Apple announced the all-new Home app for the HomeKit smart home platform at WWDC this week. The new app arrives on iOS 16 later this year and has a completely new design. Apple says the app has been re-engineered from the ground up, making it more efficient and reliable, especially in homes with multiple spans.
The navigation system has also been redesigned to make it easier to find, organize and control devices, and a new category for climate, lights, speakers, TVs, water (sprinklers, faucets) and security lets you access these devices in one place. . This will make it easier to turn off all the lights or close all the doors, even if they are in different rooms.
You can now see your entire home on the Home tab, with rooms connected to Favorites on the Home screen. The new multi-camera view shows four security cameras on the main homepage, with more available on side scrolling. This horizontal operation makes it easy to get what you want, rather than having to scroll through a lot of accessories and multiple camera views.
The bonus box has also been redesigned to indicate the status of each device using shape and color. And you can control it directly through the icon, and you can get detailed control by clicking on the name of the add-on.
The new HomeKit lock screen lets you access accessories and view device status faster.
Apple has also cheered the issue, The The new smart home connection is important, which allows devices to work across multiple platforms. The issue is expected to appear later this year, possibly at the same time as the release of iOS 16. Apple says the new operating system will support the Home app standard.
During the keynote, Corey Wang said that Apple has contributed to HomeKit as “the foundation of the new standard,” and that Matter supports some of the principles of HomeKit, including the highest level of security and privacy. He also explained how Matter can help HomeKit users integrate multiple categories of devices into their smart homes, allowing them to choose from the most compatible smart home accessories and control them with the Home app and Siri. So far, HomeKit has lost many categories in the smart home, including vacuum cleaners and pet feeders.
iOS 16 will be available as a developer preview starting today, with a public beta release next month and the full version coming in the fall. It will support iPhone 8 and later, iPad (5th generation and later), iPad mini (5th generation and later), iPad Air (3rd generation and later), and all iPad Pro models.