Apple's new $350 HomePod speaker sounds great - but there are 7 crucial things it can't do

While HomePod will answer to anyone's commands, it isn't capable of recognizing individual voices. This means you can't set up user profiles or tailor the device to different members of a household.

The version of Siri that lives inside HomePod isn't quite the same as Siri on your iPhone. It can't check your calendar for events or make a new one.

For comparison, both Google Home and Amazon Echo have those skills — and not just for Google Calendar. Even the Echo can sync with your iCloud calendar, so it's a bit strange that that feature isn't available on the HomePod (not yet, at least).

To be clear, streaming services like Spotify, Pandora, and Tidal will work on HomePod — they just won't work very well.

Once your HomePod is synced with your device, you'll be able to play whatever you'd like through the speaker, thanks to AirPlay. But you won't be able to control your music using Siri, which takes away a lot of the functionality that makes HomePod "smart."

HomePod does not have any inputs, so there's no way to plug in an auxiliary cord to listen on a non-supported device.

Right now, if you say "Hey Siri, call mom," it can handle that in a matter of seconds. But in order to make a call using HomePod, you have to dial the person's number on your iPhone, then manually select that the call play through HomePod. It works great, but it takes a few steps to get there.

The HomePod version of Siri isn't prepared to answer random questions like Alexa and Google Assistant. It's not 100% clear what the device's limitations are exactly, but Apple says Siri on the HomePod is capable of "general knowledge." That likely means it can't answer obscure trivia questions, play games, or tell jokes like other smart speakers.