Apple has a packed lineup of hardware launches happening soon, including two brand new Home products: a new Apple TV 4K and HomePod mini 2. Here’s what to expect.
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Apple is gearing up for a new investment in the smart home that’s coming soon, and according to changes in the latest tvOS 26 beta, it seems part of that may be the replacing of the HomeKit brand with a fresh, unified name.
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Apple’s Home app hasn’t had any new publicized features in iOS 26 yet, but a code leak just revealed a new feature in the works that relies on Apple Maps’ new upgrades.
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Apple has long been rumored to be developing a product for the smart home. It’ll have a square 7-inch display, support Apple Intelligence, and essentially serve as a command center for all things Siri and HomeKit.
While this product was on track to launch this spring, numerous issues have pushed that timeline. Now, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman – it may finally launch later this year.
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Apple plans to launch new Home products this year and even new homeOS software. But it seems those aren’t the only changes coming, as the company has confirmed via a support document that iOS 19 will end support for its legacy Home app architecture, requiring an update.
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Apple has a big software year ahead, with major redesigns coming to iOS 19, macOS 16, and even iPadOS 19. But the company also has a brand new OS expected to launch this year. Here’s everything we know about Apple’s new ‘homeOS.’
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Back with iOS 16, Apple introduced a new architecture for the Home app aimed at improving the experience of using HomeKit devices. Since then, upgrading to the new architecture has been optional, but Apple will soon force this upgrade on all users.
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Apple’s researchers are experimenting with robotics projects, and a recent public demo of their work involved a cute robot lamp prototype. While the lamp isn’t an official new product, it still got me very excited about Apple’s future Home ambitions. Here’s why.
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Apple is launching three new Home products this year: ‘HomePad,’ a new Apple TV 4K, and HomePod mini 2. At least two of these devices will come with a key upgrade that could make a big difference for the smart home’s future.
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Apple is working on several new smart home products for this year and beyond, including a home doorbell and video camera. Amid the flurry of CES smart home announcements, a common theme has emerged that points to a key reason Apple’s new products may exist in the first place.
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Matter is a smart home standard focused on promoting interoperability between the various competing home ecosystems from Apple, Google, and Amazon. A new report says smart speaker support is in the works for Matter, but there’s a big catch regarding what this means for Apple users and the HomePod.
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Apple is finally getting serious about the smart home, with three new Home products launching in 2025 and several more after that. Excited as I am for this new Home momentum, it also reminds me of a long-standing Apple rule that could be challenged by this lineup of new products.
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Apple is planning a big smart home push in 2025 that will come with at least three product launches. One of those devices is a brand new smart display product I’ve been calling the ‘HomePad.’ Here are three reasons you may want to put HomePad in every room of your house.
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This is Rumor Replay, a weekly column at 9to5Mac offering a quick rundown of the most recent Apple product rumors, with analysis and commentary. Today: Apple’s smart doorbell project, new AirPods Pro developments, iOS 19 device compatibility, and more. Here are this week’s Apple rumors.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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” …
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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…