William Gallagher
Following multiple reports of problems with HomeKit's new update, Apple appears to have withdrawn the option to upgrade to the new architecture.
The latest update to iOS 16.2 caused problems for some HomeKit users, as detailed on AppleInsider's dedicated HomeKit Insider podcast. Now without any notification, Apple appears to have halted the update and removed the option from the Home app.
Previously, users of the Home app would be prompted with "Home Upgrade Available." The prompt also explained that "Home now has a new underlying architecture that will improve the performance of your home."
Now this prompt reportedly no longer appears, as first spotted by MacRumors. In our own testing on Thursday morning, the option to update the whole architecture is inaccessible. Existing updates already applied seem to remain intact, however.
Curiously, the removal comes within 24 hours of Apple updating its HomeKit support documentation to include instructions on how to update to the new Home architecture. There's no mention of any delay in that document, nor has Apple commented publicly.
Marko Zivkovic
Christine McKee
Andrew Orr
Andrew O'Hara
Mike Wuerthele
Bon Adamson
-m.jpg)
24 Comments
Another update, another set of problems. Yay Apple.
My upgrade was a total disaster. I sent my complaint to Tim Cook (obviously not expecting an answer) and two days later the executive support team called me to provide support. By then I re-installed ALL computers and mobile devices, reset my HomePod and more. It was so much work, and the error messages were so cryptic that it didn't provide any clues to where to look. But we had to fix it fast because we have over 70 smart devices in our house (sounds like a lot, but with smart lights, cameras, etc this number is met quickly).
Apple made a mistake providing this update the way they did. The roll-out was messy.
Fortunately, mine went perfectly smoothly the day after 16.2 was released. Grateful for that, but an update like that shouldn't rely on luck. I feel for those who ran into trouble.
I tried 3 times to upgrade but I kept getting a message that my wife would be locked out of the home. All devices were at the right release level. Turns out my wife’s phone had a MyHome registered in addition to our named home. Once I deleted that from her phone all went well. IMHO Apple back to work full time in their buildings can’t come fast enough. Testing and documentation have really fallen.
So glad I don't have issues but I got plenty of complaints about Apple's inferior implementation of smart home automation.