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A HomeKit Weekly column advises smart home users to buy outdoor-rated smart plugs now for Halloween decorations, noting the same hardware and automations can be reused for Christmas lights in December. It recommends ensuring a home hub (Apple TV, HomePod, or HomePod mini) is set up first, and suggests dual-outlet outdoor plugs and devices like Eve Energy for indoor use such as Christmas trees or fog machines.
Apple's latest iOS 27.2 beta introduces three changes: granular settings to enable or disable specific Messages 'Suggestions' like calendar and reminder prompts, two new Home app options for smart locks covering auto-lock timing and door-left-open alerts, and a visual overhaul of the Music app that replaces its red branding with black-and-white icons and blue tab accents.
Apple introduced the Apple Home Collection, a set of cameras, thermostats, sensors, a video doorbell and a smart lock co-developed with LG Electronics and Schneider Electric. The devices launch alongside HomeView, Apple's first dedicated smart display, marking the company's first in-house hardware push into the smart home after 12 years of relying on third parties through HomeKit.
Apple held a smart home event introducing the HomeView smart display, a fourth-generation Apple TV 4K, and a refreshed HomePod mini, according to discussion on 9to5Mac's Happy Hour podcast. Hosts Benjamin Mayo and Chance Miller also noted the new Apple TV's high price and shared their first impressions of the devices.
Apple unveiled a Home Collection of smart devices including a HomeView panel, HomePod mini, Apple TV 4K, and nine accessories ranging from $40 sensors to $400 security cameras. A ZDNET reviewer, evaluating the lineup from a renter's perspective, singled out LG's $200 Indoor Cam as a standout pick due to its lamp-like design, automatic privacy mode, and lack of wall-mounting requirement.
Shelly has released the Presence Gen4, a smart home sensor that uses mmWave radar instead of a camera to detect the location and movement of up to 10 people or pets in a space up to 650 square feet. Priced at $84.99, it's available now through Shelly's online store and works with Google Home, Apple Home, Amazon Alexa, SmartThings, and Home Assistant via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, and Matter.
Reolink has released the Home Hub 2, a device that lets users monitor and search footage from up to eight cameras simultaneously. The hub includes AI-powered object search capabilities that function even without an internet connection, and does not require an ongoing subscription fee to use.
A new open-source project called Vacuula provides a self-hosted server that can repair and control Neato robot vacuums, including units left unusable after Neato's cloud services shut down. The tool currently supports Neato's Gen3 and Gen4 models (D3 through D10), with Gen2 BotVac Connected support still in development, and offers core features like maps, scheduling, zones and historical run data. Users set it up via Docker Compose or a Home Assistant add-on, running the server on their own hardware since it must stay online continuously.
9to5Mac's daily podcast roundup for October 14, 2026 covered recent Apple news, including the Apple Home Collection and the release of the iOS 27.2 beta 4. The episode was sponsored by Backblaze and is distributed through Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Google Play and an RSS feed.
Apple released version 1.12.1 of its Invites app, adding the ability for hosts to manually add guests and update their RSVP status when confirmations happen outside the app. The update also adds support for an extra-large Home Screen widget introduced with iOS 27, alongside unspecified bug fixes and performance improvements.
TimeTeller, a German startup led by CEO Angela Relógio, is now selling a direct-to-consumer saliva test kit that measures a person's circadian rhythm. Relógio, a physicist and former oncology researcher, says the company began taking direct orders due to demand from longevity clinics seeking data to personalize sleep, nutrition and activity advice. She stresses the consumer kit does not yet determine optimal timing for cancer treatments, which requires separate clinical research.
Apple has introduced HomeView, a $299 smart display resembling an oversized Apple Watch mounted on a HomePod Mini base. The device is designed to sit permanently in one spot in the home, staying powered on and unlocked, and supports switching between multiple household users' accounts for controlling Apple Home devices, calendars and music.