New HomeKit Architecture

With iOS 16, Apple promised to bring Matter support to HomeKit, an open standard that vastly expands compatibility for smartphone devices.

Support for Matter arrived last fall in iOS 16.1, but Apple also promised a revamped HomeKit architecture that was expected to significantly improve the reliability and performance of the home automation platform, particularly in larger homes with lots of accessories.

Sadly, Apple’s first attempt at this in iOS 16.2 didn’t go over so well. Many beta testers who chose to opt into the new architecture found that the performance had improved, but not necessarily the reliability.

The new architecture focused on giving a more prominent role to home hubs, such as an Apple TV or HomePod, rather than relying on direct communication from the iPhone Home app to smart home accessories. Sadly, things didn’t always seem to sync well for folks with multiple home hubs; when it worked, it worked well, but when it failed, it failed equally well.

Apple back-pedalled on the rearchitecting of HomeKit, removing it from the final iOS 16.2 release to defer it to a future update. Beta testers who had already converted to the new HomeKit architecture were able to continue using it — for better or for worse — but the option to switch to it was gone.

We’ve heard some reports lately that Apple has fixed whatever the problems were in iOS 16.2 and is prepared to bring back the new architecture in iOS 16.4