Once upon a time, Apple made Wi-Fi routers called AirPorts. But the company abandoned the router scene with its last AirPort discontinued in 2018. Now, a slew of recent rumors provide hope that a new AirPort could be on the way.
Expand Expanding Close
The Apple-backed group that oversees the Matter smart device standard has launched its latest big update. Matter 1.4 debuts today with a variety of improvements that further advance smart home capabilities. Here’s what’s new.
Expand Expanding Close
iOS 18 is a big release with a ton of new features. Some enhancements to the Home app, like support for robot vacuum cleaners, aren’t coming until later. But there’s one update available now that could save you time and frustration. Building your smart home of the future just got easier than ever in iOS 18’s Home app.
Expand Expanding Close
Update: Reddit user BigPoppa1 has found a simple fix:
Rename a device via Home app in iPhone or iPad. It should force a refresh back to HomePod.
It was just yesterday I wrote about one annoying HomePod error message, and it’s now clear that this isn’t the only one to be bugging HomePod owners this week. Many users are reporting that Siri is responding to all HomeKit commands with: “It looks like you haven’t set up any HomeKit accessories” …
Expand Expanding Close
One of the valuable updates that arrived with iOS 16 this fall is an overhauled Home app. Additions and changes in the fresh experience include a new UI and iconography, customizable sections, fresh wallpapers, a more seamless experience, and more. Now Apple has shared how it approached the big Home app update in an interview.
Expand Expanding Close
The Home app gets lots of attention in iOS 16 with a fully refreshed design. Additions and changes in the overhauled experience include a new UI and iconography, customizable sections, fresh wallpapers, a more seamless experience, and more.
Expand Expanding Close
Indie developer Aaron Pearce recently launched an all-new HomeKit management app called HomeLog. Pearce has developed a suite of apps that improves Apple’s HomeKit platform over the years. The newest tool is designed to make troubleshooting HomeKit issues less frustrating. 9to5Mac recently caught up with Aaron to find out more about HomeLog and solving problems with HomeKit.
Expand Expanding Close
Apple’s Friday night move to suddenly pull the plug on HomePod after three years has created a messaging problem. Is everything OK at home, Apple? That’s the question being asked by customers who have invested in Apple’s smart home pitch.
You can trust that Apple will continue to make new iPhones and Macs for the foreseeable future, but Apple’s home products resemble Google’s betting strategy more than Apple’s usual commitment to focus and delivery.
Expand Expanding Close
Matthias Hochgatterer has been developing the best HomeKit app for power users since before Apple ever shipped their own Home app. The latest version of the third-party HomeKit management app called Home+ 5 brings a redesign and new ways to customize and organize complex smart home configurations.
Expand Expanding Close
A Home app concept posted on Behance pulls off a difficult trick: combining power and flexibility with ease of use.
Apple has done its best to walk that line, devices appearing as simple on/off buttons while a long-press reveals more powerful controls. For lights, for example, you can tap a button to toggle it on or off, and long-press to control the brightness or color – as well as to do things like assigning it to a different room…
iOS 13 introduces a fresh set of built-in background options for customizing Apple’s Home app, replacing three color gradients with a half dozen atmospheric color splashes. Check out all six new wallpapers below.
Though not yet shared on the company’s YouTube channel, Apple this evening updated the HomeKit page on its website with a new 45-second ad showcasing what the Home app in iOS 10 is capable of. Apple has also made some general updates to that Home-focused website.
Elgato Eve Motion is a standalone motion detection sensor that’s compatible with Apple’s HomeKit feature. Eve Motion can be used as a sensor in iOS 10’s Home app to trigger scenes and control accessories.
If you’re assembling a HomeKit home, First Alert’s Onelink Smoke + Carbon Monoxide Alarm is currently the best smoke detector to purchase. As a smart smoke and carbon monoxide alarm, Onelink sends you alerts when triggered while you’re away and HomeKit support turns Onelink into a trigger for automation. Check out our hands-on review below:
During Apple’s Q1 earnings call this week, Tim Cook used HomeKit as an example of how the iPhone is expanding Apple’s ecosystem into new areas where it can innovate:
Our ecosystem is broadening to more and more of the areas where people spend their time. At the gym, on the go, in the home, and on the job. […]
And we are leading the industry by being the first to integrate home automation into a major platform with iOS 10.
As our resident HomeKit enthusiast, Cook discussing the feature during Apple’s earnings call caught my attention. Cook even describes how he’s personally using HomeKit. Below I’ll unpack exactly what Cook said about HomeKit, a bit about how I’m using it as well, and some helpful HomeKit resources.
Before Apple built its Home app for HomeKit in iOS 10, Matthias Hochgatterer created the best HomeKit app around with the original Home app. Apple’s Home app on iOS 10 is built-in, free, and has its own panel on Control, but the third-party Home app is still the best solution if you’re in deep with HomeKit like me. The iOS 10 version includes updated widgets, a new design, a refreshed Apple Watch app, and a temporarily discounted price to mark the launch.
We’ve already shared the new default wallpapers currently in iOS 10 and macOS Sierra, but there are also two additional new wallpapers that ship with iOS 10. Apple’s new HomeKit app called Home includes two house-themed images that you can set as wallpapers inside the app. 9to5Mac reader Mark Malstrom has extracted and shared both Home app wallpapers from iOS 10 for iPhone and iPad so you can use them as your Home screen and Lock screen wallpaper too.
HomeKit, Apple’s smart home accessory framework, is gaining some much needed attention in iOS 10 and watchOS 3 thanks to a new built-in Home app for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. Apple previously relied on third-party apps from accessory makers to control the HomeKit experience, using Siri as the only first-party controller, and various apps like the third-party Home app and Hesperus filled in the void.
Apple’s new Home app comes with a modern look, relatively easy-to-use controls, and access to accessories and scenes from anywhere on iOS 10. Check out our hands-on below to see Apple’s Home app for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch in action.
A standalone iOS app for Apple’s HomeKit platform could finally arrive in iOS 10 as a new report claims an Apple employee on the company’s marketing team revealed plans for the launch in an online review. MacRumors found the mention (pasted below) within a product review related to HomeKit and says it confirmed the person that left the comment was indeed an Apple employee.
As I work in marketing for Apple, we test many Smart Home devices, especially for iOS HomeKit integration. […]
Some advice, there are many third party applications, most free, that offer more control and customization(s) with many Smart Home devices. “Yonomi” is a free app that I often use, “Home” is another which cost $14.99. Both offer support for many devices with more added daily (including Amazon “Echo”). The next version of iOS due this fall will have a standalone “HomeKit” app as well.
Apple has had plans for a HomeKit app on your iPhone’s home screen for quite a while as it’s developed the platform that currently only allows control of supported home automation accessories through Siri or third-party apps. We were first to detail some of the planned features for the platform and app back before the release of iOS 9, some which like the app have yet to be released.
The idea is that rather than using various apps each accessory maker builds, you could just open one “Home” app on your iPhone to manage everything. These apps already exist in the form of third-party solutions like the Hesperus app we reviewed a couple weeks back, but a solution direct from Apple would hopefully mean one of the best implementations yet and maybe some new features that third-party developers don’t have access to in the current crop of apps.
If the report is true, we could finally get our first look at the Home app at Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference in June where the company is expected to preview iOS 10 alongside its other upcoming products and developer tools.
Apple doesn’t include a Home app for HomeKit like it does a Health app for HealthKit, but Matthias Hochgatterer’s Home app is a worthy solution for anyone diving into Apple’s Siri-controlled home automation platform. In testing various HomeKit-compatible smart accessories, Home for iOS has been a critical piece of the puzzle in making everything work correctly and reliably.
Siri controls HomeKit, but third-party apps from various accessory makers are needed for creating scenes and triggers that really make home automation come to life. Eve does the best job of making one app for all HomeKit accessories, but a dedicated HomeKit app with excellent support for all accessories is ideal. Home, which costs $14.99 but is available for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch, is a rather essential purchase for having a good experience with Apple’s HomeKit.
Last week we shared the latest HomeKit app on the market, Hesperus, which features an approachable design and customization options at no cost but lacks iPad and Apple Watch apps and Notification Center widgets for now. I mentioned Home for iOS, which is obviously pricier up front, and noted how its Settings-like design can feel cold in comparison. Over the weekend, however, Home for iOS reached version 1.6, which includes tweaks to how accessories are organized plus some nice iconography that I think really enhances the overall design.
Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.
Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.
[tweet https://twitter.com/9to5toys/status/626815891154567168 align=’center’]
[tweet https://twitter.com/9to5toys/status/626810599402512384 align=’center’]
[tweet https://twitter.com/9to5toys/status/626764461634920448 align=’center’]
[tweet https://twitter.com/9to5toys/status/625692013636263936 align=’center’]
Insteon, Lutron, iHome, Elgato and Ecobee have all just announced that their HomeKit products are now officially available and/or shipping to customers.
The announcements come on the heels of our report that Apple partners planned this week to launch the first products using the company’s new Siri-controlled HomeKit home automation platform, first introduced alongside iOS 8 last year.
Expand
Expanding
Close
