Apple Announces Range of New Home Features for HomePod Mini, Apple TV, and Apple Watch

Apple today announced a range of new smart home features for HomePod mini, Apple TV, and Apple Watch, as well as third-party Siri integration on accessories for the first time.

f1623089740
‌Siri‌ on the HomePod now supports making commands to control content on an ‌Apple TV‌. The ‌HomePod mini‌ can also be set as a default output for an ‌Apple TV‌.

SharePlay will work with the ‌Apple TV‌ through FaceTime on another device, and tvOS now features a Shared With You row. There is also a new For All of You row in the TV app to recommend shows and movies suitable for all users on the device.

HomeKit accessory makers can now integrate ‌Siri‌ voice control for the first time. "Hey ‌Siri‌"-enabled accessories will relay requests through a ‌HomePod‌ or ‌HomePod mini‌, and will support ‌Siri‌ features such as Personal Requests, Intercom, timers, and alarms. The first third-party Siri-enabled smart home accessories will be available later this year.

home features 2021

The Home app for Apple Watch has been redesigned in watchOS 8, offering more convenient access to accessories and scenes as needed in a particular moment, and the ability to control accessories by room. Users with a HomeKit-enabled camera can view who is at their front door directly on their Apple Watch.

Apple also highlighted support for home keys in the Wallet app, Package Detection, new ‌Apple TV‌ screensavers, Matter accessory support, and ‌HomeKit‌ camera enhancements.

Top Rated Comments

kp98077 Avatar
38 months ago
i still have NO idea why they did away with the normal size home pod.... sounded SO much better than the mini...
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mattb326 Avatar
38 months ago
But can I dream and hope that Siri could be the default voice assistant on Sonos? Could we get rid of google and Alexa all together?
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BMox81 Avatar
38 months ago
Get Siri in my Sonos Beam and One!
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kp98077 Avatar
38 months ago
yes because everyone lives in a house like that! LOL
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AlbinoPigeon Avatar
38 months ago
Argh, is it too much to ask for FaceTime on the biggest screen in your home? A camera add on to ATV is the biggest no brainer and yet it’s no where to be seen.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Madmic23 Avatar
38 months ago
Whoa, they said they're opening Siri up to be added to other devices! They showed it working on an Ecobee in the video, but I want this on my Sonos One! :)
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

maxresdefault

Apple Announces 'Let Loose' Event on May 7 Amid Rumors of New iPads

Tuesday April 23, 2024 7:11 am PDT by
Apple has announced it will be holding a special event on Tuesday, May 7 at 7 a.m. Pacific Time (10 a.m. Eastern Time), with a live stream to be available on Apple.com and on YouTube as usual. The event invitation has a tagline of "Let Loose" and shows an artistic render of an Apple Pencil, suggesting that iPads will be a focus of the event. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more ...
Apple Silicon AI Optimized Feature Siri

Apple Releases Open Source AI Models That Run On-Device

Wednesday April 24, 2024 3:39 pm PDT by
Apple today released several open source large language models (LLMs) that are designed to run on-device rather than through cloud servers. Called OpenELM (Open-source Efficient Language Models), the LLMs are available on the Hugging Face Hub, a community for sharing AI code. As outlined in a white paper [PDF], there are eight total OpenELM models, four of which were pre-trained using the...
Apple Vision Pro Dual Loop Band Orange Feature 2

Apple Cuts Vision Pro Shipments as Demand Falls 'Sharply Beyond Expectations'

Tuesday April 23, 2024 9:44 am PDT by
Apple has dropped the number of Vision Pro units that it plans to ship in 2024, going from an expected 700 to 800k units to just 400k to 450k units, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Orders have been scaled back before the Vision Pro has launched in markets outside of the United States, which Kuo says is a sign that demand in the U.S. has "fallen sharply beyond expectations." As a...
iPad And Calculator App Feature

Apple Finally Plans to Release a Calculator App for iPad Later This Year

Tuesday April 23, 2024 9:08 am PDT by
Apple is finally planning a Calculator app for the iPad, over 14 years after launching the device, according to a source familiar with the matter. iPadOS 18 will include a built-in Calculator app for all iPad models that are compatible with the software update, which is expected to be unveiled during the opening keynote of Apple's annual developers conference WWDC on June 10. AppleInsider...
iOS 18 Siri Integrated Feature

iOS 18 Rumored to Add These 10 New Features to Your iPhone

Wednesday April 24, 2024 2:05 pm PDT by
Apple is set to unveil iOS 18 during its WWDC keynote on June 10, so the software update is a little over six weeks away from being announced. Below, we recap rumored features and changes planned for the iPhone with iOS 18. iOS 18 will reportedly be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history, with new ChatGPT-inspired generative AI features, a more customizable Home Screen, and much more....