A cheap Android phone plugged into the speakers? You can "OK google" that.
a wife has no time nor tolerance for half ass home baked tech.
Apparently wives differ, because my partner has proved to be capable of pressing a couple of buttons on a remote, and is rewarded with better quality sound from better speakers.
Also that comes with the added bonus that I don't have to buy a $350 device that is going to be completely useless in a couple of years when Apple decides it won't support the only proprietary, closed way to persuade it to actually perform it's sole function which is to emit music, so all the lucky s̶h̶e̶e̶p customers are forced to purchase the next shiny disposable trinket.
Homepod is a completely throwaway product, something that embodies the worst aspects of our society, a disposable object for a myopic consumer.