homeOS: Bloomberg's Gurman says Apple's home hub software is built around Siri AI, with touch as the backuphomeOS: Bloomberg's Gurman says Apple's home hub software is built around Siri AI, with touch as the backup

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman says the software on Apple's unannounced home hub is called homeOS and is designed around Siri AI, according to comments on his new Power On podcast relayed by 9to5Mac on 2 October.

This is a reported claim, from a journalist with a long Apple record, not something Apple has confirmed. Apple has said nothing about the device. 9to5Mac itself describes the name as rumoured. Gurman's description, as quoted, is of an operating system shaped by the question of what an OS for Siri AI would look like, centred on personal search and personal context: asking for songs, podcasts, notes, calendar items and photos that belong to the person asking.

According to the same account, Siri is the main way in, but the screen also responds to touch, and apps and a Home Screen can be used either way. 9to5Mac lists Music, Podcasts, Photos, Weather, FaceTime, Notes, Calendar, Messages and Reminders among the built-in apps, without saying which source each comes from. No App Store is expected, which matches Bloomberg's earlier report.

What is new, and what is not

Most of 9to5Mac's piece restates what was already known. Bloomberg's report put the hub, a HomePod mini and an Apple TV on 13 October, and leaked setup screens showed a Photo Face shared with iPhone Duo's StandBy. The new material is the homeOS name, the Siri-first framing, the app list, and one further claim: that third-party widgets can be brought over from an iPhone.

That last one deserves caution. 9to5Mac states it without naming a source, Bloomberg's report is paywalled, and the podcast has no transcript. We could not confirm it at the original. When we covered the four colours and on-device recognition of each household member, nothing reported then said whether developers' widgets would reach the hub.

Will Apple hold an event in October?

Nobody has reported one. In a separate piece, 9to5Mac counts ten October Apple events since 2010, with invitations sent six to twelve days ahead, and estimates that if there is one, invitations would go out between 5 and 7 October. That is 9to5Mac's own arithmetic from past years, not a report. In both 2024 and 2025 Apple announced its autumn Macs and iPads by press release with no event. The Verge's podcast this week discussed the hub only as rumour.

Our take

If Gurman is right, the name matters less than the design priority. An operating system where voice comes first and touch is the fallback is a bet that Siri AI is now reliable enough to be the front door. That is a large bet. Siri AI is still English-only in places and arrives with usage limits Apple has not fully published, and a kitchen screen is used by everyone in the house, not just the person whose account set it up.

The widget claim is the one APPDOOK would watch. A hub with no App Store but with iPhone widgets would give developers a presence on it without a new platform to build for, which is a sensible compromise if true. Until Apple announces the product, treat it as unconfirmed, and treat the 13 October date as reported rather than set.