It isn’t clear how to update the HomePod from IOS 11.4 to 12. I can download the config profile but the HomePod doesn’t know there is an update when I try to update it. I’m on the same network with my iphone and my ipad. Is the profile simply a placeholder or is there actually an update it is not seeing?
updating HomePod to IOS 12?
HomePod is a seperate update thru the Home App, currently HomePod is 11.4(15F80) regardless of IOS 11.4 or Beta 12.
I understand that. My question is why there is an IOS 12 Homepod option configuration profile, but no Homepod IOS 12 beta.
I would assume that will be for some future 3rd party intergration, whenever they decide to let developers access to the HomePod.
There isn't an "iOS 12 HomePod option configuration profile" — it's just an iOS 12 configuration profile that you happen to be able to install on the HomePod if you want — just like any other configuration profile on any other Apple device. For instance, you can install the iOS 12 configuration profile on the Apple Watch too, but that won't give you access to any betas, since iOS 12 doesn't run on the Apple Watch. In fact, you can even install the tvOS 12 beta configuration profile on your iPhone, HomePod, or Apple Watch if you want to, but it's pointless to do so, since that obivously doesn't mean that you can install tvOS on these devices 🙂
HomePod does not run iOS as we understand it. Apple seems to be declining to give the HomePod operating system a specific name beyond "HomePod" — if you look at the last update, it was merely shown as "HomePod 11.4"
That said, my guess is that a HomePod beta configuration profile does exist somewhere within the walls of Apple, and this is how the internal development teams get the latest betas on the HomePod, but at this point, it's not something Apple is making available to outside developers.
On the topic of a Homepod iOS 12 beta, anyone know if Homepod is expected to support Siri Shortcuts therefore expanding its capabilities ?
I expect this to be (more) functional in a later release/homepod beta release, as it works already now, due to the way the "Siri Personal Area Network" works; you can try it yourself by asking Siri via HomePod to so something you have a shortcut for.
The HomePod will say something like "The HomePod and the iPhone need to be on the same WiFi netwrk" as the task is being performed on the phone...so, look for it soon, assuming that release doesn't expose something AAPL has not yet announced 😉