Apple could also be bringing a brand new House app to iOS 16, but it surely’s not all excellent news: Apple has confirmed that the iPad will not be capable to function a house hub when the replace arrives this fall.
When establishing an Apple-based good residence, you possibly can decide a central hub that may stay within the residence always: this may obtain instructions, ship out notifications, management automations and usually inform the opposite parts what to do. Previously, the hub may very well be an Apple TV, a HomePod, or an iPad, however as of the launch of iOS 16 and iPadOS 16 this fall, solely the HomePod and Apple TV will work.
What was first noticed within the iOS footnotes by Tech Crtr on Twitter has now been confirmed by Macrumors, which uncovered the next message within the newest iOS 16 developer beta:
A house hub is required to make the most of options like receiving accent notifications and permitting different individuals to manage your property. You won’t be able to view shared houses till these houses are additionally upgraded to the newest HomeKit. iPad will not be supported as a house hub.
This variation isn’t all that shocking. The iPad was all the time been an odd inclusion because it wanted to be plugged in to truly work as a hub. Absent-mindedly slinging your iPad in a bag and taking it on the practice may result in automations failing to execute and your loved ones being inconvenienced by having to activate the lights manually–or worse, relying on how deep your good residence integration goes.
So now it’s Apple TV or HomePod solely, that are each units for the lounge. Apple hasn’t precisely set the good residence world on hearth, however maybe it is a signal that Apple is seeking to make some severe adjustments to the way in which issues function. Rumors have been swirling a couple of new HomePod with a display screen and a cheaper Apple TV are on the way in which, so this small change may result in a lot greater issues.
