My ATV 4k is much more powerful than my iPad Air 1 😂 Time to change it I know, it’s acting weird in the home app showing multiple cameras but it’s is stuck on iOS 12.something. Amazed it’s still running the home app at all!
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Apple Confirms iPad Will No Longer Be Supported as a Home Hub in iOS 16
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I have few theories:
- iPads, especially if they are not plugged in, are known to be very flaky as a Home hub. iPads aren't meant to be always connected device, and designating as a Home hub (especially with security or doorbell cameras) drain the battery more quickly. Few people that I know have had some success using it as a Home hub, but it is the source of many support tickets at Apple.
- With iOS 16, Apple is moving toward Matter protocol. It uses Bluetooth LE, Thread, and Wi-Fi, and Apple plans to de-emphasize HomeKit in the coming years, as it focuses on Matter.
- Matter is not yet feature complete, as it lacks security and doorbell cameras support. When it becomes feature parity with HomeKit, I suspect Apple will retire the original HomePods and Apple TV HD and 1st gen 4K as Home hub.
So I’m not clear - is the HomeKit app itself won’t be useable on the iPad with iOS 16? Or it just can’t act as a hub anymore?
I let my son use the iPad to adjust lights’ colours in his room - he loves doing that.
I have HomePod mini and Apple TV so I'm not really impacted but if the HomeKit app itself is no longer accessible on the iPad, I won’t be updating it.
I let my son use the iPad to adjust lights’ colours in his room - he loves doing that.
I have HomePod mini and Apple TV so I'm not really impacted but if the HomeKit app itself is no longer accessible on the iPad, I won’t be updating it.
You can still use it to control everything, it just can’t be the hub.
The app itself can be used normally, but if you want to have automation or control your devices away from home, you'll need a hub.
You can still use the Home app on the iPad.
Using an iPad as a HomeKit hub requires it to be plugged in all the time, which isn't very user friendly.
Ok, thanks for the info, but what functions am I missing? What do I need my devices to do in addition to what they're already doing, i.e., being controlled remotely or on a schedule or in reaction to some predetermined trigger.
¯\_( ツ)_/¯
You can still use the iPad with HomeKit and with Siri exactly the same way you do currently, it just doesn't itself function as a hub itself. You'll need an AppleTV or HomePod as part of the same home, anywhere in the home. But the iPad can still access and work with HomeKit, same as your phone.
In my experience, the iPad was always an unreliable hub anyway. I think this isn't universal, because otherwise they would have stopped allowing it to be a hub a long time ago, but online you can find a significant amount of grief for those whose only hub was an iPad.
I'm confused. Does this mean I can't update my homepod from the Ipad anymore? I guess it's a good thing I do have a mac or else I would have no access to the Home App to update the Home Pod.
And reading more of this thread, it looks like the Home App won't be changing. That's good. I still say you should be able to update the Home Pod from the Apple TV, but that's another topic.
And reading more of this thread, it looks like the Home App won't be changing. That's good. I still say you should be able to update the Home Pod from the Apple TV, but that's another topic.
I’m not happy about this change but I do hope a full and complete robust and future thinking lineup of HomePods (not mini’s) will be coming shortly along with major booster improvements in Siri to go with them as well has a pre-amp legacy interface coaxial, fibre and analog component stereo connections like Sonos’ pre-amp has for thus if us that just love the warmth that analog audio sources brings.
Of course not. Everything Apple does is for the environment and humanity. Haven’t you paid attention at all to Tim Cook? He doesn’t care about money.
I don’t own a TV and I have a HiFi system that sounds better than a HomePod. Everything in my house is using an iPad as the Home Hub.
If they’re going to do this I hope they will release a HomePod nano without speakers with an audio output to go into home audio systems. I know this has almost zero likelihood of happening.
Very frustrating news. Not sure what my plan should be after this release. I’d like to keep my iPad Pro up to date.
If they’re going to do this I hope they will release a HomePod nano without speakers with an audio output to go into home audio systems. I know this has almost zero likelihood of happening.
Very frustrating news. Not sure what my plan should be after this release. I’d like to keep my iPad Pro up to date.
Why not take the iPad instead? Seems more practice. I use a usb-c to hdmi cable to watch my stuff on a TV when I travel
I love how people are saying "this is good because the iPad was super flakey". yup that was my experience as well. but when apple provides a lousy broken experience for years, i'm not exactly eager to run out and buy more dedicated hardware when they've done exactly zero to earn my trust on the matter.
also... I now own an unsupported Apple TV and iPad that both once were usable for this purpose. having to go through this much tech just for the privilege of turning on and off lights is absurd. and when it doesn't work, its not the lights fault either. the dedicated hue app always has been rock solid. apple home is simply a mess.
also... I now own an unsupported Apple TV and iPad that both once were usable for this purpose. having to go through this much tech just for the privilege of turning on and off lights is absurd. and when it doesn't work, its not the lights fault either. the dedicated hue app always has been rock solid. apple home is simply a mess.
I don’t know why they ever allowed it, to be honest. iPads are not stationary by design, and if accessories rely on the hub, it’s a headache to code for its absense. I get why people are upset at losing functionality they had previously.
Despite that, I’m really looking forward to Matter finally getting here so buying new lighting is less of a crap shoot. My house has a mix of Wiz and Hue, which requires some workarounds to comingle.
Despite that, I’m really looking forward to Matter finally getting here so buying new lighting is less of a crap shoot. My house has a mix of Wiz and Hue, which requires some workarounds to comingle.
I think Apple wants me to go back to Android with this anti consumer BS.
Always wondered why my Mac Mini that never leaves my home & is always powered on can’t be my home hub??
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Bucket of chum in the water for many to get a major case of the shakes over. No doubt everyone here uses an iPad as a hub. Right?
If everything is good the way it is, you can not upgrade and you won’t miss anything until you try to buy anything new that may not work with the old version.
I know folks that set things up 5-10 years ago and will only see problems at the point where they have to replace a bulb (as the new bulb may not be compatible). Other than that, if what you can do is what you want to do, you’re good!
I don’t think there’s any doubt at all that this is the case. Apple drives millions to Linux, Windows, Android and whatever else every year. What they’re counting on is that for every million that leave, they’re getting 2 to 3 million new customers which really don’t care that Apple no longer makes iWeb, WiFi access points, systems with Intel processors perfect for BootCamp, or allows one to use an iPad as an access point. And, with over 6 billion people in the world, there’s at least a few million more to go through over the next 20-80+ years or so.