New HomePod adds temperature and humidity sensors
Apple has added new temperature and humidity sensors to the 2nd-generation HomePod, allowing users to ask Siri to detect the temperature and humidity of a room, and create automations based on the results it detects.
For example, users can create automations to ask Siri to close the blinds if the temperature hits 30 degrees, or turn on the fan automatically when a certain temperature is reached in a room.
Temperature and humidity sensing is optimised for indoor domestic settings, when ambient temperatures are around 15º C to 30º C and relative humidity is around 30% to 70%.
Apple warns that accuracy may decrease in some situations where audio is playing for an extended period of time at high volume levels, and that the speaker requires some time to calibrate the sensors immediately after starting up before results are displayed.
Apple first introduced temperature and humidity sensors to the HomePod with the HomePod mini, although the sensors have never been advertised or enabled, leaving them dormant until now.
With the launch of the new 2nd-generation HomePod, it is understood that Apple will now enable the temperature and humidity sensing capabilities on the HomePod mini through a future software update, giving both models the monitoring capabilities announced today.