Apple has just announced the HomeView, its first smart home display, and a hands-on demonstration showed a device that is smaller than expected but packed with features. The HomeView centers on a gorgeous 7-inch square touchscreen and built-in Siri AI. Apple designed it to serve as a smart home controller, a personal assistant, and a home hub for the whole household. After spending time with it, the initial impression is that Apple is finally taking the smart display category seriously, and the result feels like a natural extension of the company’s ecosystem.
The first thing that stands out about the HomeView is its size. It is much smaller than many people might imagine when they hear the phrase smart display. The screen almost entirely hides the small aluminum base that doubles as a speaker. The Liquid Retina display is bright and responsive to touch, and it displays photos and the HomeView faces brilliantly. Those faces are customizable, and users can swipe to change them easily. There are dozens of options, most of which resemble Apple Watch faces. The overall effect is something like a giant Apple Watch paired with the functionality of an iPhone and the room to breathe of an iPad.
A Flexible Design for Wall or Countertop
Apple offers both a wall-mounted and a tabletop version of the HomeView. The wall-mounted model looks like it will make a great smart home controller, especially in high-traffic areas like kitchens, hallways, and entryways. The tabletop version fits nicely on a kitchen counter, where it can act as a central hub for family schedules, home controls, and quick video calls. The compact footprint means it does not dominate a room, but the screen is still large enough to display camera feeds, recipes, and controls comfortably.
The display is built around a dedicated Home Widget face that pulls devices from the Apple Home app. From there, a user can walk up and tap to control a thermostat or door lock, activate a scene, or check the status of accessories. Swiping right brings up a live view of HomeKit Secure Video cameras. Tapping into one camera can reveal nearby accessories, such as a garage door, so a user can open it after seeing who is arriving. When trying to unlock a door, the HomeView stops and asks for authentication with a face or an iPhone. That extra step is a smart privacy and security measure, and it shows how Apple is thinking about sensitive actions in a shared household device.
The Home Widget is essentially a skin of the Home app, so it offers all the controls available on an iPhone, just on a bigger screen designed for walk-up-and-tap interaction. That means scenes, devices, cameras, and automations are all accessible without digging through menus. For anyone already invested in Apple Home, the HomeView could become the most convenient control panel in the house.
Navigation Built Around Swipes and Widgets
There is a lot of swiping on the HomeView. Swipe left to get to new home faces, tap widgets to access deeper controls in apps, then swipe right for more features. Swipe up to return to the main screen, then up again to access the onboard apps, which automatically populate from your phone. Swiping down from the top of the screen brings up a control center, just like on an iPhone. You can even enable the 12MP camera from here, giving you a de facto mirror. That camera also supports FaceTime and Center Stage, which keeps a user centered on the screen during calls. For a device that will likely sit on a kitchen counter, that makes the HomeView a great countertop calling device.
Siri AI and Personal Context
The HomeView is built around Siri AI, and it can pull personal context such as text messages and calendar appointments based on voice requests. In a demonstration, a user asked what time Andrew would arrive from the airport. Siri pulled together context from messages and responded that Andrew Dean sent a message saying his flight lands at JFK Airport at 6:30AM on October 16th. The user then asked how long it would take Andrew to get to the house if he took the train from JFK, and Siri answered that it would take about one hour and eight minutes by transit. The user then asked to turn on the coffee maker 15 minutes before Andrew would arrive. Siri set a routine to turn on the coffee maker at the correct time.
That integration of personal context with the smart home, all orchestrated by the HomeView, is a big jump up in capability for Apple Home. It moves Siri beyond simple commands and into the role of a proactive assistant that understands schedules, messages, travel, and home routines. The demonstration was not a live test, but it points to a future where the home hub can make decisions based on who is coming, when they are arriving, and what should be ready when they walk through the door.
Guided Cooking and Media Features
One of the most compelling features is the guided cooking experience. A user can bring an iPhone with a recipe pulled up in Siri to the screen, and the HomeView uses Handoff to transfer the data. It then reformats the recipe into an easy-to-follow onscreen experience, complete with in-line timers for each step. Apple says most recipes that use Google formatting will work this way. That could make the HomeView a genuinely useful kitchen companion, especially for people who already use their phone or tablet for recipes but want something more permanent and hands-free. Questions remain about how it will handle recipes from social media platforms like TikTok, where formatting is often less structured.
In another Siri AI demo, a user asked Siri to play a song that a friend had texted. Siri started playing Bad Bunny. It took about eight seconds to pull up the song, but considering the amount of context gathering involved, that felt fairly fast. The demonstration also included a FaceTime call where the user was centered on the screen thanks to Center Stage. The combination of a good camera, a bright display, and hands-free calling makes the HomeView a strong candidate for countertop communication.
Pricing, Availability, and the Smart Display Market
The HomeView costs $299 and is available for preorder today. It starts shipping on November 13th. That price places it in the mid-to-premium range for smart displays. Amazon has long dominated the category with its Echo Show devices, including the Echo Show 15 and Echo Hub, while Google has offered the Nest Hub and Nest Hub Max. Other companies have tried smart displays with mixed results, and some, like Meta’s Portal, have been discontinued. Apple is arriving late, but it is arriving with several advantages: deep integration with iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Apple TV, HomeKit, and a growing list of Matter and Thread accessories.
Apple’s smart home story began with HomeKit in 2014, followed by the Home app in 2016. The original HomePod arrived in 2018, and the HomePod mini followed in 2020. For years, rumors circulated that Apple was working on a smart display, but the company held back. The HomeView is the clearest sign yet that Apple wants to own the center of the connected home. The device does not natively support any video apps yet, not even Apple’s own, according to early reports. That limitation could matter for people who want to use a smart display as a small television or streaming device, but it may not matter for those who primarily want home control, calls, and assistance.
The HomeView’s success will depend on how well Siri AI performs in daily use. The demos are promising, but real-world reliability is another matter. Apple has faced criticism for Siri’s limitations compared with other voice assistants, and the new AI features are meant to close that gap. If Siri can consistently pull the right context, control the right devices, and respond quickly, the HomeView could become the most useful smart display for Apple users. If it stumbles, the $299 price may feel steep compared with cheaper competitors.
Privacy and security are also part of the pitch. The HomeView requires authentication for sensitive actions like unlocking a door, and Apple has built a reputation for on-device processing and strong encryption. In a shared home, that matters. A smart display often sits in a public space, and family members or guests may interact with it. Face authentication and iPhone authentication help prevent unauthorized access while still allowing quick control of lights, thermostats, and scenes. HomeKit Secure Video support adds another layer, with live camera feeds and accessory controls available from the display.
The wall-mounted version could be particularly appealing for new homes and renovations, where a permanent control panel makes sense. The tabletop version is more flexible and easier to move from kitchen to office to bedroom. The aluminum base houses the speaker, so the HomeView can also play music, answer questions, and handle video calls. The 12MP camera is unusually high resolution for a smart display, and it enables both FaceTime and the mirror function. The 7-inch square screen is a distinctive choice, and it may work better for certain layouts than the widescreen displays used by many competitors.
Apple’s decision to make the HomeView feel like an Apple Watch in its faces is clever. It creates continuity across devices and gives users a familiar interface. The dozens of face options mean the display can match a room’s decor or a user’s mood. The swipe navigation is consistent with iPhone and iPad gestures, so there is little learning curve for Apple users. The onboard apps automatically populate from your phone, which reduces setup friction and keeps the experience personal. The control center swipe-down gesture is another familiar touch.
The HomeView is not just a passive screen. It is designed to be a home hub, a personal assistant, and a shared family device. It can show photos, control accessories, display camera feeds, guide cooking, make calls, and respond to Siri requests. The combination of these features in a compact square display could make it a compelling addition to an Apple-centric smart home. The $299 price and November 13th shipping date give Apple a chance to compete in a category that has been waiting for a strong premium option. The HomeView is available for preorder today and starts shipping on November 13th.
Source: The Verge News