Apple's homeOS platform is coming: All the rumors, and what you need to know
Apple is rumored to be on the precipice of releasing a new software platform to control your entire home. Here's what's been rumored about homeOS.
Apple may introduce homeOS as a new software platform
Spawned from a common core, Apple has been creating branches of its operating systems for its hardware for years. There's watchOS for the Apple Watch, iOS for the iPhone, iPadOS runs on iPad, and so on.
Rumors about homeOS have been circulating for years at this point. There have been references within Apple's code that points to a new software platform, either as a wholly new addition, or as a replacement to some of its existing ones.
So far, it looks like the latest fork is called homeOS. And to date, no product uses this software.
This is what the rumors have told us so far, and when we may see it revealed.
What is homeOS?
Apple's homeOS has remained unofficial, though that seems poised to change in the not too distant future. It is rumored to be the operating system for Apple's upcoming smart home display.
This iPad-smart speaker combo device is set to launch later in 2025, though the release has been in flux. It could be further delayed because of Apple's ongoing Siri turmoil.
A mockup of a smart speaker with a tablet on the front
Like Apple's HomePod software, homeOS is based off of Apple's tvOS platform. We can presumably infer some of what the homeOS interface will look like because of that.
In our opinion, the new screensaver switching interface Apple added with tvOS 18 is far more suitable for a countertop smart screen than your TV. Other interfaces like the new Control Center or Music app with lyric view would look at home as well.
One point to ponder is whether the new homeOS will replace tvOS and the generic HomePod software, or if it will exist on its own. Only time will tell how Apple chooses to proceed with these overlapping systems.
The primary use case of homeOS will be smart home control.
It will be a center point in your home to see who is at your door, if you left a window open, to control your shades, help you follow a recipe, communicate with others, and get answers to questions.
Of course, that means it will support Apple Home -- formerly HomeKit. That is Apple's smart home framework used on bulbs, switches, and many more device types.
Apple's homeOS will be beneficial in controlling your home
Along with Apple Home is Mattera, a unifying smart home standard that allows devices to work in Apple Home, Google Home, and Amazon's assistant with a single certification.
In our homes, we can control our shades based on the time of day, lock and unlock our doors remotely, run the vacuum, adjust the temperature, and more thanks to Apple Home.
Apple's homeOS will be able to act as a Home Hub for these accessories. This is what enables secure remote access, as well as local video processing for people, animals, cars, and packages.
Lastly for the smart home, it will act as a Thread border router. Previously, only Apple TV and HomePod could handle this task.
Thread is an emerging wireless protocola that creates a self-healing mesh network across your home for accessories to communicate. In many ways it's preferable to Zigbee, Bluetooth, or Wi-Fi for certain devices.
Apple has built usable Thread radios into iPhone, Apple TV, and HomePod for years now. There are Thread radios in other Apple devices too, though Apple has yet to activate them.
Core to the homeOS experience will be be Siri and Apple Intelligence. Apple's new platform will very likely support the next-generation, more personal version of Siri that will be more capable of getting things done.
Especially by voice.
HomePod and HomePod mini are both able to differentiate people who are talking to them based on their voice. The new OS should work in a similar way.
This will help the OS provide the correct answers and information to the relevant user.
When it comes to the home screen and interface, we don't entirely know. It could look like the Apple TV interface or it could be more like the iPad.
Another mockup of an Apple smart display
We'd guess more the former, but it will likely be some sort of combination.
You can expect there to be widget support, similar in design to Apple's StandBy mode found on iPhone. There's also talk of a distance-aware screen.
The screen could change what it shows, based on how far away you are. This isn't an entirely new premise though.
Even our Ecobee thermostat does this where it shows one interface when you're far away, but then changes to be more information-dense as you approach.
Apple could show you the Snoopy screensaver with the time when you're across the room but switch to widget view or the Home Screen as you get close.
As far as apps go, many of Apple stock apps should be supported. Apple TV, Home, Music, Podcasts, Weather, Photos, and News will likely be there, to name a few.
News just saw a sizable update that will be perfectly suited for homeOS. It has a new cooking feature that includes a step-by-step guide for your recipes.
Users could view recipes on their iPhone or iPad, save their favorites, then use Siri to open the step-by-step cooking guide on their homeOS device. Using Siri app intents, we wouldn't be surprised to see the ability to jump step to step with your voice too.
Lastly, and this is a major downside for us, there won't be support for third party apps. At least at launch.
Apple could easily add developer support over time, but we'd be very sad to see this entire new device and be limited to only Apple's stock apps.
This homeOS seems powerful and it would be great to see how developers could make use of this entirely new platform. Perhaps next year with homeOS 2...
When will homeOS be announced?
The arrival of homeOS is still up in there. Apple could opt to transition other devices like Apple TV and HomePod to homeOS.
If that happens, it could make its official debut at WWDC 2025 this summer. If Apple is going to keep it exclusive to its smart display, it would be fall of 2025 at the earliest.
Should Apple's smart display get punted down the line again, that could further delay the software platform. Hopefully that would just give Apple more time to add additional features.
Stay tuned to AppleInsider where we'll continue to report on any additional leaks ahead of the release.
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
Updated Apple TV, HomePods and more would be amazing. It is a neglected area and should be a first class iCloud citizen.
The hub will likely just be a box, like an AppleTV box. It will contain the hardware necessary to run Apple Intelligence (AI) and an advanced Siri. Other Home devices, like existing HomePods, AppleTVs and new wireless home terminal screens, will then be networked to the hub, which will handle all the heavy processing that's required for all those devices to run AI and super Siri. (Note that the ridiculousness of the renderings in the article above makes it pretty obvious that the hub will not be a HomePod with a tablet nailed to the side.)
It's this mainframe scenario that will make it possible for Apple to roll out an AI-powered Apple Home without creating the enormous and prohibitive barrier of requiring everyone to replace their existing AppleTVs and HomePods before being able to use it. All those devices are already on your home network and they don't ever leave it. By introducing a powerful hub, all everything else needs to be able to do is function like a "dumb terminal." Not only does this scenario not require upgrading existing HomePods and AppleTVs with more powerful processors in each, but it also means that future models as well as new wireless Apple Home tablets can be kept less expensive. This is necessary because making an IoT home truly just work requires having enough user interfaces distributed through the home so that there's always something conveniently accessible. An iPhone or iPad helps with that, but it's easy to get up and leave it somewhere. Having enough control devices that "live" in different parts of the home is the better solution.
For Apple to leap forward with Apple Home and make it the thing it should be (and finally better than the competition), they have to make it possible to quickly put AI-powered control into lots of homes, while maintaining their stated intention to keep most AI queries securely under user control and out of the cloud. A "mainframe" Home Hub makes that instantly possible as soon as Apple puts it out there.
The addition of inexpensive terminal screens adds the option of visual Apple Home controls when talking to Siri isn't preferred. The new terminal screens themselves can be super-thin tablets as small as an iPad mini with a MagSafe connector on the back, so that it can easily be attached to a charger on the wall or a stand in the kitchen. It would only need a front-facing camera, a microphone and small built-in speakers. It would only need WiFi and bluetooth antennas, minimal data storage and a lightweight processor. Every query to one would be transmitted to the Hub for processing. This simple configuration would make them inexpensive enough to place several throughout the home.
Put all that together, and you have an Apple Home that just works.
HomeKit needs more power as well - Home Assistant has the power but usability is poor. The automations in HomeKit are too basic; I have lights that are on low at night and when activity is detected they raise to be brighter. But there is no option to return to previous brightness/scene, they can either stay on at max, or turn off. You can sort of do it with shortcuts, but its a faff.
Right now the UI are so heavily focused on device control they quickly become unwieldy after a certain accumulation of devices. Apple needs to start to move people towards looking at their home from a Scene based workflow. You Automate the stuff that you just don't want to think about (like my closets, laundry, pantry, garage all have motion sensors for the lights). Next the complementary items in a home need to be paired together in scenes. They say the hardest thing is to name things. If you've 50 devices simply naming them and recalling them all via the app user interface or voice because exponentially more difficult. If you can boil things down to a dozen scenes you have an easier target to find or even call out via Siri.
Apple's put a lot of work into App Intents and I expect another large functional leap coming at WWDC. Home OS is likely only partially delayed by Siri but the real grunt is going to come from the maturation of App Intents as the driving force.
My view is Apple needs to sort out how it wants its devices to operate and interact with one another (it should be faultless, particularly in an home with all the devices on the same WiFi network) and sort out the basics. There is too much updating all the time. Quite often nothing works with anything else. I appreciate as I use public betas they are not infallible but it is all too frequent that the basics just don’t work.
Likewise, I’m questioning why Apple would create yet another ecosystem “stack” for home automation unless it replaces one they already have, like tvOS. Just like calling the iPhone a phone vastly underserves the plethora of things it really does, tvOS needs to be go beyond TV and now may be a good time to transition it to a broader scope, like HomeOS. All of these OS stacks have to be supported through a full range of business and technical resources. This costs money, time, and focus, and the last thing Apple needs right now is to dilute any of those limited things across more stacks.
Apple doesn’t have to do everything, but what it does do, it needs to do exceedingly well. I think we’re seeing some cracks forming in what they’ve already got on their plate right now, which includes a ton of future focused stuff. Will adding more make things better?
Ideally, each device should have the decentralised ability to offer up its hardware capacities to a common pool on a virtual software bus for other devices to take advantage of (even independently of a hub).
If you are sitting in your living room and on a hands free call, sending the audio through the dedicated mics on the TV and using the speakers on the TV should be a seamless option instead of using those on the phone. Ideally, the communication options should 'move with the user' throughout the home for example by using mmwave movement sensing and handing off audio to other devices as the person moves from one room or position to another.
The cameras on your TV should be able to follow you (if you so desire) as you move around the room on video calls providing for a more interactive experience. The same cameras can be used for all kinds of other functions, too. Security surveillance using AI (tying in with mmwave sensors for example). Skeletal mapping for exercise, yoga etc.
Those same cameras should be able to interpret gestures. Muting TV sound should be as simple as looking at the TV and raising a single finger to your lips.
Some devices will simply be 'dumb' (even within a smart setting) in the sense, for example that they lack the hardware to participate in higher level authentication processes and, as a result, are unable to distinguish between owners and different users of devices (family/friends) or lack the security credentials to access privacy related functions.
A fridge doesn't need much access to user data if it is simply identifying the food in it, calories, possible recipes for what is in there or of course the expiry dates.
All IoT devices would be able to broadcast their abilities and only those with the right hardware credentials (IoT chipsets) would be able to access data in line their own particular security clearance. IoT is tiered in terms of security.
Devices will have the ability to pass information on to higher level devices with more credentials in critical circumstances. If an mmwave sensor detects a fall or that someone has stopped breathing for example, it should be able to draw on NPU compute power elsewhere (the TV, phone, tablet, laptop etc) for AI to confirm the situation and get another device to notify someone or even allow for voice communication via those devices if necessary. Even, potentially, to the point of opening the front door for the emergency services to access the home. That is the idea behind pooling hardware services on virtual software bus. Each device offers up its hardware possibilities.
On the connection side, it must be lightning fast, low latency and stable. Devices that are QoS dependent would obviously be able to demand more bandwidth.
Something like NearLink is perfect for that. PLC backhaul would also be nice (probably essential). FTTR should also be commonplace. Embedded or using 'invisible' surface mounted fibre. No doubt, GPMI will end up with smart options.
Control elements should be everywhere you need them and be able to control the device you are aiming your instructions at. Tablets, watches, control panels, microphones, sensors, phones, dedicated widgets etc. Some control elements would be portable (see video link below) and others fixed into things like furniture and wall panels. Some may be basic or limited. Others can have more wide ranging control options. A screen mounted on a Home Pod would work fine as an option.
However, for all of this to actually work, the entire underlying system needs to be IoT-ready at its core. This has always been a niggling doubt in my mind about Apple's approach. Perhaps WWDC will shed some light on that. Maybe they will announce a complete IoT layer spanning all their OSes and the umbrella term will simply be HomeOS.
Smart Homes should also include power and charging of things like cars (which themselves are an extension of the smart home).
Residential PV solutions and battery storage are becoming commonplace, so hardware and software security are also paramount to peace of mind. Fire protection including extinguishing capacity, flood protection and structural protection for residential batteries etc. AI to receive and process weather information, shadow issues on solar panels and to be able to interpret electricity prices and run off of battery power depending on those prices. It should all tie together.
Obviously I'm just skimming the surface here on what a truly smart home is today and how to interact with it.
I have my doubts about some of the current control features on smart homes. For example, Huawei's 'Smart MINIs' that allow you to 'copy' and even 'paste' scenes from one setting (the control panel of a particular room) to another by simply moving a small puck around.
Most of the above already exists and has been available for years (HarmonyOS for example).
Smart homes are now also connecting with smart cities.
It would be great for iOS users to have a true, fully integrated, smart home and OS level management tools to manage it.
However, on a competitive level Apple will have to really pull out all the stops. A huge advantage though is that something like HarmonyOS will never be accepted on US soil so that market is up for grabs as it is effectively walled off from China.
Matter/Thread (eventually/hopefully) will move things forward for wider interoperability between platforms which is a plus. Even a must.
Another huge consideration is 'bang for buck' as it were. A complete Huawei Smart Home solution can cost many thousands of dollars depending on what you are looking for. You don't have to go down that route obviously and you can opt for as much or little depending on budget.
Does Apple plan to start slow (a la Apple TV) or try to push out a more complete smart home scenario package? Both options would be perfectly valid but something like NearLink is an absolute must here. The connection speed, immunity to interference and stability of the network connections is the base upon which everything else rests. That part needs to be rock solid.
Some videos of what is currently available:
This video is (in Spanish) is a very basic walk through of a HarmonyOS Smart Home 4 based flat. It gives a basic idea of what is available but is great way to see (you don't need the audio) the varying kinds of control elements dotted around the installation. The main compute box is at the entrance behind a panel in the wall.
This is short and in Chinese but highlights things like the smart pucks mentioned above to take your smart preferences with you around the house.
This is a brief rundown of the AI based residential PV+storage solution.
My 'smart' home consists of smart plugs/bulbs and apps to control them. Voice control is handled by Alexa/Echo devices.
So it's 'smart' in a very limited way but functional.
It's clearly a world away from what I've described here but hopefully that's where we're heading.
The question is where Apple/HomeOS plan to land between the two scenarios.
For example, I have two TVs in one room with two Fire Sticks (one connected to each). That room has one Echo device but it can only control one of the Fire Sticks. That doesn't make sense if the Alexa App let's me assign names to all the devices.
Hopefully Apple will ship something that does not run into that kind of situation.
Honestly this is the only way HomePods are going to get Apple Intelligence in the near term. 8GB of RAM isn't feasible on devices that are already under cost of goods pressure to meet a low retail price point. Apple TV itself is seeing demand for a more accessible price point but adding Apple Intelligence to it could help justify its cost, enabling Apple TV to then lend this feature to connected HomePods. It's also possible that the upcoming HomePad could support Apple Intelligence throughout the home onto Apple TV and HomePods while these client devices don't run AI themselves and can lower their price points.
The last thing I ever want is more avenues for theft: fridge, cooktop, microwave, ceiling lights.
Tech companies, including Apple, don't care about anyones privacy, data or money. They just want to sell more gear in more ways.