Depending on hardware and price point, this might end up being an interesting device to modify/jailbreak.
An… iPad?
Maybe something closer to a
Landl iNePad
well it’s a six inch display so presumably it’ll be a lot cheaper. maybe designed with an always-on display. And the UI optimized for home oriented stuff. could be interesting.
If it’s a super cheap quasiPad with good software, then it makes sense. If it’s something I can emulate at about 90% with a used iPhone XR and the Home app then it’s completely redundant.
Unless priced extremely cheap, or Apple plays the walled garden game with peripherals and/or restricts current device capabilities, it is unclear what this device offers more than what iPad or iPhone already does for managing home devices.
Just improve the Home app please. It’s still on Matter 1.1.
I’d rather have properly working accessories that connect using Thread (not Wi-Fi) to one another and work without requiring a separate app. Currently almost every manufacturer requires their own proprietary bridge or they want to connect directly to Wi-Fi.
Give me a button/switch, climate sensors (Eve Room comes to mind as it has Thread but it’s a PitA in some other ways), thermostats that can adjust based on an external climate sensor, lightbulbs etc.
Apple TVs and HomePods already work fine as a “Home hub”, I don’t need a separate, central display.
