The Apple 2014 Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) involved more than updates on PC and smartphone software-- it also revealed HomeKit, a means for the turning of iPhones into home automation device controllers.
Word first emerged on the possibility of Apple taking on home automation last week on the Financial Times.
HomeKit is not actually an app, but an iOS 8 API allowing developers to centralize all automation into iOS without need for separate apps. In other words, users will be able to control individual smart devices (such as locks, lights, cameras, doors, thermostats and switches) using via iDevice and even leverage on Siri for voice-based control.
Details are light on HomeKit's actual capabilities, but Apple says homeowners will be able to create smart device groups for simultaneous control of multiple devices.
The company will also run a certification product for HomeKit-compatible devices, and mentions Philips, Honeywell, Kwikset, Broadcom, August, Marvell, Haier and Schlage, among others, as initial partners.
"There are great apps and devices on the market, but we thought we could bring some rationality to this," Apple says.
It looks like an interesting first step, even if we wonder what else Apple has in store for automation-- not to mention the industry's reaction to the news. Either way HomeKit is to appear on customer iDevices once iOS 8 launches on Q3 2014.
