I tried out Apple’s HomeView smart display

Apple's HomeView smart display is now available for pre-order at $299, changing how you control your smart home and interact with Siri.

Apple has launched its first smart home display, the HomeView, priced at $299 and available for preorder with shipping starting November 13th. The device features a 7-inch Liquid Retina touchscreen, built-in Siri, and a 12 MP camera. It is designed as a central controller for smart home devices managed through the Apple Home app, offering "walk-up-and-tap" interaction for thermostats, door locks, and cameras. Users can authenticate sensitive actions like unlocking doors with facial recognition or their iPhone. The HomeView integrates personal context, such as text messages and calendar events, with Siri's smart home capabilities. It also supports a guided cooking experience, allowing recipes from an iPhone to be Handoff'd to the display for an optimized format. The device comes in tabletop and wall-mounted versions and functions similarly to an Apple Watch, iPhone, and iPad combined.

Apple's entry into the smart display market with the HomeView signals a significant push to consolidate its smart home ecosystem. By integrating personal context and device control into a single, intuitive interface, Apple aims to enhance the utility of its HomeKit platform. This move could challenge existing players like Amazon Echo Show and Google Nest Hub, particularly for users already invested in the Apple ecosystem, by offering a more seamless and personalized smart home experience. The device's focus on contextual awareness for Siri, such as predicting arrival times and automating routines, represents a step towards more proactive AI assistance within the home.

The HomeView's guided cooking feature, leveraging Handoff, particularly positions it as a strong contender in kitchen-centric smart devices. By making it easier to transfer and display recipes from an iPhone, Apple addresses a common user pain point, potentially driving adoption among home cooks and those who frequently use online recipes. The device's $299 price point places it in the premium segment of the smart display market, indicating Apple's strategy to compete on features and ecosystem integration rather than solely on price. Future developments will likely focus on expanding the range of compatible recipes and deepening Siri's contextual understanding across more personal data streams.