Unless priced extremely cheap, or Apple plays the walled garden game with peripherals and/or restricts current device capabilities, it is unclear what this device offers more than what iPad or iPhone already does for managing home devices.
An… iPad?
well it’s a six inch display so presumably it’ll be a lot cheaper. maybe designed with an always-on display. And the UI optimized for home oriented stuff. could be interesting.
If it’s a super cheap quasiPad with good software, then it makes sense. If it’s something I can emulate at about 90% with a used iPhone XR and the Home app then it’s completely redundant.
Maybe something closer to a
Landl iNePad
Just improve the Home app please. It’s still on Matter 1.1.
Depending on hardware and price point, this might end up being an interesting device to modify/jailbreak.
I’d rather have properly working accessories that connect using Thread (not Wi-Fi) to one another and work without requiring a separate app. Currently almost every manufacturer requires their own proprietary bridge or they want to connect directly to Wi-Fi.
Give me a button/switch, climate sensors (Eve Room comes to mind as it has Thread but it’s a PitA in some other ways), thermostats that can adjust based on an external climate sensor, lightbulbs etc.
Apple TVs and HomePods already work fine as a “Home hub”, I don’t need a separate, central display.
