Same here. I even I have my Logitech Harmony remote connected via a Raspberry Pi Homebridge to Apple Home.
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tvOS 26 Changes 'HomeKit' References to 'Apple Home' in Settings App
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True. You could also add that, apart from extra colour options, it hasn't refreshed the HomePod Mini hardware since the initial launch almost 5 years ago now. Also (not directly HomeKit but still part of a smart home offering), based on my personal experiences and use cases Siri even now is way less smart that Google Assistant was in 2018 when I got my first smart speakers.
With Apple being quite public about its plans to release a much improved Siri (although whether it succeeds and when that might be is an open question), the numerous rumours that Apple TV, HomePod Mini and perhaps also HomePod 2 are all to get a refresh either this year (Apple TV) or sometime towards the end of this year or in spring 2026 (the HomePods), plus the rumours of a new HomePod model incorporating a screen all makes me think that Apple is finally getting much more serious about the smart home market.
If Apple is stepping up its activities here I think that's a sensible thing for it to do. I think this as still a growing market with more and more people doing casual at-home listening on smart speakers, wanting a more consolidated and curated TV viewing experience if the current silo-ing (no pun intended!) of TV programs across different streaming providers continues, and being willing to look at things like smart lighting and home security. If things like Matter deliver on their promises and the whole marketplace moves away from "is it Zigbee (and what version), Z-Wave or WiFi and will it work with my hub?" and "what do I need to add to my configuration.yaml file to make this device work?" type of wizardry that could expand the potential market significantly.
I'm exaggerating a bit on the examples above, the smart home market does offer quite a lot of at least somewhat more beginner-friendly stuff already, but if Apple can position itself at the forefront of the simple setup "it just works" end of the market then I think it would be well positioned to catch new smart home users and lure away at least some existing users from other ecosystems.
There's still an awful long way to go to get to that "it just works" place but it's a philosophy Apple has successfully implemented in other areas and I think would serve Apple well in winning more smart home market share. And to bring my post back to the actual topic of this article, moving away from the developer-y HomeKit branding to the more user-focussed Apple Home branding does seem to me like a worthwhile step along the way to positioning Apple where I believe if would be best positioned in this market.
That’s on you. I do agree the app is confusing and ugly.
But compatible devices do work. My lights come on when I arrive at home, my vacuum cleaner starts working when I step outside my home, at midnight my front door locks and the alarm goes on, etc.
I had a lot of trouble with earlier accessories, but lately things have been much better. Still have some things that I don't always understand (like scenes seem to give me trouble), but aside from that (and some of the thermostat limitations), it's been great.
If you tried it a long time ago, I would give its another shot with newer accessories. We had some no-name HomeKit switches and sometimes they would just not work. I bought some new ones last Black Friday, that were also no name, but highly rated on Amazon & they are night & day better/more reliable than the old ones.
We also used a large door opener kit that had a separate unit & an additional hub. It would usually work ok, but sometimes would just stop working. It would say the garage door was open, but it wouldn't allow you to close it. When you'd check on it, the garage door was actually closed. We got a newer one this summer and it works way better (it plugs directly into the garage door opener unit & have been 100% reliable for the last several months.
These changes aren’t important to me. I want the ability to stop Apple from populating my iPhone lock screen with the last homekit device used or song played or whatever.
The fifth tvOS 26 beta changed several "HomeKit" references to "Apple Home" in the Settings app on all Apple TV models compatible with the update.
For example, Israeli website The Verifier reported that the "AirPlay and HomeKit" menu on the Apple TV is now labeled "AirPlay and Apple Home."
MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris spotted other examples, such as the one below.
Before:After:As a refresher, Apple Home refers to Apple's overall smart home app and ecosystem, whereas HomeKit has been the name of the company's underlying smart home accessory framework since 2014. Of the two names, HomeKit sounds more technical.
Does this serve as evidence that Apple is slowly phasing out its HomeKit brand in favor of Apple Home, or did Apple simply realize that Apple Home was the better wording in these instances? It could be the latter, but it would not be surprising if Apple eventually did retire the HomeKit name in favor of the more generic Apple Home for both its smart home app and framework, especially as the company prepares to launch an all-new home hub.
For now, there are still plenty of references to both HomeKit and Apple Home across Apple's website and software platforms. One day, though, perhaps the HomeKit name could be folded into Apple Home entirely for streamlined branding.
Article Link: tvOS 26 Changes 'HomeKit' References to 'Apple Home' in Settings App
Currently, I turn off the AppleTV and the TV it’s connected to and my iPhone triggers Home to turn it back on without any action on my part. Yesterday, it turned my office TV back on twice and my Living Room TV twice. It’s bad enough my phone tells me what’s playing on these TVs even when it’s not me watching, but now it’s started overriding my wishes and turning things back on.
I thought HomeKit was just the name of the API? So they aren't really phasing it out but using the Apple Home consumer facing name for it
I am looking forward to the day when I have window shades that can be controlled by apple home. It would also be cool to have motorized windows that can be remotely opened and closed by apple home.
I would really love to see a door lock with biometric authentication and / or NFC that does NOT have to be connected to wifi. 🤞
I would really love to see a door lock with biometric authentication and / or NFC that does NOT have to be connected to wifi. 🤞
LIFX connectivity and reliability SUCKS. That's a LIFX problem, not an Apple Home problem. Happens on all smart home ecosystems outside of their own app.
the lights are really good... when you get them to work
Recently reinstalled a set of lights and the app does seem to work better. a bit.
oddly the multi-colour candle light continued to play the animated special effect while the Beam stalled (again).
the app is definitely still a bit dodgy...
I have to say as an early adopter of Lyfx it def was a bad decision many years later. I’m surprised they still have not come out with a bridge like Philips to enable configuration on power loss… imagine having to re-pair each bulb every time power is lost lol here we are a decade later…
Things like this give HomeKit a bad name it’s not even HomeKit that breaks the basic functionality on most of these devices.
Would be nice to see Apple accessories for their Apple home - unlikely of course.
Things like this give HomeKit a bad name it’s not even HomeKit that breaks the basic functionality on most of these devices.
Would be nice to see Apple accessories for their Apple home - unlikely of course.
I was gonna say, they probs just got lazy when naming it and just never bothered to change it till someone was like "you know, this name is kind of nerdy and technical and not really on brand with Apple" and then someone else was like "oh wait you mean we never changed it to Apple Home from the HomeKit name in the iOS 8 beta before launching the GM of the OS?!"
I've got all my Philips hue lights in Apple Home, and also my security cameras. I can reach them all from all my laptops, phones, and even the Apple Watch.
I do have to admit that I prefer the Hue app only because you get more options. But for simple lighten, darken, turn off or on using Siri, it's fine.
Apple would be better of restarting the whole "home" project.
The entire eco system of Apple Home is a disaster. The devices (Apple TV + iPad + iPhone + Mac) do not sync. The Apple home interface is terrible; operational and functional settings are all over the place, the language is confusing, the setup is limited (why do I need both Apple Home and the Shortcuts app together to set up a "smart" home?) and the integration with both the old zigbee third party interfaces and the new Matter is shockingly bad. (Why are Matter devices under the iOs "settings" now? (and not in the app?).
It feels like it was all made by a hallucinating AI under the instructions of a drunk intern.
The entire eco system of Apple Home is a disaster. The devices (Apple TV + iPad + iPhone + Mac) do not sync. The Apple home interface is terrible; operational and functional settings are all over the place, the language is confusing, the setup is limited (why do I need both Apple Home and the Shortcuts app together to set up a "smart" home?) and the integration with both the old zigbee third party interfaces and the new Matter is shockingly bad. (Why are Matter devices under the iOs "settings" now? (and not in the app?).
It feels like it was all made by a hallucinating AI under the instructions of a drunk intern.