Today at Apple’s WWDC 2016 conference, Apple SVP Craig Federighi announced a major update to Apple’s Internet of Things platform, HomeKit. The big news is Apple built a dedicated app to control all the devices in a person’s home.
This will let homeowners use one app to control lights, view doorbell cams, open garage doors and more. This is big.
Apple launched HomeKit along with iOS 8 in 2014. Since then, the Internet of Things marketplace has exploded with apps and devices and there are very many solutions that ties everything together. HomeKit’s Home seems like a good first step towards this goal.
Now, with Home, all HomeKit-enabled devices from lights to thermostats to garage doors can be controlled from a single app. The app supports mass actions allowing the user to hit a single button to activate a series of devices. Hit, say, “I’m Leaving”, and the Home app will turn off the lights, turn down the thermostat and set the alarm.
The new app will hit the iPad and Apple Watch, too.
