Idea: Apple/Cult of Mac
A little bit of the consumer interface for a HomePod good speaker with a big touchscreen reportedly turned up within the newest beta for tvOS 18.
There have been leaks and rumors of such a wise house system since a minimum of 2021, however now the product appears to be transferring nearer launch.
Touchscreen-focused HomePod on the horizon
At this time, HomePod is primarily used as an audio participant and/or a HomeKit hub. However Apple reportedly desires to show the system into the middle of a wise house by grafting on an iPad. Reasonably than voice instructions, as with present fashions, the long run model will supposedly embrace a touchscreen.
That’ll require a way more complete consumer interface than is required by the small touchscreen constructed into present HomePods. And 9to5Mac claims to have discovered buried in tvOS 18 beta 3 proof that Apple is constructing simply such a UI.
“The new tvOS interface, or system shell, is internally called ‘PlasterBoard,’” mentioned 9to5Mac. “Similar to SpringBoard (the iOS system shell), it provides some core interface elements for the system.”
However there apparently isn’t a lot of the UI to be present in tvOS 18 past a lock display. It appears there’s nonetheless loads of work to be performed.
And that’s not shocking. An unconfirmed report from earlier this yr signifies that the HomePod with a big touchscreen received’t be launched till 2025 on the earliest.
What for?
All of the leaks have been imprecise on what Apple intends the product for use for. It could possibly be one thing so simple as displaying climate forecasts and upcoming appointments.
However there are larger prospects. A HomePod with massive touchscreen could possibly be a kitchen laptop, all the time able to play video or present recipes. A front-facing digicam would allow FaceTime calls. The system may even be used for accessing social media, e mail, and many others.
Apparently, we’ll discover out in 2025.