Andrew O'Hara
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.
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 frontLike 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 homeAlong 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 displayWe'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.
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25 Comments
I would like the next AppleTV to have Apple Intelligence in a way that allows my original HomePods to access it for a better version of Siri.
My credit card is ready. Gimme.
Updated Apple TV, HomePods and more would be amazing. It is a neglected area and should be a first class iCloud citizen.
I dunno. Most people usually find themselves in the same room as whatever device they want to control.... Remote control by watch is pretty much the only possible improvement to life as we know it.
My prediction is still that HomeOS and the mystery Home Hub will function like a 21st century home mainframe system.
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.
I wonder if it will be smart enough to access the various iCloud-linked data like calendars, reminders and iMessage without the owner's iPhone connected to the network. At the moment, HomePods complain that they can't access the iPhone. There is no reason HomePod and Apple Watch Siri can't forward requests to ChatGPT either, rather than "i found some results on the web" for anything but the most basic queries.
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.