Bloomberg: Apple's home hub is called HomeView, ships in mid-November and launches without an App StoreBloomberg: Apple's home hub is called HomeView, ships in mid-November and launches without an App Store

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported on 11 October that Apple's smart home hub will be called HomeView and will ship around mid-November.

The report appeared in Gurman's Power On newsletter, two days before Apple's Welcome home launch in New York on 13 October. On APPDOOK's grading it is reported: a named journalist with a long Apple record, citing people he does not name, with no document shown. Apple has confirmed the date and place of the event and has named no products. The 9to5Mac, MacRumors and iClarified write-ups all trace back to the one newsletter, so this is one source repeated, not several.

What does the report say?

Gurman's details, as relayed by MacRumors and 9to5Mac on 11 October:

• Name: HomeView. A trademark for the name was filed last year by a shell company, Home Services LLC, alongside one for homeOS.
• Timing: announced on 13 October, shipping around mid-November rather than on the day.
• Chip: an A18. MacRumors adds 8GB of memory, a detail the other write-ups do not carry.
• Two versions: a tabletop model on a metal speaker base, and a wall-mounted model on a flat square plate.
• Colours: four for the tabletop model, and only Space Gray and Silver for the wall version.
• Software: Apple's own apps only. There is no third-party App Store at launch.
• Control: primarily by voice through Siri, with touch supported.

No price was reported, and the newsletter did not give a screen size. Earlier reports disagree on that, with most putting it at around six inches. Accessories in an Apple Home Collection from LG and Schneider Electric are also expected, and Gurman says LG's will not arrive until later this year at the earliest.

Has anything been confirmed independently?

One detail has. On 1 October, setup code in a macOS beta showed four finishes for the hub, matched to its Photo Face setup screen. Gurman's earlier reporting mentioned only a gray model. His newsletter now says four colours too, so code and a named reporter agree. Write-ups differ on the names: MacRumors' summary lists Rose where the others say pink.

The name has supporting evidence as well. We noted when LG's Apple Home code surfaced that a HomeView trademark was nearing approval. A filing by a shell company does not prove Apple is behind it, and filed names do not always ship.

Our take

The mid-November date is the most practical news here. Apple will show the hub on Tuesday and ask people to wait about a month, while the Apple TV and HomePod mini reportedly ship on 30 October. Staggering a launch like that usually means the software is not finished. That fits Gurman's earlier reporting that the hub's software is built around Siri AI, with touch as the backup. A device controlled mainly by voice is only as good as the assistant on the day it ships.

No App Store is a bigger decision than it sounds. A hub on the kitchen wall competes with Amazon's Echo Show and Google's Nest Hub, both of which run third-party services. With Apple apps only, the hub is a window onto Apple Home, Music, Photos and Calendar. For anyone already in that world, that may be all they want. For anyone who relies on a different music or video service, it is a reason to wait.

APPDOOK's reading is that HomeView will open to developers later, as Apple Watch and Apple TV did, but nothing in the report says when. For app makers the useful question is whether widgets from iPhone apps appear on the hub. 9to5Mac suggests they might, but that is hedged and not clearly from Gurman. Tuesday should settle it. Until then, treat every spec above as reported, not announced.