats label. However, to date that hasn’t happened.

Assuming iGeneration is correct, this HomePod update will almost certainly launch this fall alongside updated versions of iOS, tvOS, watchOS, and macOS. Apple developers are currently testing those software updates.

As a HomePod owner, I’ve been pleased with my purchase. Yes, adding calling features would make it even better. Still, that isn’t why I bought the speaker in the first place. I was looking for a high-quality speaker to listen to my music. On that point, Apple has more than delivered.

What features do you hope Apple adds to HomePod? Let us know your thoughts below. 

For more tech news, make sure to check out:

• Waymo has fast become a big deal in the autonomous driving industry
• If you’re already tired of Instagram’s status dot feature, here’s how to turn it off
• Two large ROMs sites have now been sued by Nintendo for upwards of $100 million

Bryan M. Wolfe

Bryan considers himself a well-rounded techie, having written articles for MakeUseOf, KnowTechie, AppAdvice, iDownload Blog. When he's not writing, he's being a single dad and rooting for his alma mater, Penn State, or cheering on the Patriots.