The Home app on iOS is getting a major overhaul with iOS 16, with Apple saying it's doubling down on reliability and ease of use.
Apple says it has made changes to the "underlying architecture" of the Home app to enable "faster, more reliable performance, especially for homes with many smart accessories."
With the new Home app redesign, all users' rooms are displayed on one single page, with easily glanceable widgets that showcase current accessories and their status. Pressing on a room takes users to a dedicated space with more details and controls.
Along the top of the Home app, users get quick information at categories, such as how many lights are currently on, the temperature range across their house, what doors are unlocked, and more.
Categories are even more helpful, however, when they're tapped. When users tap on a specific category, such as security and cameras, they're shown all the active cameras around their entire home on a single page.
The Home app is also gaining new Lock Screen widgets that provide easy information right on the Lock Screen. iOS 16 is currently available to developers and will be available to all users this fall.
The overhaul is useless without a Siri overhaul. I get tired of asking Siri to turn on "all lights" and then she plays The Thermadors song "All Blights" Siri is so stupid.
I'm more excited about this "rearchitected" Home app that's supposed to be more reliable than anything else in iOS 16. Not only is it long overdue, but reliability is probably the single biggest problem holding back HomeKit. I'd love to showcase more HomeKit stuff to friends and family, but it's embarrassing when Siri goes into one of her states where she refuses to execute automations or won't respond to requests.
I am an early tech adopter, built many PCs, have been using an iPhone since the 3G. And still, I struggled to grasp the design of the existing home app. Even at first glance this redesign seems way better. Hopefully it really is. With this and the Matter support, we may see Apple-compatible smart home devices take off
Apple today previewed iOS 16, the company's next major update for the iPhone, featuring a redesigned, customizable Lock Screen, improvements to Messages, Maps, and Home, new sharing and personalization capabilities, and more.
Lock Screen, Notifications, and Focus
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As part of its rebuilt Home app experience in iOS 16 and iPadOS 16, Apple appears to be removing support for using an iPad as a Home Hub.
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Though code in iOS 16 has indicated that the iPad won't work as a home hub following the update, an Apple spokesperson today told The Verge that the iPad will indeed still be able to be used as a home hub, but with a caveat - it will not support new architecture that is being introduced later this year.
The spokesperson said that Apple is planning to "introduce a new architecture," which...
iOS 16 introduces some major changes, including a total overhaul for the iOS Lock Screen. The Lock Screen looks different, it's more customizable, and it can do more than ever before, so we thought we'd do a quick hands-on video to give MacRumors readers a first glimpse at the revamped Lock screen.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The Lock Screen can be customized...
Wednesday January 5, 2022 7:54 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
A growing number of iPhone users across the MacRumors Forums, Apple Support Communities, Reddit, and Twitter have reported that security camera snapshots in the Home app have failed to refresh over the last few weeks.
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In iOS 16, Apple has overhauled the iPhone Lock Screen to make it a lot more customizable, and one of the most welcome changes is the ability to add information-rich widgets to the Lock Screen for the first time. Lock Screen Widgets have been the sole preserve of Android phones for a few years now, so it's good to see that they will finally come to iPhones later this year when iOS 16 is...
As part of its iOS 16 presentation at WWDC today, Apple unveiled an all-new Lock Screen for iPhones that provides users with a wealth of customization options, including the ability to add widgets.
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Apple yesterday introduced iOS 16, the newest version of the operating system designed to run on the iPhone. iOS 16 has an overwhelming number of changes, so we thought we'd do an overview to show MacRumors readers all of the new features that they can look forward to when the update comes out this fall.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. You'll want to watch the...
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Fifteen years ago to this day, the iPhone, the revolutionary device presented to the world by the late Steve Jobs, officially went on sale.
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For the last several years, Apple has been working to develop its own 5G modem chip so that it won't need to rely on Qualcomm as a supplier, but according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple's efforts "may have failed."
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