By the Smili Phone team
Apple just walked into the smart home in a big way. At its Welcome Home event on Tuesday, October 13, the company announced HomeView, its first smart home hub. It is a small screen that sits on a countertop or mounts on a wall, and it is designed to be the one place where your doorbell, thermostat, security cameras, music, and messages all live together.
It knows who is looking at it
HomeView has a built-in camera that can recognize up to six individual faces. When a registered person walks up, the hub pulls up that person's own apps, widgets, and preferences. Apple says personal context and conversations stay private to each user, while shared photo albums and music can be accessed by everyone in the house.
That personal touch is powered by Siri AI, Apple's newest version of its assistant. Apple describes it as more conversational, with broader world knowledge and a more tailored experience. With Apple Intelligence enabled on another device, the hub can pull information from Messages, Calendar, Reminders, and Apple Music.
What it actually does around the house
HomeView works as a control panel for the whole home. You can check security cameras, change the temperature, or turn on the lights by voice or by touch. It can display up to nine security camera feeds at once. It also works as an intercom, broadcasting a message to one room or the whole house through other HomeView and HomePod speakers, or to an iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch. When idle, it becomes a display: a clock, a live photo album, shifting dynamic art, or animations featuring characters like Snoopy.
The hardware and the accessories
The HomeView has a 7-inch Liquid Retina display. The countertop version sits on a domed speaker base with a steel hinge that lets you tilt the screen up and down, and it comes in silver, starlight, rose pink, and space gray. Alongside the hub, Apple announced the Apple Home Collection, a new line of smart home cameras, thermostats, and doorbells made with LG Electronics and Schneider Electric. Apple says the Apple Home Collection accessories go on sale in December, with select accessories following in early 2027.
HomeView is available for pre-order starting October 13, and it reaches stores starting November 13. You can check listings for the Apple HomeView on Amazon as stock appears.
What this means for your iPhone
Here is the part that matters most for phone owners: the smart home is becoming another reason your iPhone is the center of everything. The hub leans on the phone for Apple Intelligence, for your accounts, and for your conversations. A home full of cameras, doorbells, and thermostats also means more devices on your Wi-Fi, more notifications, and more reasons to keep your phone healthy, updated, and charged.
- If you add smart home gear, put it on a strong Wi-Fi password and keep its software updated, just like your phone.
- Set up face recognition for each person in the house so everyone gets their own view.
- Keep the hub out of bedrooms if camera privacy worries you.
Here in Escondido, smart home questions are already part of the job: doorbell cameras that will not connect, thermostats that drop off Wi-Fi, phones that run hot from always-on apps. If your iPhone is struggling to keep up with your connected home, bring it by 1882 W El Norte Pkwy before you buy anything new.
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