Apple Introduces New Smart Home Capabilities
Apple has announced the integration of robot vacuum support in its Apple Home platform with the upcoming iOS 18 update. This enhancement was one of the several updates revealed at the WWDC 2024 event.
Core Functionality and Automation
With the new update, the Apple Home app will support essential functions of robot vacuum cleaners. These include power control, cleaning modes, vacuum and mop operations, and charge status monitoring. Users can also incorporate these devices into automations and activate them through Siri voice commands.
“The Home app now supports the core functionality of robot vacuum cleaners, such as power control, cleaning mode, vacuum, mop, and charge status. They can also participate in automations and scenes, and respond to Siri requests. So you can add them to your cleaning routines — or tell Siri to do some spot cleaning in the living room.”
Apple iOS 18 Preview
Matter Integration and Limitations
The introduction of this feature is made possible through Apple Home’s support for the Matter standard. Matter 1.2 allows users to start and stop a matter compatible robot vacuum, adjust cleaning modes, and receive notifications and alerts. However, advanced features like room mapping and keep-out zones are not supported by Matter. For these functionalities, users will need to rely on the manufacturer’s app.
Matter-Compatible Robot Vacuums at Vacuum Wars
Expanding Device Compatibility
The introduction of robot vacuum support in Apple Home marks a significant step in expanding the platform’s device compatibility, with the potential for more devices to be supported in the future.
About Matter
Matter is an interoperability standard designed to enable communication between connected devices locally within the home, without relying on cloud connections. It aims to provide a secure, private, and user-friendly environment, compatible with a wide range of devices. Developed by major companies including Apple, Amazon, Google, and Samsung, Matter supports over 30 device types and operates over Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and the low-power mesh networking protocol Thread. See the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA) for more details.