Apple’s HomePod might be the best-sounding smart speaker we’ve heard, but it isn’t without limitations - among which is the fact it can only support a single user.
Well, multi-user support for HomePod and other Siri-using devices could be on the way. A patent for ‘user profiling for voice input processing’ was today granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, as spotted by Apple Insider.
The patent could mean Apple is looking into its devices being able to identify multiple users by their voice, and thus perform user-specific tasks.
For example, if multiple user profiles were assigned to a HomePod, the owners of those profiles could ask for certain alarms to be set or emails to be read without accessing the other profiles.
It suggests that language, accents and user habits and usage could also be built up over time.
However, the patent doesn’t make it clear that this is Apple’s intention, only the possibility for voice recognition for user identification has been granted.
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