iPads will soon lose the ability to serve as a smart home hub
With iOS 16 onwards this fall, you won’t be able to use the iPad as a smart home hub to control HomeKit devices.
The news comes via Steve Moser, an iOS developer and writer at MacRumors who discovered the code for iOS 16 beta 2. He posted his findings on a. long twitter thread (opens in new tab) Which goes through some other changes coming to Apple devices.
iOS 16 changes
MacRumors report (opens in new tab) That said, upon updating the iPad to iOS 16, a new message will appear in the Home app that reads “A Home Hub is needed to take advantage of features such as receiving accessory notifications and allowing other people to control your homes.” Requires. You won’t be able to view shared homes until those homes have also been upgraded to the latest HomeKit. The iPad will no longer be supported as a Home Hub here.”
If you go to iOS 16 Preview Page (opens in new tab) And scroll all the way down to the fine print, Apple further confirms this by stating that only Apple TV and HomePod devices can be used as Home Hubs. We reached out to the tech giant and asked if they could explain their motive for removing iPad support, but did not get revert. MacRumors suggests the change may have to do with the new Matter support.
Matter is an upcoming smart home standard being developed by several tech companies including Apple, Google, and Amazon. It aims to be a universal protocol Saving the Smart Home Industry, The standard is slated to release sometime during the fall of 2022, which happens to be the same launch window as iOS 16.
New Features and Changes
Other than the iPad drop, most of the changes are relatively minor. Moser states that a lot of the text will be tweaked. For example, apple car key Will now say “Passive entry may be available when your iPhone needs to be charged.” Some apps like Health will have slightly different icons. This is mainly tertiary stuff, but there are some notable additions.
For starters, Apple Maps will get new optimized routes for e-bikes. There will also be a “game mode”, but not much is known beyond that. Supports iOS 16 natively Nintendo Switch Pro Controller, So this mode could be linked to Apple’s newfound gaming support. Moser also found that Apple is working on a 3:2 aspect ratio for the iPhone camera app that hasn’t been enabled. He claims that it could be an addition coming to the future iPhone.
Remember this is just a beta. It is unknown if and when any of these will emerge. except for iPads that have lost Home Hub support; which appears to be set in stone. You can actually try out the new iOS 16 beta for iPhones and iPads by downloading it here Apple’s developer website (opens in new tab), However, unless you are an app developer, we would not recommend it. These early betas are buggy and are not intended for the device you rely on for communication, work, entertainment, etc. The good news is that public (read “more stable”) betas are probably only a few weeks away.
If you want to learn how to set up a smart home, TechRadar has a Guide on the best tools for 2022 To help you get started.