In the wings of an exclusive preview hosted by Apple at a beautiful content studio in New York City, we were among the first media members to get access to the new line of Apple Home products, which includes the new HomeView, the HomePod mini 2 and the refreshed Apple TV 4K. In addition, Apple also launched its first home collection of door locks, thermostats and cameras, which, for now, will not be released in the Indian market.
Let’s focus on the HomeView for now, as it is an interesting proposition. In terms of physical design, this is an entirely new product for the Cupertino tech giant. Similarly, in the smart home management device segment, this marks Apple’s rather bullish foray into the home technology segment, potentially going head-to-head with Amazon’s Alexa-led devices.
The fun begins
It’s time for me to get hands-on with the device itself. It is characterised by a 7-inch square Liquid Retina display mounted atop a domed base with a built-in speaker. The screen angle can be adjusted thanks to a hinge attaching it to the base. The device comes in two variants at the same price point — one that can be placed on a tabletop and the other that can be mounted on a wall. I test out the former.
HomeView also works with Apple Home Collection — Apple’s first lineup of smart home cameras, thermostats, and a lock — as well as other Works with Apple Home and Matter accessories.
Full marks to Apple for consistently raising the visual and tactile appeal of its products. This square screen, with its beautifully rounded edges and matte aluminium finish, is a design lover’s dream! Minutes after I posted a video on my Instagram feed, users from across the world were quick to refer to it as ‘a square iPad’ or an ‘oversized Apple Watch’, indicating to me that the visual allusions are real. Apple says that the screen is designed for enhanced visibility when used across rooms in the house. Its simplistic, chic design makes it part home décor piece, part home technology piece.
Many ‘faces’ of home
The user interface is characterised by a series of ‘faces’, which can be customised, from utilitarian clock faces to the smart home face packed with widgets, and the quirky Snoopy face. A family can even programme a photo album as a face, making the device a live photo frame. To put it in a nutshell, using this device, you can listen to music, make a FaceTime call, control your smart home settings and even set reminders. But here’s the fun catch: the device can be programmed to recognise up to six family members by face and respond to each one (based on proximity) in a personalised manner.
Users can customise HomeView.
For instance, I ask the device a question while standing close to it, and it pulls out a response from a message on my iPhone. Another family member will get a different set of responses.
HomeView is available in beautiful colors: silver, starlight, rose pink, and space gray.
The interaction with Siri AI is extremely personalised and contextual. For instance, I could stand in front of the HomePlay and ask for my messages to be read or replied to, and this would happen based on my phone messages only. This, for me, is the edge that the HomePlay has over other products in its segment. I also try another fun feature using a kitchen recipe. I open a long-format recipe in my phone browser and bring it close to the HomePlay, which, in turn, culls out the information from the long recipe and displays it on the screen in a summarised, step-wise format.
I must add that this task was done under simulated conditions; it remains to be seen how it will apply to the daily Indian context.
Music sounds great on the speaker, which is adequate for daily listening in a room, and the customised album art on the screen is a nice, geeky touch.
The HomePlay comes with a set of native apps, so you cannot download additional apps. However, your personal phone apps do show up when you are in front of and recognised by the device, much like CarPlay.
With an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone or iPad, Siri AI does more for each person.
And finally, I find the HomeView feature fun to play around with. Basically, compatible smart home features such as lights, air conditioning, thermostats, security cameras and door locks can be controlled by widgets on the screen.
Is ₹39,900 too steep?
It will certainly be interesting to gauge the reaction of the Indian market to Apple’s home products, especially the HomePlay, with its price point of ₹39,900, which some might deem slightly steep. Smart home technology is all the rage, and Apple seems to be actively jumping on the trend.
The journalist and content creator covers luxury lifestyle, watches, cars and aviation.