First, I like the name. It is for a home, it has a display, and it sees. So I am pretty satisfied with Apple’s names recently: iPhone Duo, MacBook Neo and now HomeView. Cool.

It should have Face ID. Relying on camera recognition and nearby devices is not cool. But maybe the LiDAR sensor doesn’t have a long enough range. And the price may be a reason too.

In this three-minute video by Apple, there is not a single thing done on HomeView that couldn’t be done on an iPhone or even an Apple Watch. Yes, it has a bigger display, so more people can look at it than at the small Apple Watch, and especially the camera view. So it brings a better experience, not a new experience.

In the same video I did not see a single Apple Watch, iPhone, iPad, Mac, etc. I wonder why. Okay, an AirTag was there.

1:07, still in the same video. The mother is looking for her keys while the father is on a FaceTime call on the HomeView. So the mother cannot use the HomeView (time for a personal computer?), but it just so happens that the father finishes the call and now the HomeView is free. Ad magic.

One more little thing: during the FaceTime call, the ellipsis is not a prominent Liquid Glass button, so it doesn’t have a background colour, and because the button is big, you can see everything morphing under the blur. I wonder if there is a setting for the Liquid Glass look.

Using iMessage on this thing is crazy and pointless. I understand Siri prompting and sending messages, but viewing the actual message thread on the screen, I don’t see a world where it would be useful. I guess if you don’t have your phone on you and you want to type.

They have a table made just for the cable to get through and plug in the HomeView. I am so happy that it doesn’t have a fixed USB-C cable like the HomePod mini does.

In this next screenshot:
On the left is Apple Music. How do you favorite the song? How does the popup menu look like? What does the top left music button do? I read this a few days ago and I wonder if the controls disappear after some time. The HomeView on the right looks like Google’s Material (M3) or something like that to me. Inline Image Description

I like the CarPlay integration of apps. I also like that Apple is reusing Apple Watch faces and all the widgets. Apple is the company that can do this. They have been preparing for this for years, and it shows.

The hardware looks nice and modern. I don’t know if the holes will get filled up and messy in a kitchen. Shame is that it doesn’t rotate on its own. And the bezels could be smaller. You don’t need big bezels for fat fingers like the iPad has.

But all around, I love Apple doing new things. Three years ago, if you had told me that within a year Apple would make a cheaper MacBook, a folding iPhone and a HomePod with a screen, I would not have believed you.