On this week's episode of the HomeKit Insider podcast, we go through every Matter and Apple Home announcement from the show from many of the major brands — and there's a big HomeKit deadline coming up.

Historically, the CES episode is one of the most popular of the year for HomeKit Insider. It's a long episode, diving into all the major announcements and giving our opinions and first impressions on the devices we got to see in person.

Before getting into the CES news, we went through the couple of new items that managed to eke out that weren't directly related to the annual tech show.

Kicking things off, the Connectivity Standards Alliance announced a new round of companies joining its rank. There were a few notable companies including Lepro and Dreo, both of which that produce smart home devices without Matter support.

The big one we were excited to see was DJI. Recently, DJI announced its first robotic vacuum cleaner with few smart home integrations.

Hopefully, after joining the CSA, Matter and Apple Home support won't be far behind. Then again, there is no guarantee it will add support, but it's a good sign.

The other bit of news was the upcoming deadline for the Apple Home architecture upgrade. The deadline is February 10, 2026, and Apple has sent emails as a reminder to users who have not yet upgraded.

For smart home news at CES, it was a heavy year. We got a ton of new devices from smart mirrors to ceiling fans, to Matter cameras.

We break down the news one by one, offering hands-on experiences with many of them that were on display on the show floor. Unlike years past, most products seem planned to launch in the first half of 2026.

Some of the biggest news was several firsts for Apple users. We got a new Matter over Thread thermostat, another thermostat with Apple's Adaptive Temperature and Clean Energy Guidance, and a smart lock with Ultra Wide Band Home Key.

We also included a few tangentially related items. There were a few noteworthy Find My trackers and a battery station, perfect for powering all that smart home gear.

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