Apple’s push into home automation started in 2014 with the announcement of HomeKit – a software framework that lets you configure, communicate with and control smart-home appliances with a Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV or Apple Watch. But the missing piece has been a simple console that could be easily accessed by anyone in the home.
When released, HomeKit promised to be a single platform for home automation. But Amazon and Google also came to market with more open and less expensive solutions. But, importantly, they also brought other hardware to market. For example, the Amazon Echo Show is a small display that sits in the home and enables you to control your smart home devices. Google has something similar with the Google Nest Hub.
Apple has a ready-made competitor for this devices. The iPad is a perfect control unit for a smart home. But making it a simple device to use, so you can just walk up and start tapping, takes some effort. It needs to placed in either Single App Mode by using Apple Configurator or Kiosk Mode which locks the iPad to a single app.
Then it’s a matter of finding a place to put the iPad where it can stay charged and easily accessible to everyone in the household or office.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, a very accurate pundit with some excellent sources, says Apple will be releasing a speaker dock for the iPad that will enable it to stay charged and sit somewhere that’s easily accessible.
I reported last year that Apple is exploring a stand-alone device that combines an iPad with a speaker hub. The idea is to offer something that users can place on a kitchen counter, in the living room or on their nightstand. But Apple also has worked on an iPad docking accessory that it could sell separately and would accomplish much of the same thing.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman
Apple’s decision to resurrect the HomePod seems to fit in with this plan. Reimagining the HomePod and giving it a USB-C port with a stand would enable it to hold an iPad (although perhaps not the 12.9-inch iPad Pro) so it could be used as a central hub by everyone at home.
The one challenge with this is that all of Apple’s connected services rely on an iCloud account. So, that shared iPad will need some changes to iPadOS to either support user switching – something Apple has resisted for many years – or security features to ensure the logged in account cannot be misused or accessed. Certainly, the ability to support multiple users sharing an iPad would be welcomed in the education sector where devices are often shared.
I’d expect such a device to be announced at the Worldwide Developer Conference which is likely to be held in June 2023. That ties in with the need to make some software changes to iPadOS.
Anthony is the founder of Australian Apple News. He is a long-time Apple user and former editor of Australian Macworld. He has contributed to many technology magazines and newspapers as well as appearing regularly on radio and occasionally on TV.