Since we have the iOS 16.3 operating system update, your Apple smart speaker, the HomePod Mini can control the temperature and humidity of your house. No setup or additional hardware needed! But now, in addition to the HomePod 2, which Apple recently launched, it also has the same sensors and functionalities to have the same capabilities and make the same measurements.
It is true that the expectations regarding the HomePod mini and the new HomePod were very high, and some have not been met, since we expected a small screen in the devices with which to interact, and with which the speakers could give us some kind of of information, at least we got to have some new sensorsto have a plus of information, and although we do not have a screen to see that data, the virtual assistant Siri, does that job.
So in this article, we’ll go over how to use this new feature for both speakers and show you how to use it with your speaker automations. Apple Home smart home. Go for it!
How to check the temperature and humidity in your room with your HomePod
With the new sensors, we have a new functionality in the speakers, and it is none other than the detection of temperature and humidity in the environment, thanks to the Apple speakers. Now you can easily check what is the temperature in the room where you can find your smart speaker just by asking Siri.
Gave: “Hey Siri, what’s the temperature in here?” and the voice assistant will respond to us with its current reading. The same goes for checking for moisture, we simply have to change the question.
Steps to follow
You can also use the Apple Home app on an iPad or iPhone to view current readings. Here we show you how to see the temperature or humidity in your house; this also works when you are away from home. To do this, simply follow the steps below:
- First open the app Home on your iPhone, iPad or Mac.
- Now it’s time Climate in the top row of shortcuts.
- touch Temperature or Humidity in the next row of shortcuts.
- Next, you’ll see a list showing your HomePod and its current temperature or humidity reading. If you have more than one HomePod, you’ll see them all listedalong with any other device that reads temperature or humidity (such as a thermostat).
- I tap on the HomePod card in this view and ob get the sensor settings. You’ll find several options here, including one to set up automations using the sensor.
- Another way to see the readings is to open the app Start and go to the room that your HomePod is in, that is, the living room or the bedroom. The current temperature and humidity that your HomePod is reading will be on the top row of the app. If you have multiple temperature and humidity sensors in a room, this reading will show the average range between the sensors.
- To get details for a sensor, tap the temperature or humidity shortcut again to open a screen showing the individual reading for each device.
And that’s it, it’s that easy to see the temperature and humidity of the rooms where your HomePods are located from the Apple home application.
How to set up temperature and humidity automations with a HomePod
Using Apple’s Home app, you can put HomePod’s new sensors to work creating automations that make other smart home devices respond to temperature or humidity rising above or falling below a certain threshold that we set.
This could be used for turn on a fan connected to a smart plug when the temperature rises in your bedroom or to turn on a humidifier when the humidity drops below a comfortable level. If you have smart plugs, or sensors, you could also adjust them so that they go down if the temperature rises in a room between a certain temperature range and/or also make it match a certain time range. The possibilities are many.
Apple warns that sensors are optimized for ambient temperatures between 15 degrees and 30 degrees Celsius and one relative humidity of about 30 to 70 percentand that accuracy isn’t guaranteed if the speaker is playing music for long periods of time at high volumes, so keep that in mind when relying on any automation you set up.
Steps to follow
To configure it correctly, follow the steps below:
- First open the app home.
- Tap the plus (+) button in the top right corner.
- You must select now Add automation.
- Select the temperature or humidity sensor you want to use. It will be labeled HomePod Sensor with a thermometer or humidity icon next to it.
- Now we will click on the word Following.
- We select what will trigger the automation: if the temperature/humidity rises above a certain point or falls below a certain point.
- Choose the time this will happen. You can select any time, during the day, at night or set specific hours between which the automation will occur, a time slot.
- You can also configure the automation so that only happens when someone is homewhen you are at home, when no one is at home, or when you are not at home.
- Next, select which action will occur. This can be a single device action, such as turning on the fan, or you can select actions from multiple devices. You can also choose to trigger a scene (which is a preset collection of actions).
- press Following and name your new automation.
- Test your automation by tapping on the command prompt, to check that everything is working correctly.
- You can also choose have the action turn off automatically after a set period of time; the maximum is four hours.
- This is useful so that, for example, you don’t have to set up a second automation to disable the first automation.
- touch Made.
And it would be! Remember that you can always go in and edit, disable or enable any automation in the tab Automation of the Home app.
