It was all Apple Intelligence, all the time during Apple’s WWDC Keynote on Monday, while all the Home app got was this lousy slide–and to add insult to injury, it had to share.
For those keeping track, this marks the second year in a row that Apple’s Home app got barely a mention during the company’s annual WWDC event (Home did get a full-on revamp for iOS 16), although there were a few modest iOS 18 announcements for Home if you looked carefully.
So if you were hoping for a demo showing a generative AI-boosted Siri controlling smart home devices, well, it didn’t happen. But we did get a few modest new features for Home, all tucked away in a press release.
Among them: You’ll soon be able to give guests access to your smart locks and garage doors, as well as track your home’s energy usage and control robot vacuums.
Grousing aside, here’s what we can expect for the Home app once iOS 18 drops this fall.
Guest access for smart locks and home security
The Home app will soon allow you to grant guest access to your home via smart locks, garage doors, and security systems, including the ability to grant access to guests individually or on a schedule.
In the Customize Access screen coming with iOS 18, you’ll be able to select Front Door, Garage Door, and Security System accessories, as well as determine exactly when a guest can gain access to those accessories.
Speaking of smart locks, the Home app will soon support hands-free unlock with UWB-enabled locks, meaning you won’t need to pull out your iPhone and hold it up to the lock; instead, the lock will open once you’re within six feet of the door.
Home electricity monitoring
Last year, the Home app got a Grid Forecast feature that delivers a timeline showing when the power grid in your area will offer the most clean energy.
With iOS 18, the Home app will add an Electricity Usage screen that shows you how much power your home is consuming on a daily, weekly, monthly, or annual basis.
The screen will show you how much power you’re using during peak and off-peak hours, as well as serve up energy-saving suggestions, such as using cold water rather than hot for laundry.
Nice, but the Electricity Usage feature depends on connecting your utility account in the Home app, and Apple announced only one participating utility on Monday: California’s Pacific Gas & Electric.
Robot vacuum support
Once iOS 18 lands this fall, you’ll be able to add robot vaccuums—which became a part of the Matter specification last year—to the Home app.
That means you’ll be able to add your robot vac to HomeKit automations and scenes, as well as control your vacs with Siri voice commands.
That’s all, folks
And that was pretty much it for the Apple Home app, at least as far as the WWDC 2024 keynote was concerned. Perhaps a breakout session will offer a glimpse at how Siri with Apple Intelligence will interact with smart devices.
In the meantime, if you want to see how an LLM-powered voice assistant might work in the smart home, well, there’s always Home Assistant.
