Apple HomeView (apple.com)

It’s only when you want to let them jump in and out of multiple apps (e.g. pick what game they want to play on their own) that you start having a problem.

(And the not-idiomatic-but-people-do-it-anyway solution for that, from what I’ve seen, is buying one extra iPad, and creating a special whole-family Apple account for it, to effectively serve as a game console for the kids.)

This is no longer the case. Siri as of iOS 27 is a gemini-based LLM system. It has a chatbot app and everything.

Not sure if HomeView is the answer, but some aspects of the video were interesting. eg super-fast user switching with no explicit login; and how it puts Siri forward as the primary UI in a way that the iPad doesn't, even if the iPad technically has the same capabilities.

That they drilled a hole through the kitchen island table top for the power cord was hilarious. Exactly zero people in the real world are going to do that.

So, like: The light switch in the garage is very inconveniently-located, and it's dark AF in there both at night and when I walk in from a bright sunny day. The lights can be activated by voice and that's pretty nice to have.

They're also good when I want background music that's actually-in-the-background: I've got some very nice audio systems for when I want focus on listening to music, but they are much more successful at being involving than at being being ignored. The kinda-meh-sounding Alexa-type widget on the table over there does a better job for background noise.

I'm not anywhere near 60 yet. I just find that stuff like this is useful.

(Yeah, yeah. I could build or buy voice-controlled speaker-widgets that integrate with Home Assistant in an open-source way, and even use them with a local LLM if I wanted to. I'm disinterested in that kind of effort at this time.)

If not for the need for video conferencing, she'd have been fine with an audio only device.

The device looks like an ipad merged with a homepod. It's not definitive, but the idea of mounting an ipad on a homepod does seem to exist in the 3D Printing world [1].

The negative effects of screen time on children's brain develop is being more and more intensely researched, and I suspect an adjustment is underway. Low-fi (LCD screens), etc can make a lot of sense.

[1] https://makerworld.com/en/models/811172-ipad-stand-retro-ima...

Outside of basically just TV's the economy has decided to completely abandon targeting really much of anything at below median wage incomes.

Google's Nest Home is only $99, so that is likely the cheapest version from a big company.

I saw a post here a few weeks ago aout someone publishing a daily "newsletter" for their family of everyone's happenings and going ons.

I believe they were outputting a PDF, and my thought kind of went where yours did.

The PDF is pixels oriented for paper.. or a screen.

One way I see output is a screen is.. a screen, and there's many ways to make the pixels arrange as desired.

The thing I'd kind of still hold off on is this approach isn't for the many, which I believe Apple HomeView is. I could see sending one on a trop with kids, or putting it at family members houses just as a communicator.

Lots of ways to do it again, but it's not about that for most people. There's a reason apple sells so much, they look for creating beginners in the most approachable way possible. It's not the only, best, or exclusive way to do something, but they have an audience they serve.

It's not intended for home users of course, because that could jeopardise sales in families.

An old iPad on a stand on the table in the breakfast nook is conceptually fine as a Matter controller until someone picks it up and leaves with it, or unplugs it and lets it run out of battery.

Apple forbids this kind of use because it defiles the majesty of their garden and its walls (or something), but that's just Apple doing Apple things.

This is about remote control. People who think Apple/Google/Microsoft will just pass on the reigns of that remote control are dangerously naïve.

Apple has locked down whole classes of third-party utilities for its mobile system and Google is copying them as we speak. We are slowing progress at great cost by letting them lock-in and rent seek.

This is the same as with the Meta glasses and that's where I believe said Overton window is being expanded to. I am not one for conspiracy theories but it's not hard to notice the sudden appearance of these devices and their "this is cool" and the implied "what is even your problem" gaslighting advertising.

If you don’t trust Apple, you’re on your own - you can probably recreate all this on a FOSS stack, but you’re gonna have to do it repeatedly for everything, and you’re on the hook for explaining it to everyone you know so they can use it, too. It’s not that you _can’t_ do it yourself, it’s just a whole lot harder than if you accept the bargain and trust Apple.

Whether or not you want to do that is up to you, but I don’t think anyone’s in the dark on what the bargain is.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/apple-buys-israeli-startup-rep...

Anyone who thinks Apple is going to fight for their users if their revenue slips targets and stock tanks is an idiot.

Money talks.

2. Set up TLS MITM between the device and the Internet. Install the cert on the device.

3. On the device, disable certificate pinning for Apple's apps.

4. Use the device normally, observe all the telemetry flowing to Apple.

You might be a little shocked at the amount of... personal and usage details sent to Apple FQDNs.

Remember: Privacy is a feature of the Apple Marketing dept -- not SWE!

  1. https://security.apple.com/research-device/

So Apple can ship whatever update they want, doing whatever with no oversight or independent review. No thanks - you folks are forgetting the US a surveillance state.

A device with no physical switch for it's microphone and cameras worries me and it's just not worth whatever minor convenience this adds.

For those following along, the Secure Enclave is a separate core that runs most of the security stuff (including hardware like the fingerprint scanner), and Secure Exclaves are essentially virtual machines on the main AP cores used as a security boundary for specific tasks, kind of like Qubes does.

I cant buy the LG doorbell camera at my local mall in a fancy store. I had not even heard of it until now.

Volumes of 100s of millions on chips and volumes in hundreds of thousands will have a huge price difference. We are talking 2 orders of magnitude higher.

Moving goalposts aside, how do you know it’s useless? You might not have a use for it, but it’s weird to make such blanket statements for a product that hasn’t even been out yet.

If this is what families are like in the US, I can understand why people become massive drug addicts and even to take their lives ...

The battery issue, I agree it is kind of a single room device, but I could see wanting to move it around the room I am in. If I am say, washing dishes versus cooking at the stove, versus doing prep work. Right now I move an iPad around with me in the kitchen. Also, for when there is a facetime call being able to best position it for what I am currently doing verus having to move to the device and face it.

Wveryone tried to put app atores inside messages because that's what all messaging apps in South East Asia do.

However, none of western companies ever actually understood how that works.

The right app, in the right place can make a lot of sense

The AVP was just an iPad that you strapped to your face. Yes, it had apps, but they could only do more-or-less the same things an iPad app could (in 3D, sure).

That's why I returned mine, it was way too limiting of a platform for the cost. This, while cheaper, is even more limited (no apps).

You should go and reread the HN thread then. There were people ripping the "Nomad" quote and insisting that it was the next big thing: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36201593

Some excerpts from top comments:

  But it's going to be a hit. HN is going to be swamped with "How I used Vision Pro to..." posts when it comes out.

  It would very obviously be useful for work if you can actually get high res, effectively unlimited monitor space.

  [...] considering it is a phone, laptop and massive display bundled into I'm pretty sure there's a more than sustainable market for it.

  It’s come in at $3499 and if it performs as good as those videos make out then, if anything, it’s a bargain.

That, plus the crowd who would want or like to hack on a device like this, or at least use a non-Apple app or service, is probably far outnumbered by people who don’t care what (and whose) software can run on their screen in the home as long as it looks nice and works well, which is typically the case for Apple.

They talk about it more but very few (low enough to not effectively not matter) actually do anything about it. If you want to spend less time on your phone you can... just do it. Setup screen time and practice an ounce of self-discipline.

It's the same as when people say "People hate their phones so that's why we created <AI Pendant>", uh people _love_ their phones, some to an unhealthy degree but I've never bought into the idea that people are actually pinning for a way to use their phones less. That's why it's going to be a massive uphill battle for OpenAI to break into the hardware space IMHO.

Apple wasn't wrong in their Keynote about how the perfect "AI" device is already in your pocket. Now, it's more limited than it should be due to the locked down nature of Apple's phones but if you could build anything without restriction on the iPhone platform then yes, it would be a great AI platform.

Disclosure: I work at Apple. But that’s also my honest opinion.

This is what irritates me about Parental Controls in 27. Everyone has to be on 27 or nobody gets the new controls. So, we still have a mini 5 that we let the littlest one on. It works, there's not reason to get a new one, but sure would be nice to have the newer Parental Controls for the older kids.

Apps Available from iPhone:

- Audiobooks

- Classical Music

- News

- TV

Underneath that it says "Supported third-party audio and video apps". I'm not sure what that means.

But yeah! Plexamp works fine with Siri on my phone.

I’m curious about the wall mounted option, and how that gets power without an electrician running a line to the middle of the wall. It looked like there might be a PoE option, but that also needs cable run. It seems like a bit of a project.

What a novel idea.

"These new capabilities are powered by the next generation of Apple Foundation Models, custom-built in collaboration with Google and its Gemini models for deeply integrated Apple Intelligence experiences. "

It's a really nice speaker if I set it on something sturdy that won't rattle, and airplay is still pretty good even on ancient devices.

I can't keep it plugged in because it will just randomly say "You can enable personalized responses in the settings app!" at 3am about once a week if I do. It's horrifying when it happens because it always seems to be 10x louder than I remember it being set to.

Mine are now unplugged after the update to 27 while i'm not home, since they've developed a mind of their own & will randomly turn on the TV or play music themselves.

Thank god the EU didn’t get it’s shit together before usb-c, the original proposal was to require microUSB lol

The EU's interpretation means Apple must provide third-party AI assistants with access comparable to Siri's, potentially including the ability to interact with messages, files, purchases and other apps.

Apple proposed a secure intermediary called Trusted System Agent and an 18-month implementation plan. The European Commission rejected those proposals.

A braindead customer is a better customer.

Sorry for not being clear. The Crestron/Savant panels are not typically purchased separately as 1 item. They're installed by certified system integrators as part of a total package where they wire up the whole house (often new construction).

There have been rumblings and predictions that Apple could expand HomeKit's capabilities to eventually be a real alternative to Crestron/Savant. The previous iterations of HomePod and Apple TV acting as a home hub really wasn't a credible threat but a new product like HomeView is a step closer to the "professional smarthome automation" space. E.g. Apple offering a wall-mounted PoE option is evidence of that.