Seems crazy to think that another year has gone by, but here we are: Apple has just announced WWDC 2022.
From their press release:
Apple today announced it will host its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in an online format from June 6 through 10, free for all developers to attend.
Interestingly enough, they will also be offering a very limited in-person attendance at Apple Park:
In addition to the online conference, Apple will host a special day for developers and students at Apple Park on June 6 to watch the keynote and State of the Union videos together, along with the online community
This is going to be one hot selling ticket!
Now, I’m no developer, but still I’m very interested in the future of the various software platforms. I’m very invested in them, running an Apple-only household…and speaking of house, HomeKit is the platform where I’d like to see a lot of updates come June.
SInce buying a new house, I’ve tried to make smart and automate as much as possible. In these attempts, I’ve run in frustrations and limitations that seems like easy and quick win for Apple to implement in their next software version. Let me present with a quick list of improvements that would take HomeKit to the next level!
- Give us more icons – As of today, there are too few options for icons to choose from when setting up a device. Especially for lights, we definitely need more versions for pendants. Another area where we need way more icons is for scenes. As of today, there are only 12 icons(!), which I believe are the same 12 we had when HomeKit was launched originally. In such a visual environment, how can you represent so many possibilities with just that few icons? I think Apple should introduce SF Symbols as part of HomeKit, letting us pick from a wealth of options, without having to create new designs – quick win!
- Give us more smart device types – Smart devices categories keep evolving and increasing and so we need more officially recognised in HomeKit. One example: automatic lawnmowers. As of today, running them via Homebridge, you end up with a fan blowing around while cutting grass!
- Give us more complex automations – I know this can be somewhat controversial, because HomeKit is supposed to be easy and work for millions of users. But, we also need to recognise that homes are so different from one another, in terms of devices and people living in them, and HomeKit should have the flexibility to adapt to these scenarios. At the moment, you are fairly limited with if-this-than-that. I know there are options to convert some of them to shortcuts, but again they seem to have only scratched the surface in that regards. Surely they could unleash the power of Shortcuts way more or build in some more options for complexity in the interface.
I know it’s a short list, but implementing even just these 3 points would give HomeKit users a great jump up in terms of freedom and flexibility.
We’ll see what WWDC 2022 will bring, it sure will be an exciting week!