In this article, we’ll discuss how to use this new feature and show you how to use it with Apple Home smart home automations.
With the new temperature and humidity sensing in the HomePod, you can easily check what the temperature is in the room your smart speaker is in by asking Siri. Say, “Hey Siri, what’s the temperature here?” and the voice assistant replies with the current reading. The same goes for checking the humidity.
You can also use the Apple Home app on an iPad or iPhone to view current readings. Here’s how to see the temperature or humidity in your home – it works even when you’re away from home.
Apple’s Home app lets you put the HomePod’s new sensors to work, creating automations that cause other smart home devices to react to the temperature or humidity going above or below a certain threshold.
This can be used to turn on a fan connected to a smart plug when the temperature in your bedroom rises or turn on a humidifier when the humidity drops below a comfortable level. If you have smart shades, you can set them lower if the temperature in a room rises between noon and 7 p.m.
Apple does warn that the sensors are optimized for ambient temperatures between 69 degrees Fahrenheit and 86 degrees Fahrenheit and relative humidity around 30 to 70 percent, and that accuracy is not guaranteed if the speaker plays music at high volume for long periods of time, so keep that in mind when you rely on automations you set up.