Owning an Apple Home: second-party accessories could be the reboot we need

Matter was meant to take the guesswork out of the smart home, but as more accessory makers silo themselves in their own ecosystems, Apple needs to take dramatic action on Tuesday.

At first, it made sense that Apple would have some background partnership with LG to get a few new products built for Apple Home onto the market. New clues found in code made it clear that Apple has much larger ambitions that should become clear during its "Welcome Home" event on October 13.

I love Apple Home, but anyone that uses it as their primary smart home will agree that it has been caught in a rut. Smart home accessory makers have noticed too, causing some of them to start siloing themselves off into their own walled gardens.

Matter was supposed to fix all of this. Apple even offered HomeKit as the basis for Matter, yet it dropped the ball on supporting the latest version of the standard.

Now, it seems as if smart home devices are getting more complex while Apple clings to an ancient app UI, layout, and feature support. The October 13 event needs to rectify this, and second-party accessories are just the start.

Second-party accessories can restore faith in Apple Home

When news showed up about Apple working directly with LG on Apple Home products, like thermostats and door locks, everyone was confused. Sure, Apple worked with LG in the past, but given the recent news about LG smart TVs spying on users and Apple's privacy-first stance, the timing felt odd.

Once code revealed that Apple is working with multiple manufacturers dubbed "second-party" for Apple Home, it became clear. It wasn't that Apple specifically chose LG to usher in a new generation of smart home products, but it had a broader plan in the works.

The news of LG being involved appeared first because its devices were in regulatory approval. Images have even leaked alongside pairing animations.

Schneider is the second company on the list, but it is highly unlikely that these are the only two brands in play. I fully expect a screen will appear on Tuesday showing multiple brands that have pledged to participate.

Second-party means these aren't made by Apple, but they may as well have been. Apple likely created a spec requirement, think "Made for iPhone," and told companies what it expected its home products to offer.

Things like HomeKit Secure Video, NFC pairing, Apple Home Key, and other Apple Home integrations are a given. When you power on one of these second-party accessories, a modal sheet similar to AirPods or Beats will slide up from the bottom of your iPhone.

It's not enough that an accessory simply connects via Matter anymore. It needs to actually fit into the Apple ecosystem as more than an on/off toggle.

I don't expect that Nanoleaf, SwitchBot, Govee, or other manufacturers like them will rush out to release products that meet Apple's second-party standards. However, the ones that do will become priority purchases for those of us that want a more integrated Apple smart home.

For me, that's enough. Sure, we're back to the XKCD "one more standard" problem, but putting an easy-to-identify label on products that work best in Apple Home makes things easier.

The difference between second-party devices today and "Made for HomeKit" a decade ago is things like Matter. You're no longer isolating yourself to Apple's ecosystem by building for its certification.

Something about this tells me that previous rumors about Apple building its own smart home products is just this. Internally, Apple prototyped and built various devices, like smart bulbs, cameras, and thermostats, to define this second-party spec.

However, rumor mongers suggest that Apple is in fact still on to release its own devices. We won't see those on Tuesday, but they're coming eventually, allegedly.

Apple's new products can help revitalize its place in the smart home

There will be at least three Apple Home products revealed on October 13: a new Apple TV 4K, an updated HomePod mini, and the long-rumored Apple Home Hub tablet.

Each of these plays a role in making people care about Apple Home in the first place. They're what get you into the door, not the accessory you add to it.

The push for "artificial intelligence" in the industry has only added more confusion for buyers to wade through. Alexa's AI upgrades still don't work as expected, and Google slaps "AI" on everything even when it isn't.

Apple has an opportunity to integrate Apple Foundation Models and AI-like features into Apple Home without making things worse. Unlike its competitors, it isn't totally reliant on investors to ensure it has a future, and therefore, doesn't need to grift with false promises of an AI-driven future.

The smart home will do just fine with AI analysis of activities to enable better controls and automations. I don't need my HomePod to vibe code a website — I just need it to turn on the damn lights when I tell it to.

My colleague William Gallagher has had an embarrassingly bad time with Siri AI when dealing with Apple Music requests. It's as if the assistant dumped all of its knowledge of music in the transition from an ML to AI backend.

I expect that the agentic training for Siri AI as a music assistant has been held back for this release. That, and I am also willing to bet the improved logic for parsing smart home commands will arrive Tuesday as well.

Sure, you might need a piece of new hardware to make it happen, but if it works, it'll be worth it. When I tell a HomePod to toggle a light, it shouldn't need to send the request to a server, and more local processing could ensure that's the case.

The Apple TV 4K is a must when every smart TV has Samba technology and other logging tools sniffing out your every move. Bundling in more AI smarts, better gaming options, and a new Siri Remote is just icing on the cake.

I'm also excited at the prospect of using four HomePods as a home theater system, but that's a different story.

The rumored Home Hub tablet has been detailed plenty enough before, so let's not dwell on it too much here.

It's a six-inch tablet that will work closely with your existing Apple ecosystem. Apple's pitch on this device will make or break it, so let's see what it is before we talk about it further.

The point is, all three of these new product categories will get people into Apple Home. Then, second-party accessories will tell customers where to get the best smart home experience.

It's Apple's classic halo effect at work.

An Apple Home app redesign is a must

I'm aware that my level of commitment to Apple Home is unusual for the mass-market, but not amongst the AppleInsider reading contingent. I want to do everything in the Apple Home app, and I'm tired of needing a new app every time I test a new smart home product.

I expect most regular people who have an iPhone and maybe a couple of smart bulbs and maybe a fancy coffee machine that needs an app don't care about this. They'll buy the thing, install the app, and get on with their day.

Once you get past two or three additional apps, it becomes a nuisance. Most don't get that far in their smart home setups, but the fact it can happen at all is a problem.

Apple needs to rethink Apple Home as an app just as badly as it needs to reboot the ecosystem.

Rumors haven't had anything on what Apple might do with the Apple Home app, if anything, at the October 13 event. That's likely due to Apple's absolute secrecy when it comes to software.

Here's my two cents: use existing APIs like widgets to surface third-party accessory controls not supported by the Home app. Instead of demanding accessories fit into a rigid set of categories or controls, let developers control how their accessories look and are controlled within the Home app.

This could lead to some ugly mishmash situations. Apple could mitigate that with some basic requirements on maintaining consistency, but that could lead us back to square one.

I'm not here to come up with a solution, only to point out that the current system is old and broken. I'm excited for new Apple Home products and the initiatives around it, but that needs commitment from the software side as well.

So much of this stops mattering if the app experience sucks. Apple needs to fix that.

Second-party accessories will help the situation by giving users a go-to for the best Apple Home solution. However, only introducing those with no software changes would be a band-aid on an increasingly irritating problem.

Apple is only a few days away from revealing its plans, so let's hope for some good news on all fronts. New Apple hardware, second-party partnerships, and a revitalized Home app experience could transform the platform overnight.