Apple's new $299 HomeView might be the first smart display in years that makes me want to put one back in my kitchen. Which is saying something, considering I once had multiple Amazon Echo Shows around my home before eventually giving up on them altogether.
I was initially a big believer in the Echo Show. I loved the idea of having recipes, music, photos and smart home controls available without constantly reaching for my phone. But the longer I lived with them, the more I realized how much work I was doing to make these supposedly convenient devices useful.
Want to follow a recipe? I found myself working around Amazon's suggested options rather than easily opening one I'd already saved on my phone. Want to turn the screen into a digital photo frame? That meant managing another app just to display my favorite pictures.
Add in the increasingly intrusive ads, and my Echo Shows eventually went from helpful household gadgets to screens I didn't particularly want to look at. It wasn't long before I sent them off to my storage unit.
But after seeing Apple's new HomeView in action on a bedroom nightstand, mounted on a wall and, most practically for me, on a kitchen counter, I started reconsidering whether I'd actually given up on smart displays altogether.
Unlike my Echo Shows, HomeView seems designed to work with the things I'm already doing on my iPhone, rather than asking me to figure out another way to do them.
HomeView works with my life, not the other way around
Usually, when I'm following a recipe, I've already decided what I'm making. The instructions might be in a link I've texted to my partner, a screenshot or an increasingly chaotic collection of ingredients and instructions copied into Notes (surely I'm not the only one?).
With my Echo Shows, getting to that specific recipe was often more trouble than it was worth. Eventually, it became easier to prop up my iPhone or iPad on the counter. Not exactly the convenience I was looking for.
HomeView takes a different approach. I watched Apple AirDrop a recipe from an iPhone to the display, where Safari transformed the webpage into step-by-step instructions, complete with automatically suggested timers. You can even use Siri to move through the steps hands-free.
Siri AI can also retrieve a recipe someone sent through Messages, using personal context from a compatible iPhone.
Other smart displays have offered guided recipes for years, but what appeals to me is that HomeView starts with content I've already found, rather than expecting me to find something within its own ecosystem. Whether it can handle my messier Notes recipes remains to be seen.
In a similar vein, I like how HomeView can pull photos from existing Apple Photos albums, including shared albums, and display collections featuring specific people or places. I wouldn't need to maintain a separate library through Amazon Photos, which is something I rarely bothered updating on my Echo Shows.
Neither of these features is necessarily revolutionary. But together, they address the biggest reason I stopped using smart displays: I don't want another gadget that requires homework.
A screen that feels like it belongs in my home
Then there's the issue of what actually appears on the screen when I'm not interacting with it.
One of my biggest frustrations with the Echo Show was the promotional content. When I'm making coffee, I want to see my calendar, the weather or a favorite photo — not a recommendation for an Amazon Prime TV show or something to buy.
Because HomeView recognizes up to six household members, the display changes depending on who's standing in front of it. That means my partner and I could approach the same device and see our own schedules, reminders and widgets.
HomeView is ad-free, and its customizable faces put much more emphasis on the information you choose to display. There's a Modular face with widgets, a Photos face and even an animated Snoopy.
Because HomeView recognizes up to six household members, information displayed changes depending on who's standing in front of it. That means my partner and I could approach the same device and see our own schedules, reminders and widgets without manually switching profiles.
There are requirements, of course. Personal context relies on a compatible iPhone with Apple Intelligence connected to the same Wi-Fi network, and the phone must have been recently unlocked. Still, I like the idea that HomeView is an extension of my existing devices instead of another screen demanding its own digital life.
Apple doesn't need to reinvent the smart display
HomeView still has plenty to prove. There's no traditional App Store; some of its smartest features depend on a compatible iPhone or iPad; and at $299, it's considerably more expensive than many competing smart displays.
But I'm not asking Apple to reinvent the smart display category. All I want is one that feels useful without requiring extra effort. Taking familiar features and connecting them to the way I already use technology is something I wish Amazon had been better positioned to implement.
And while HomeView has yet to prove it'll deliver on that promise in the long-term, it's made me excited about owning a smart display again.