Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Apple rumored to be working on a smart home operating system version

macrumors.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 93 posts

Re: Apple rumored to be working on a smart home operating system version

#61

Post by SvenL »

marssaxman wrote: post #54
ajkjk wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel like Apple has historical been good at taking things that are "good ideas but everyone is doing the execution so badly they haven't really caught on" into the "everyone uses it all the time" category (eg ipod, iphone, airpods). Certainly smart home stuff is kinda in the first category right now, like you said. Perhaps they believe they can give them the same treatment? It seems kinda plausible to me: there's n…

Is it actually a good idea, though? It's crystal clear why companies would want to make and sell smart home devices which get customers locked into proprietary web services, but the problems these gadgets are meant to solve for the user have always struck me as... trivial. The last thing I want in my house are more fussy, flaky widgets to manage; they'd better have a really good reason to exist.

If apple would make them less fussy, flaky and maybe let them just work without you managing them - would this already a good reason to exist?

I think this is something apple done right in the past. Like holding your new AirPods just beside your phone and the phone recognizes them.

Re: Apple rumored to be working on a smart home operating system version

#62

Post by marssaxman »

SvenL wrote: post #61
marssaxman wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it actually a good idea, though? It's crystal clear why companies would want to make and sell smart home devices which get customers locked into proprietary web services, but the problems these gadgets are meant to solve for the user have always struck me as... trivial. The last thing I want in my house are more fussy, flaky widgets to manage; they'd better have a really good reason to exist.

If apple would make them less fussy, flaky and maybe let them just work without you managing them - would this already a good reason to exist? I think this is something apple done right in the past. Like holding your new AirPods just beside your phone and the phone recognizes them.

That would certainly remove a significant obstacle, but my question is really more about whether the problems smart-home devices purport to solve actually matter enough to be worth inventing and buying this much new technology.

Re: Apple rumored to be working on a smart home operating system version

#64

Post by paulryanrogers »

DrBenCarson wrote: post #43
paulryanrogers wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Was Johnny Ive really a driver of innovation? Or just trading repairabily for vanity metrics?

You tell me, was the iPhone innovative?

Was Ive involved in the iPhone creation? Or only its enshittification?

Re: Apple rumored to be working on a smart home operating system version

#65

Post by auguzanellato »

altairprime wrote: post #39
easton wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably mostly the GUI and some different set of system services / APIs. I think all of the OSes are the same XNU/Darwin base and then diverge dramatically in user space.

This is true to the best of our knowledge for their GUI-less OSes running on the HDMI adapter, T2 chips, and display chips as well.

They also have RTKit (a RTOS as the name suggests) for simpler devices such as AirPods, AirTags and some dumber stuff.

Re: Apple rumored to be working on a smart home operating system version

#66

Post by cosmicgadget »

colechristensen wrote: post #45
codeaether wrote: post #42

It's such a pity to see how much respect Apple has lost due to its lack of real technological ambition. Just a few years ago, Apple was admired for pushing boundaries—now it feels like history is repeating itself.

I think it's more there's nothing left to be done. There have been little refinements but airliners look the same as they did in the 60s and the basics of all of it are just the same as they were 60 years ago as now. Operating systems are the same.

Are you saying there is not technology left?

Re: Apple rumored to be working on a smart home operating system version

#67

Post by SoftTalker »

marssaxman wrote: post #62
SvenL wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If apple would make them less fussy, flaky and maybe let them just work without you managing them - would this already a good reason to exist? I think this is something apple done right in the past. Like holding your new AirPods just beside your phone and the phone recognizes them.

That would certainly remove a significant obstacle, but my question is really more about whether the problems smart-home devices purport to solve actually matter enough to be worth inventing and buying this much new technology.

My vote is no. I can imagine no smart device that is easier and less troublesome than simple wall switches for my lights and a simple thermostat for my heating and cooling. The less technology the better in one’s home. It’s not conducive to a serene environment.

Re: Apple rumored to be working on a smart home operating system version

#69

Post by dyauspitr »

joshmarinacci wrote: post #3

In one sense this is logical. A HomePod with a screen and an iOS variant. On the other hand, what is this for? What uses do these smart home devices serve? We are a decade plus into the “smart home” era and most of these things are more trouble than they are worth.

I agree. The only “smart home” features I use are turning of lights and some one off electrical outlets. Wake me up when we have humanoid robots in the home that I can ask to vacuum the house, do the dishes and fold the laundry. There’s some progress in that space and I would love to see it happen.

Re: Apple rumored to be working on a smart home operating system version

#70

Post by FireBeyond »

veidr wrote: post #23
FireBeyond wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

A fuck of a lot better than HomePod, LOL! (Context: I have 2 Apple TV devices and 5 HomePod devices in my home, plus one Apple Vision Pro. I only like one of those more than my Pixel 9 Fold.)

I use HomePod Minis solely as Thread/Matter routers, as my home is set up very heavily with HomeKit. I have 2 in areas where I have a bunch of devices but no Apple TVs nearby. So fully invested. But yeah...
Post reply on HN