Apple’s latest software update for the HomePod update is here, and surprisingly, there’s actually a lot going on here!
Today, Apple released HomePod software version 16.3. In addition to the usual round of bug fixes and performance improvements, the company has actually released quite a few new features for the first and second generation HomePod and HomePod mini.
One of the features enabled today is temperature and humidity detection, which is available on the second-generation HomePod and HomePod mini. The sensors will enable smart home automation, such as turning on a fan, when the HomePod detects heat reaching a certain temperature.
Even ambient sounds are updated
In addition to enabling the new temperature and humidity sensors, the new software update recreates ambient sounds. Apple says the sounds are now “more immersive” and you can now use them for scenes, automation and alarms in the Home app.
There are also a number of updates to Siri that enable new Find My, automation and audio features. You can see the full release notes for HomePod software version 16.3 below:
- Temperature and humidity sensing measures your indoor climate with HomePod (2nd generation) and HomePod mini
- Remastered ambient sounds are more immersive and can now be added to scenes, automations and alarms in the Home app
- Find My on HomePod now lets you ask Siri for the location of friends and family if they’ve shared it with you
- Recurring home automations can be configured using just your voice
- Siri confirmation tone will now play to indicate when smart home requests are completed for accessories that may not visibly show a change or are located in a different room
- Sound mode optimizes spoken content such as podcasts for even greater clarity on HomePod (2nd generation) and HomePod (1st generation)
- Updated volume controls on HomePod (1st generation) give you more detailed adjustments at lower volumes
Today’s release comes a day after Apple launched iOS 16.3, iPadOS 16.3, watchOS 9.3 and macOS 13.2 Ventura. It had also initially released tvOS 16.3 yesterday, but quickly pulled the update for unknown reasons. tvOS 16.3 was then re-released this morning, but there were no notable updates.
If you want to pick up the new HomePod, check out our coverage on Where to pre-order the new HomePod 2 (2023).
