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HomePod Can Now Alert You If Your Smoke Alarm Goes Off

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The Sound Recognition feature that is built into the latest version of the HomePod and the HomePod mini is now able to detect the beeping of a smoke alarm, sending you an alert if there is an emergency situation.

HomePod 2 and Mini feature 1
Announced when the new ‌HomePod‌ debuted in January, the Sound Recognition option is available as of today, according to TechCrunch. It can detect both activated smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors, sending a notification to an iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch.

If you're at home, you're going to hear a smoke alarm go off, but if you're away, it is a useful feature to ensure that you're alerted as soon as possible when smoke or carbon monoxide is detected. Some smoke detectors are smart and are able to send alerts, but for those who have standard hardware, the ‌HomePod‌ offers peace of mind.

Smoke alarm Sound Recognition can be set up using the Home app on an Apple device. HomeKit setups that incorporate a camera will be able to send a video along with the alert so that you can see at a glance what might be wrong and react accordingly.

Sound Recognition is done through the ‌HomePod‌ or ‌HomePod mini‌ and the alert is sent from device to device, with no involvement of Apple's cloud servers.

Related Roundups: HomePod, HomePod mini
Buyer's Guide: HomePod (Caution), HomePod Mini (Don't Buy)
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Top Rated Comments

vegetassj4 Avatar
vegetassj4
42 months ago

“Using the home app” 🤨
I couldn't find a setting anywhere, so I asked Siri "Hey Siri listen for smoke detector" and got this:



Attachment Image
Score: 37 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sniffies Avatar
sniffies
42 months ago
It would be cool if HomePod could turn into a fire sprinkler too.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
X
xpxp2002
42 months ago

Get alerts for smoke and carbon monoxide detectors ('https://support.apple.com/guide/homepod/alerts-smoke-carbon-monoxide-detectors-apd1f1921722/homepod') from the HomePod user guide.
From that article:

You can turn Sound Recognition on or off in the Home app. Open the Home app on your iPhone or iPad, tap MacRumors content image, tap Home Settings, then tap Safety & Security.
I'm on the new architecture and this section does not exist.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
vegetassj4 Avatar
vegetassj4
42 months ago
instructions??
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
J
jhollington
42 months ago

Just gonna say it, since nobody else has yet: this means it is constantly listening to its surroundings. May mean something, may not, but that means for this to work it must be constantly vigilant to the sounds around it.
Well, HomePods have been listening for "Hey Siri" for years (unless you turn that off), so this isn't really anything new — and, of course, it's also an optional feature.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
F
foobarbaz
42 months ago

I have 12 Nest protests with homebridge I already get those alerts. Cool feature tho i hope it wont duplicate alerts i already get.
Yeah, if your house is on fire, duplicate alerts would be a real bummer. :p
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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