Apple's HomePad to Be Unveiled Next Tuesday, Report Previews Three Home Features

The report, citing rumors, said the HomePad will offer a Photos face that automatically cycles through pictures stored in Apple Photos. It notes that digital picture frames are not a new category, but that there are currently no frames with native Apple Photos integration, a gap the writer says has kept him from buying one: his photos live in Apple Photos and he does not want to load images onto a frame by hand. He writes that he hopes to place several HomePads around his house.

A second expected feature concerns music. The writer says he owns several HomePods and uses them to listen to music, and has wanted to see lyrics while a song plays. He can already do this by streaming from his iPhone over AirPlay, but says he rarely does so because he tries to avoid taking out his phone when his family is around. With the HomePad, he writes, "all signs point to" the Music app displaying lyrics onscreen during playback, which he says would let him learn songs better while staying present with his family.

The third feature is Siri AI on a HomePod-like device with a screen. The report describes Siri AI as a major improvement over the older assistant, capable of handling essentially any question, and says the HomePad would both raise the assistant's capability and let it show visual responses. The writer says he currently asks the Siri on his HomePods to do basic tasks such as setting reminders or providing weather information, and expects to turn to Siri far more often once it appears on the HomePad with a display.

Apple has not detailed the device's features, and the report's account of the Photos and Music capabilities rests on rumors and expectations rather than an announced specification. The piece is framed as the writer's own wish list for the product ahead of the event, and it invites readers to describe what they would use a HomePad for.