HomeKit In 2019

CES looks at upcoming hot new tech – and luckily for us, much of it is HomeKit friendly

Apple typically shies away from major events like ceS. The company prefers to run its own dedicated showcases, but there was no avoiding its smart presence at this year’s show.

CES 2019 may well have marked the turning point for HomeKit: the number of new devices latching on to Apple’s smart home system grew massively, and many more companies offered promises of forthcoming compatibility in 2019. AirPlay, too, saw a big boost in support, and much of that was in a new direction… Namely, TVs.

Sony’s forthcoming Z9G, A9G and X950G Series TVs, for example, feature AirPlay 2 integration, making sending content from iOS and macOS devices seamless and easy. The same screens also support HomeKit, though quite what this will involve at this point is vague – Sony says they can be “included in scenes or automations with other HomeKit accessories”, which makes sense. Presumably it means you’ll be able to power them on and off, or perhaps change sources, at the same time as you dim the lights and silence your other HomeKit devices. Switching the TV on with Siri when the kids have hidden the remote? That’s priceless.

You can also expect AirPlay 2 and HomeKit support from LG (including its scene-stealing rollable Signature OLED R) and Vizio’s lower-cost SmartCast range. Samsung isn’t quite as forthcoming, though it’s launching an iTunes Movies and TV Shows app on its 2019 smart TV range, and offering AirPlay 2 support as well.

Interestingly, many of these smart TVs run on the Android operating system. Traditionally, HomeKit and Android have been entirely at odds; don’t take this as a softening of hostilities, as such, (we don’t expect Apple to suddenly introduce an Android version of Home) but that’s a combination that’s worth watching in the future given many households are divided by HomeKit compatibility or the lack thereof.