# Apple HomePod 30 Hacker News commenters recommended Apple HomePod and 45 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 10 of 13 months. **Verdict:** People recommend it for good sound and tight integration with Apple devices and home automation. The most common caveat is that Siri is weak and the speaker can misbehave. ## Why people recommend it - Good sound that fills rooms (4 comments): "It's a really nice speaker if I set it on something sturdy that won't rattle" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50074482)) "I really like my big HomePods and find they fill the room quite well" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50073635)) "Still pretty happy with my Homepods in Stereo" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47402876)) - Fits Apple ecosystem and Siri (4 comments): "I think their privacy is good enough, and it would be instantly integrated into my ecosystem." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49884315)) "Designed my entire house around Siri with HomePods in every room." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46987035)) "Integration with HomePods is ... well, if you have HomePods." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50076033)) - Home automation hub (4 comments): "So an Apple Homepod or a Home Assistant instance with a Thread stick will do as well!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45835360)) "my 10 HomePods are able to turn off 80% of my lights at night, 80% of the time!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46115217)) "This includes being the hub of all of my home automation." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46540526)) - Reliable hardware and long updates (3 comments): "I can’t remember having problems with the hardware or setup." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46117273)) "Still daily driving my two 8-year old OG HomePods." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48096611)) "mine is still receiving updates regularly" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48095834)) ## What people warn about - Siri is weak at multi-turn (3 comments): "Siri is still pretty awful and useless though." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49818195)) "HomePods steals the show and says "I found some results on the web, do you wanna check them on your iPhone?"" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49973566)) "iOS Shortcuts + Apple HomePod just make it so difficult to handle multi-turn voice interactions" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47055462)) - Glitches, false triggers and disconnects (4 comments): "my HomePod tells my wife it's having trouble connecting to iPhone every 5th time she adds something to the grocery list" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47358945)) "they acknowledge it's a known hardware defect to start registering non-existent touches, and they refuse to fix it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47402807)) "It can no longer play one song after another without glitching and repeating a little bit of the previous song." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46116866)) - Expensive for the features (2 comments): "expensive for what they are, thoughtfully designed, and conservative in their approach to adopting new trends" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46210436)) "Some of the price increases seem disconnected from the component cost increases." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48676501)) - Weak smart home control (4 comments): "the divisions that built those smart speakers have been reduced to almost nothing, because the monetization capabilities were minimal" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47849877)) "which died an agonizing death despite the people who were certain that the smart home was Apple's final frontier" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50074294)) "The previous iterations of HomePod and Apple TV acting as a home hub really wasn't a credible threat" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50071929)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Amazon Alexa](https://hackerapproved.com/p/amazon-alexa.md): 45 recommend - [Google Home](https://hackerapproved.com/p/google-home.md): 19 recommend - [Meta Portal](https://hackerapproved.com/p/meta-portal.md): 17 recommend - [Home Assistant Voice Preview Edition](https://hackerapproved.com/p/home-assistant-voice-preview-edition.md): 14 recommend - [Amazon Echo Show](https://hackerapproved.com/p/amazon-echo-show.md): 7 recommend ## Where to get it - [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Apple+HomePod+smart+speaker&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link) - [Official site](https://www.apple.com/homepod/) ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Apple HomePod", https://hackerapproved.com/p/apple-homepod/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).