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The Verge’s Jennifer Pattison Tuohy tried Apple’s announced HomeView, a smart display with a 7-inch touchscreen for controlling a connected home and using Siri. The device costs $299 and is available for preorder; shipping begins November 13. Several Siri features were shown in demos rather than tested hands-on.
Apple has announced HomeView, its first smart home display, and The Verge’s Jennifer Pattison Tuohy has tried it ahead of shipping, which begins November 13. The device costs $299 and has a 7-inch touchscreen. It is designed to control connected-home devices and serve as a household assistant, with some of its most ambitious Siri features demonstrated to the reporter rather than tested directly.
In her hands-on report for The Verge, Tuohy described a square Liquid Retina touchscreen that she found bright and responsive, set above a small aluminum base that also functions as a speaker. HomeView can sit on a counter or be mounted on a wall. Users can choose from dozens of display faces, many resembling Apple Watch faces, and a dedicated Home Widget presents a version of the Apple Home app on a bigger screen.
Tuohy said she could tap to control a thermostat and door lock and activate a home scene. She could also swipe to a live view and tap into a camera to access nearby accessories. When she tried to unlock a door, the device required authentication using her face or iPhone. Swiping is central to the interface: users can move between faces and features, open widgets, reach onboard apps and access a Control Center.
The report also describes a 12-megapixel camera that can be enabled through Control Center, a FaceTime demo in which Center Stage kept participants centered, and a cooking feature that transfers a recipe from an iPhone using Handoff. Timers appear inline with each recipe step on the display. Apple says most recipes using Google formatting will work; Tuohy wondered how recipes from sources such as TikTok would be handled.
A Display for Everyday Home Controls
HomeView puts Apple Home controls on a screen intended for walk-up-and-tap use. That could make routine actions—checking a camera, adjusting a thermostat or starting a scene—accessible around the home. Tuohy wrote that the wall-mounted model looks like it could make a useful smart-home controller.
The larger proposition depends on Siri joining home controls with personal information. In a demo witnessed by Tuohy, Siri responded to a message about a flight, said the trip would take about one hour and eight minutes by transit, and set a routine to turn on a coffee maker 15 minutes before arrival. Tuohy did not try the personal-context feature herself, so the report does not establish how reliably it works in everyday use or how broadly it will be available.
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How HomeView Uses Apple Home
The Home Widget is described in the report as a version of the Apple Home app adapted for the larger screen, offering the controls available in the iPhone app. Camera feeds and accessory controls are part of the device’s smart-home role, while the authentication prompt Tuohy encountered shows that at least some sensitive actions can require an additional check.
HomeView also links the display to other Apple devices. The report describes a recipe feature that transfers a recipe from an iPhone using Handoff, and Siri examples drawing on personal context such as messages. In a separate music demo, a user asked Siri to play the song a friend had texted about, and Siri began playing Bad Bunny. Tuohy said it took about eight seconds to pull up the song. These examples were demonstrations, not a full review of day-to-day performance.
“The screen is bright and responsive to touch.”
— Jennifer Pattison Tuohy, The Verge
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Features Still Awaiting Testing
Tuohy said she tried only a few features and did not personally test Siri’s ability to combine messages, travel estimates and home routines; she watched a demonstration instead. The report does not establish how reliably Siri will interpret personal context in everyday use, what information it can access in different settings, or how users control that access.
Other open questions include how well recipes from different platforms transfer, how the device performs over time, and what restrictions apply to controlling locks or other accessories. The hands-on account does not provide battery or power details, a full compatibility list, or independent testing of camera, audio and voice-recognition quality.
Apple HomeKit compatible smart display
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Preorders and November Shipping
HomeView is available for preorder at $299, and Apple’s announced schedule says shipping begins November 13. A fuller review after extended use could test the features Tuohy saw demonstrated, including personal-context Siri requests, recipe Handoff and camera-based calls, as well as the device’s performance as a daily smart-home controller.
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Key Questions
What is Apple HomeView?
HomeView is Apple’s announced 7-inch smart home display, designed for controlling compatible home devices and using Siri, FaceTime and other features.
How much does HomeView cost, and when does it ship?
The reported price is $299. It is available for preorder, with shipping scheduled to begin November 13.
What smart-home controls did The Verge test?
Jennifer Pattison Tuohy used the Home Widget to control a thermostat and door lock, activate a scene, and view HomeKit Secure Video camera feeds. The device asked her to authenticate before unlocking the door.
Did the reporter test Siri’s personal-context features?
No. Tuohy watched demonstrations in which Siri used message information and estimated travel time to set a coffee-maker routine, and found a song referenced in a text. She said she had not tested those capabilities herself.
Can HomeView display recipes from an iPhone?
The report says recipes can be transferred using Handoff and reformatted with timers beside steps. Apple said most recipes using Google formatting should work, but compatibility with sources such as TikTok was not established.
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