We don’t need a “home pad” when we can pretty much use any device for that purpose. What we NEED is for HomeKit and Siri to stop being useless pieces of ****.
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Will Apple Preview Its Rumored 'HomePad' at WWDC Next Week?
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The hero image here basically reflects the only thing anyone can ever think of in terms of a purpose for this device, beyond things like recipes while cooking and FaceTime.
It's a vanishingly small group of people that have taken to making dedicated Home controllers out of old iPads. They are definitely not a big enough market for Apple.
Despite having over 50+ accessories in Apple Home, I don't see the need for such a product. My smart home is setup correctly, where everything has a real world analog and the smarts are obfuscated. I don't need software controls on the wall or the counter for people to figure out how to operate my home.
It's a vanishingly small group of people that have taken to making dedicated Home controllers out of old iPads. They are definitely not a big enough market for Apple.
Despite having over 50+ accessories in Apple Home, I don't see the need for such a product. My smart home is setup correctly, where everything has a real world analog and the smarts are obfuscated. I don't need software controls on the wall or the counter for people to figure out how to operate my home.
Of course, but just like other common capabilities, Apple will limit core functionality to their newest member of the ecosystem. It’ll be interesting how they try and differentiate this potential device from the iPad and build a wall between the os/software functionality of the two. $899-$1499 would have to be justified somehow. The interoperability officials in the EU should love this product.
They're missing Ubiquity too though. And their Hue selection is abysmal, at best. Like, yeah, they have a lot of stuff, but for the most part it feels like low quality and high prices, where as I'd rather buy high quality at slightly higher prices. It's a much better bang for my buck, IMO.
Wouldn’t an iPad with a stand (or double-sided tape
) cover your needs?The ‘HomePad’ feels like a solution hoping for a problem.
To be addressed and woken up with the phrase: “Yo, iHomey….”How about "Homie"? Short for "Home intelligence".
I just wish that Apple would stop copying existing Windows and Google products like the Google Home Hub. Or the Samsung Fold-a-phone.
STOP PLAYING CATCH UP AND GIVE ME SOMETHING NEW AND "INSANELY GREAT!"
STOP PLAYING CATCH UP AND GIVE ME SOMETHING NEW AND "INSANELY GREAT!"
I'll wait for the HomePad Air or the HomePad Ultra
I just can't get behind the idea that you actually need readily available software controls for Home, and the devices you already have aren't enough.
- In my smart home, 99% of things are preprogrammed to do what they're supposed to do, when they are supposed to do it. There is very little need for manual operation.
- What little manual operation is done, is done via the hardware controls that exist around the home for such things. Lights should be operated by light switches, which is why things like smart bulbs are not sufficient home automation.
- The microscopic use case left over after all that, is served by a call to a Home Pod, or to an Apple Watch.
I could have long ago built in a dedicated kitchen iPad for the kind of thing you think you need, and its just so far from being necessary that I haven't. If your smart home is built correctly, this is definitely the most unnecessary addition to it. Its certainly not a critical piece at the heart of it.
What we really need a change to iOS to allow multiple users on a single iPad, or a variant of AppleID login so you could have a "user-less" iPad in the home for the whole family to use as a remote/ smart home hub etc.
Same here. If my kids (who don't have devices) want to turn on lights, they can darn well ask me!
Hope I am missing the sarcasm....
There are plenty of stuff like those already, are they skating where the puck already was?
With the right software, an iPad would cover my needs. But that software would need to recognize different people so that different members of my family could access different sets of controls, and visitors could access basic controls.Wouldn’t an iPad with a stand (or double-sided tape
The ‘HomePad’ feels like a solution hoping for a problem.
I'm hopeful that the HomePad (or whatever it's called) will be able to manage individual and family tasks and calendars, even for those who don't have a device in their pocket all the time, but allow those of us who do have iPhones to manage them there also.
I don't know if Apple is building the exact thing I want, but I'm interested in seeing what they offer. I'm holding off on buying competing products that might not integrate as smoothly with the devices I already have.
I could see this form factor being similar to this from Ubiquiti but with a bigger screen:
Unifi Dream Wall
Unifi Dream Wall
Attachments
Ah, Jeeves! But, dollars to donuts, you're referring to the online service, “Ask Jeeves”, from back in the late 1990s.
That is, to that rather than to the original — and the reason they named the service that — Bertie Wooster's sage butler, Jeeves, the “gentleman's gentleman”, from the wonderful P.G. Wodehouse novels from the early 20th century!
See
Jeeves - Wikipedia
and
Ask.com - Wikipedia
I love all tech but for some reason I’ve never bought cctv or alarms before. If Apple did a range of cameras and alarms all linked into their eco system including this rumour I’d def be up for buying it.
I wish Siri would listen to me! I find it so hit and miss for basic things like call my wife etc.. it seems to take a few tries to get it to acknowledge me
I feel like Apple CAN'T preview this next week if they're apparently avoiding any announcements that aren't *definitely* ready to demo. And if Apple Intelligence and Siri are indefinitely in the oven still, the HomePad (working title) is technically a product that can't be demoed. Sure you have the new OS for it but will that be enough to wow everyone? I doubt it.