Apple is paying more attention to its HomePod speakers these days, especially with the return of the full-size model. A new feature is rolling out to them that might help you know when emergencies happen: alarm detection.
Apple’s smart speakers are officially getting a new feature that will listen for alarms coming from smoke or carbon monoxide detectors and alert you if there’s a house fire. Of course, you need actual alarms for this to happen, as the HomePod can’t detect smoke or carbon monoxide on its own. But if you’re not home, you won’t hear them.
If you have them, your HomePod will listen for them and send a notification to your phone to let you know that something, most likely a fire, tripped your alarm. From there, you can take your own steps — either go back home or, preferably, call 911 to get firemen down to your place immediately.
This is just one of many safety/emergency features Apple has rolled out to its devices. Apple has also rolled out support for calling 911 in the case of car crashes to its latest Apple Watch and iPhone devices, as well as support for calling emergency services via a satellite when there’s no cell signal. With this, the company wants to ensure, in many ways, that people in its ecosystem can handle an emergency and minimize losses.
The update is rolling out to the first and second-gen HomePods as well as to the HomePod mini, but it could take a few weeks for it to roll out to yours.
Source: The Verge
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