Adam Kos Just a few days before this year's WWDC21 held in June, there were various rumors about the arrival of the new homeOS operating system. So it looked like we would see his official introduction during the conference keynote. It did not happen. Will we ever see it?
The first hint of this new system, called homeOS, appeared in a new job posting asking for software engineers to work on the development of Apple Music. She mentioned not only it, but also the iOS, watchOS and tvOS systems, which indicated that this novelty should complement the trio of systems. The funny thing about the whole situation was that Apple then corrected the text and listed tvOS and HomePod instead of homeOS.
New HomePod mini colors
If it was just a copywriter's mistake, he did it again anyway. The newly published job application mentions homeOS again. However, the identical phrase from the original request is present, not the edited one. However, compared to the previous situation, Apple reacted faster and removed the offer completely after a while. So either some prankster is just playing with us, or the company is really preparing homeOS and just doesn't manage to monitor its own information leaks. It is very unlikely that she would make the same mistake twice.
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Amaya Toman Operating system for HomePod
So it seems more likely that the references to homeOS are real, but Apple is not yet ready to inform us about it. So it can only be a system for the HomePod, which never received an official name. It's reportedly referred to internally as audioOS, but no one at Apple has ever used that term publicly. Officially, it's only "HomePod Software", but it's not really talked about either.
Instead, Apple focused on the "features" provided by core software and other operating systems. For example, at the last WWDC, the company revealed several new HomePod mini and Apple TV features, but never said they would come in a tvOS update or a HomePod software update. It was only generally stated that they would look at the device later this year.
So maybe Apple just wants to separate the HomePod and its tvOS from the tvOS in the Apple TV. After all, a simple renaming would also clearly be based on the product name. It certainly wouldn't be the first time Apple would take this step either. This happened with iOS for iPads, which became iPadOS, and Mac OS X became macOS. Still, the mentions of homeOS suggest that Apple might have something a little different up its sleeve.
The entire smart home system
It can be guessed that Apple has bigger plans for its home ecosystem, which is also evidenced by the fact that the offer in the Apple Online Store has been redesigned, where it is rebranding this segment as TV & Home, in our case TV and Household. Here you will find products such as Apple TV, HomePod mini, but also Apple TV applications and the Apple TV+ platform, as well as the Home applications and Accessories section.
A hybrid of HomePod and Apple TV
From new staff hires to news of an advanced HomePod/Apple TV hybrid, it's so clear that Apple doesn't want to give up its presence in living rooms. However, it is also clear that he has not yet fully figured out how to exploit the potential here. Looking at it from a more optimistic perspective, homeOS could be Apple's attempt to build a whole new ecosystem around the home. It would therefore also integrate HomeKit and perhaps other custom accessories that the company can plan (thermostats, cameras, etc.). But its main strength would be in the integration of third-party solutions.
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And when will we wait? If we wait, it makes sense that Apple will introduce this news together with the new HomePod, which could be as early as next spring. If the HomePod doesn't come, the developer conference, WWDC 2022, is again in play.
