Apple has announced HomeView, a completely new product that should be a cross between a smart home hub, smart speaker and compact entertainment device. The device has a touchscreen, built-in audio and deep integration with Siri AI, Apple Intelligence and the Home app. With this, Apple finally wants to offer a fixed screen with which you can not only operate your smart home, but also use music, video, photos, FaceTime and personal information directly in your home.
HomeView is clearly more than a HomePod with a screen. Apple positions the device as the central command center for the entire family: from adjusting lighting and thermostats to showing calendars, reminders, recipes and camera images. The product appears in a table version and a wall version, so you can place it in the kitchen, living room or hallway, for example.
What is Apple HomeView?
HomeView is Apple’s first real smart display for the home. The device combines a square touchscreen with speakers and is mainly intended as a fixed control point for your smart home. You can use it to control accessories in the Home app, including lights, thermostats, curtains, doors and security cameras.
Apple uses a custom software environment that is specifically designed for the home. Unlike an iPad, you don’t get a full App Store, but a limited selection of Apple apps and widgets. This should keep the HomeView simple, clear and suitable for everyone in the household.
Siri AI at the center
The biggest role is reserved for Siri. HomeView acts as the Siri command center of an Apple-centric home, allowing you to control devices, ask questions, create reminders or play media with your voice. Thanks to Apple Intelligence and the A18 chip, Siri should also understand context and be able to perform more complex commands.
What is special is that HomeView can recognize users. When someone approaches the screen or talks to Siri, the device can personalize what information is shown, such as its own calendar, messages or reminders. This makes the device more interesting for families, because everyone can access relevant information more quickly.
Entertainment at home
In addition to home controls, Apple also focuses strongly on entertainment. You can watch or listen to music, podcasts, films, series and photos on the screen. The table version has a metal speaker base, while the wall version has a flatter base that sits closer to the wall.
The support for Handoff is useful. Bring your iPhone close and you can, for example, send a recipe from Safari to the HomeView screen or continue a podcast you were already listening to on the go. Apple also uses HomeView as a compact secondary screen for the kitchen, bedroom or workplace.
Faces for every style
You can customize HomeView completely to your own taste. There are all kinds of faces on which you can see all the information that you find important at a glance. This makes optimal use of the beautiful Liquid Retina display. The Photos face brings your best memories to life with beautiful portrait-style depth of field effects. The subject is brought into sharp focus, while the foreground and background are subtly blurred. And if you select a shared album, HomeView turns into an interactive photo frame to which people with whom the album has been shared can add photos themselves – even if they live on the other side of the world. With the Flow-face, HomeView turns into an interactive work of art, because it responds dynamically to movement and whether someone is in the house. And even Snoopy has a place on HomeView, with animations that match the time of day, the weather or certain sports matches.
Two versions
| Execution | Features | To colour |
|---|---|---|
| Table model | Metal speaker base, tiltable screen, suitable for kitchen or side table | Space gray, silver, starlight and pink |
| Wall model | Flatter base for wall mounting, ideal for hall, hallway or kitchen | Space gray and silver |
The screen supports several views reminiscent of watch faces on the Apple Watch. You swipe through personal screens and set colors and widgets, while the home screen shows apps and widgets similar to those of iPhone and iPad.
A house full of entertainment
HomeView’s audio is of exceptional quality thanks to a specially developed acoustic system. Two special full-range drivers in the display provide crystal clear sound that fills the entire room thanks to Spatial Audio. A down-firing woofer and two passive force-cancelling radiators are built into the bottom of the housing for incredible bass reproduction. The volume and bass tones are continuously adjusted at any volume with advanced computational audio, made possible by the Apple chips and system sensors. The wall-mounted model delivers top-quality sound thanks to two dedicated drivers and computational audio specifically tailored for wall mounting.
Always connected
With HomeView you can easily keep in touch with others while doing chores around the house. FaceTime and Middelpunt ensure that you are clearly visible, even as you move through the room. You can read and reply to messages using your voice or the onscreen keyboard. With Intercom you can easily send an audio message that can be heard in one room or throughout the house. HomeView can also communicate with other HomeView and HomePod speakers, and with devices like your iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch. In the kitchen, HomeView is a handy sous chef: online recipes are converted into step-by-step instructions, you can control timers hands-free, and HomeView helps you keep track of the ingredients you need. This way you can fully focus on cooking.
Find My lets you see where people are who share their location with you, and you can also find your iPhone, AirPods charging case, or any item with an AirTag. With Live Activities, HomeView quickly gives you important information, such as the song being played, a running timer or an Intercom message from another room.
Not available in the EU
The table and wall versions both cost $299, pre-orders have already started in the United States and sales start on November 13. Apple HomeView is preliminary not for sale in the European Union. The reason is that Siri AI is currently not available in iOS within the EU. Apple indicates that it is in constructive discussions with the EU to find a solution.
What does this mean for your smart home?
With HomeView, Apple closes an important gap in the ecosystem. Until now, the iPhone has been the main way to control HomeKit and Matter accessories, while HomePod has mainly been a speaker with Siri. HomeView adds a permanent, visible and shared screen that is specially made for the whole family.
For those who already have many Apple products at home, HomeView becomes a logical addition. The device is especially attractive if you use a lot of smart lighting, cameras, thermostats or automations and want a central place where everyone can find those controls. At the same time, it remains a dependent product: without supported HomeKit or Matter accessories, it mainly remains a compact Siri speaker with a screen.
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