The Apple HomePod (2nd generation) has four microphones that can automatically adapt the audio to that room. The approved patent could allow HomePod to adjust before telling you what to do.

With the upcoming HomePod 2, Apple is likely to include a host of new smart home features and compatibility with key issues. However, this new patent, titled "Multi Media Computing Or Entertainment System For Responding To User Presence And Activity," was discovered by AppleInsider (opens in new tab), It shows that HomePod can respond to a person in a room without being approached.

This could be "expressed in the movement of hand gestures," such as waving a hand to play/pause, making a conductor-like gesture to increase or decrease audio volume, playing some upbeat song when it detects dancing, or even noticing that the room is empty and or stop playback when it detects that the room is empty. Apple states in the patent that "the system can better approximate and satisfy the user's desires, whether expressed literally or implicitly." However, this could use more personal information than a smart speaker might be expected to require.

Apple gives an example in the patent: "If a user is detected as older and that user explicitly requests a higher volume, the system may determine that the user needs better differentiation of voice dialog in the system output. Therefore, the system may change the relative spectral distribution of the system output rather than increasing the average volume.

While some would undoubtedly welcome such an equalizer-style adjustment, many would be wary of inviting Apple into their homes to such a degree. Of course, it is worth noting that a successful patent application does not mean that the system will be implemented, and that this level of information is already stored in iPhone users' Apple accounts as well.

These are not the first time Apple has incorporated gestures to control devices. However, this new patent could go even further and make the HomePod not just a better music device, but one that is better suited for an aging society, much like AirPods can be used as hearing aids.