TechTabletsIs the iPad gearing up to become your new home hub?Your iPad Lock Screen could soon be your new home hub – but the iPhone version is likely to launch firstWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
TechTabletsIs the iPad gearing up to become your new home hub?Your iPad Lock Screen could soon be your new home hub – but the iPhone version is likely to launch firstWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
Your iPad Lock Screen could soon be your new home hub – but the iPhone version is likely to launch first
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Apple)
(Image credit: Apple)
YouriPad’s about to take a big step towards being a proper home hub, if new reports are accurate. We’ve written aboutApple’s home hub plans before: in October,we reported rumoursof a docking accessory that would make your iPad more like aGoogle Pixel tablet. But this time the reports are about software, and specifically iOS/iPadOS 17.
The report comes via Mark Gurman ofBloomberg, and while the article focuses oniPhonestheiPadis likely to be the better hub. According to Gurman, Apple is going to turn the Lock Screen into an information hub to show calendar appointments, weather data, notifications and other items, enabling it to work as a smart home hub. The iPad will do the same, but its software may not be ready at the same time as theiPhoneupdate.
Why is the iPad the better home hub?
Because size matters. There’s a reason why other smart home hubs aren’t phone-sized: small screens aren’t the best place to display lots of information or controls.
According to the report there’s a similar horizontal interface planned for the iPad, but it’s taking longer to develop. Gurman has previously indicated that Apple is also working on a “low-cost”, low-end iPad-style device designed specifically for wall mounting as a smart home hub. I do wonder if that’s perhaps partly responsible for the reported difficulty, with engineers focusing on not one tablet-sized device but two.
I’d love a decent home hub. As much as I love widgets on myiPhone 14, my iPad is always kicking around when I’m at home and its much bigger Lock Screen currently feels like a wasted opportunity: while you can add widgets to your home screen (if you have iPadOS 15 or later), the Lock Screen is about ten inches of wasted space. Making that into a hub would make Apple’sbest tableta lot more useful.
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