Setup HomePod without Two-Factor and iCloud Keychains

Yes, you must have both:

On the iOS device that you use to set up HomePod, make sure that you signed in to iCloud with your Apple ID and turned on iCloud Keychain. You also need to have two-factor authentication set up for your Apple ID.

From this support article: Set up and use HomePod - Apple Support

Best of luck,

GB

If your use is going to be AirPlay only, I wonder if it might be possible to create a new Apple ID (with 2-factor authentication and iCloud Keychain) and use that to set up a HomePod. Perhaps not ideal, but that could be a workaround for the initial setup.

I picked one up this afternoon after all, and have set it up using a new Apple ID, a process which worked perfectly well, though I have not yet tried to add other devices as 'guests' which I hope is possible.

As to sound quality, when airplaying content from my Music playlists on an iPod Touch, it is truly excellent. Not in any sense beating significantly more expensive audio systems, but it is remarkable for the size, and good value for the money ($349 in the US). I have a Yamaha audio system that cost $400 new about 10 years ago, and it is certainly better than that.

In terms of bass performance, I have done a little experimenting, and if placed in a corner, or up against a wall or other solid surface, bass does extend and gets muddied, but that would be expected. When placed away from walls, it sounds very clean and well balanced. I am still experimenting, but it is interesting to hear how its sonic profile changes when it is moved around.

It is notably better than the second generation Echo I have in the same room, and I am happy with it overall. That said, I bought it to experiment with rather than for serious use, so the relatively poor functionality of Siri in comparison to Alexa isn't a concern. As a target for air play content, it works rather well.

Alas - it seems that to enjoy the wonderful, dare we say magical, sound of the HomePod you must be prepared to deal with the multiple side-effects of 2FA. When I bought a HomePod for my office, I was unaware of the 2FA requirement, but was so excited about the prospects of auditory bliss that I turned 2FA on for my account. Oh, had I only been warned! Not five minutes into my sound nirvana was I interrupted with a request to authorize a request on one of my Apple TV's. For the sake of fairness, I should disclose that I have a LOT of apple devices, including at least half a dozen Apple TV's. Apparently my 5 year old had decided to watch one of our previously purchased Disney movies and "it no work". I got a call from my wife and together we entered the 2 factor code into the Apple TV. On a whim, I suggested we try to play a different movie that we owned hoping it wouldn't message me again. Unfortunately, we had to authorize yet another movie. I told her that we'd have to deal with it as I was beginning to love my HomePod and the account would certainly settle down with it's paranoid, incessant demands to prove I'm me. My phone lost it's mind with 2FA validation requests that afternoon as my other kids came home and fired up iPads, other Apple TV's, and iPod Touches. The worst was my 8 year old with a 3rd generation Apple TV... You know you have to ADD the 6 digit 2FA code to the end of the password? But do that in 30 seconds, or start over... While I contemplated replacing all of my older Apple TV's with 4th generation models to avoid that pain, I weighed the cost with this new super safe level of security being forced on me. As these thoughts bounced in my head, my brother (an evil lover of other branded phones), stopped in my office and observed my fantastic new super safe speaker technology. He shouted "Hey Siri! Schedule "pick my nose" at 2:30 pm", and dutifully was that added directly onto my calendar.... The HomePod is now back on the shelf at the Apple Store, and after 3 days of battle I have disabled 2FA on my apple account. You have been warned.

I can see the appeal for Apple in locking users into Apple Music where ever possible, but I agree that forcing users into 2-factor authentication and iCloud Keychain is just not acceptable to me. I was forced into 2FA some time ago, and it messed up my Apple ID, and meant hours of fiddling with forced password changes across multiple devices, then again when I had to disable it because I couldn't receive the login code Apple was sending. And I certainly do not have any desire to place my keychain in iCloud. I imagine that Apple are capable of keeping it secure, but given that my keychain contains login access to multiple systems I manage for work, I would not be permitted to share it in the cloud.

So, it's either no HomePod for me unless they change these requirements (which does not seem likely at all), or I'll try the alternative Apple ID method, which will not have any content or keychain to share.

At relatively low volumes, I doubt there would be much to tell the difference between a HomePod and a Sonos, and in fact the HomePod can seem a little lacking in punch when playing at low level. When increasing the volume however it really does come alive in a big way. As such, which device might be better for you does depend to some extent on what volume you are planning for it to be used at.

Near a wall shouldn't be a problem, as long as it isn't in a corner. But that's going to apply to any speaker.

Agree totally about Apple's insistence on 2FA and iCloud keychain, even as I understand that if they don't impose reliable security protocols, they would inevitably face law suits from people who didn't practice sufficient security protections and had their accounts hacked as a result. Ultimately, we have no choice but to make purchasing decisions based on what is or isn't acceptable (or can't be worked around).

For me, as an acoustics engineer (albeit many years ago), my interest in the HomePod is the degree of performance achievable from what amounts to a very small speaker. I was prepared to workaround the security requirements in order to test one and experiment with it. As such I am quite impressed so far.

If Apple were to add, or allow, functionality similar to Alexa, they would have an unbeatable product, even coming so late to the market. Of course they won't, but even as an airplay destination for iTunes music, (and UK radio stations in my case too) it is excellent. The only downside is that since it's only possible to airplay from one source at a time, it can be fiddly switching. My mostly unused iPad may find a new life as my primary HomePod source.

As an added thought about 2FA and iCloud keychain, I wonder if these could be disabled once the setup is complete. I haven't tried, but since I am using airplay, not Apple Music as my source, so not (knowingly at least) using my Apple account, I would have thought that might work.

2FA is perfectly OK for a single device, and a sensible precaution for both users and Apple to implement to protect accounts which contain personal data, credit card and payment information, and content - and when extrapolated to iCloud, potentially a great deal more, such as photos and documents.

The problem in my mind is not the theory that 2FA is sensible, it the practical aspects of implementation when it comes to multiple devices, and it is the experience users have in this situation which I suspect has not been significantly considered. I know that when I (unexpectedly) had 2FA enabled on my account some time ago when it was first introduced, it resulted in most of my devices being unusable - at least for the purposes I needed them for. As an example, I use my iPhone extensively for FaceTime Audio and Messages, but these were inaccessible because the code was being sent by SMS, and AT&T had disabled SMS on my account. No code, no access. Repeated across iPods, iPads, MacBooks, iMacs, and Apple TVs, this was infuriating, frustrating, obstructive and totally unnecessary.

I provided feedback to Apple on the subject, and ultimately discovered how to turn 2FA off, and in doing so, was forced to change my Apple ID password, which then meant having to log into my account on each device in turn, entering the required tortuously complex password on virtual keyboards totally unsuited to such a task. But at least eventually, I had access to services on my devices again. Even so, I had missed several important calls and messages.

Once bitten, twice shy. If I had been looking at buying a HomePod for serious use rather than curiosity, the 2FA requirement would certainly and absolutely have decided me to keep my money.

Overall, I suspect that most people will deal with it and get used to it, and the world will continue turning. But I do wish that Apple paid a little more attention to the user experience, as it applies to actual users of Apple products rather than those who test devices, systems and services on our behalf - and who for all I know, all use throwaway Apple IDs like I did for the HomePod!

All that said, this is not really within the terms of use, so now I've had my moan, I'll shut up!