Apple’s iOS 14.7 and iPadOS 14.7 software has gained a new feature that allows you to set timers on your HomePod speaker from within the Home app on your iPhone, iPad and Mac.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS:
- iOS 14.7 brings the HomePod timer controls to the Home app.
- This lets you manually set HomePod timers in iOS or macOS.
- Previously, HomePod timers were managed through Siri.
Setting HomePod timers in the Home app
Addressing one of the longstanding complaints from users, Apple has implemented the ability to manage HomePod timers through the Home app beginning with iOS and iPadOS 14.7.
The feature addition was first spotted by 9to5Mac.
Initially, the HomePod software wouldn’t enable you to set multiple timers on your Siri-powered speaker. A 2018 update has addressed this strange omission, letting you set multiple timers on your HomePod. The problem is, this was all handled through Siri, via voice commands.
→ How to set and manage alarms on your HomePod
With iOS 14.7, iPadOS 14.7 and macOS 11.5, you can now manage one or more HomePod timers from within the Home app on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch or Mac, similar to managing your HomePod timers in the Home app.
This saves you from using Siri when setting up timers on the speaker.
You can easily create your timers in the Home app to count down hours, minutes and seconds. You can view countdowns at any time, as well as assign custom labels to timers which makes distinguishing and interacting with multiple timers a lot easier, especially with your voice.
When is iOS 14.7 launching?
Apple on May 19 released the first developer betas of iOS 14.7 and iPadOS 14.7.
The company typically spends weeks testing these iOS updates with its registered developers and public beta testers. There’s no telling when iOS 14.7 might launch though it would be a safe bet to predict a launch ahead of WWDC21, which kicks off June 7.
Watch this space as we’ll be keeping you informed.