Today marks the launch of the latest operating system for Apple devices and the software includes something special for smart home enthusiasts and the smart home curious, who may be the more important target audience.
The Home app, which makes its debut in iOS 10, allows users to control their HomeKit-enabled smart home devices via phone, tablet and watch.
(HomeKit is Apple’s increasingly ubiquitous smart home device software framework; The company claims to have HomeKit products, or agreements, with every major smart home device manufacturer.)
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Home app users can dim lights, tweak temperatures, lock doors, enable cameras and much more with simple swipes, or by speaking to Siri.
Sound revolutionary? Of course not.
Home technology and smart devices have been paired for years and are rapidly joining the ranks of such classic combinations as peanut butter and chocolate or gin and tonic. Even Siri, or Siri-like systems, are old hands when it comes to home tech.
No, where Apple’s Home app wins is on two fronts that the company has excelled at throughout its history: simplicity and user experience.
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A recent study by Coldwell Banker found that, of prospective move-in ready homebuyers, smart home technology is of growing value and importance, but that intimidation around the devices remains a high hurdle to clear.
The Home app makes strides toward addressing these issues of uncomfortability around new (or new-to-the-user) technology.
Instead of a myriad apps each managing a different home device, Apple's Home app offers a clean, crisp control hub for all your smart technology.
Home also offers an in-app alternative to the beloved If This Than That recipes with "Scenes." Scenes are customizable triggers which launch a series of smart home technology events. Without any third-party sites or software, your "Good morning" scene, for example, can turn on your lights, open your shades and begin brewing your coffee all with a single tap in the app.
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Home users will be able to build smart tech profiles and scenes for separate homes. After all, your Manhattan apartment "Good morning" scene, is likely to be very different from the that in your East Hampton home.
All this in an app that places a premium on usability and accessibility.
The Home app’s intuitive interface, easy entry and simple device pairing means the most difficult part of the user journey may be screwing in the Philips Hue lightbulbs.
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iPhone adherents can quickly access their smart home tech with a skyward swipe into the Control Center where their favorite accessories (thermostat, bedroom lights, etc) or scenes will be waiting for them. Or, simply, by speaking to Siri.
And it’s the welcoming environment and cultivation of continual use that may be the most "revolutionary" features of Apple’s Home app—by encouraging the smart home curious to get off the sideline, Home has the potential to bring the technology to a wider audience and be a boon to the industry as more homeowners come to rely on these products.