Apple's homeOS 26 software is still coming despite missing WWDC
If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, BGR may receive an affiliate commission.
Alongside the many rumors regarding possible WWDC 2025 announcements, there was an on-going rumor about Apple unveiling homeOS 26. However, as another WWDC came to a close, Apple hadn't said a word about the new operating system, which will presumably be what powers everything home-related from the company.
On one hand, it makes sense. After all, the company hasn't unveiled any new hardware related to people's homes. But Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports that the smart home OS is still in the works — we're just going to have to wait a bit longer to see it.
Today's Top Deals
Best deals: Tech, laptops, TVs, and more sales
Best Ring Video Doorbell deals
Memorial Day security camera deals: Reolink's unbeatable sale has prices from $29.98
According to the journalist in his Power On newsletter, 'Apple never intended to unveil homeOS at WWDC.' Gurman says 'the original plan was to announce this operating system in March alongside new hardware.' Since Apple didn't hold a March event due to the delayed Siri features, the company decided to postpone the software as well.
While Gurman believes that Apple can still introduce the rumored smart home hub and the homeOS 26 software without the new Siri AI features, he says it 'would degrade the user experience. In any case, it probably makes more sense to unveil homeOS at an event focused on consumers, rather than developers.'
homeOS has been rumored for a while now. This is Apple's new software for everything home-related. The company is expected to create a sub-branch of tvOS to run more specific home products, such as tabletop devices, HomePods, and other smart home products.
So far, some of the products that could run this new operating system include:
HomePod with a display: Several reports highlight a possible HomePod with a display, which would be an improvement over the current generation. It could ultimately display weather reports, music, videos, and more.
Squared display with HomePod combo: Previous reports reveals that Apple could soon launch a product with a squared display, tabletop arms, built-in camera, and Apple Intelligence.
Premium tabletop: Gurman claims that Apple is developing a $1,000 tabletop device as a premium alternative to the Amazon Echo Show. It's still a few years out.
Other smart home devices: Apple is also testing security cameras, a door lock with Face ID, and other home devices to further take over our homes.
Finally, Apple could also tweak tvOS 26 to become homeOS 26, as it could power future Apple TV and HomePod models. After all, the company wants to keep expanding its Apple Intelligence platform to all the products it can.
Don't Miss: Today's deals: Nintendo Switch games, $5 smart plugs, $150 Vizio soundbar, $100 Beats Pill speaker, more
More Top Deals
Amazon gift card deals, offers & coupons 2025: Get $2,000+ free
See the
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
34 minutes ago
- Yahoo
500 Falcon missions! SpaceX sends 26 Starlink satellites to orbit on landmark launch
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. SpaceX just notched another big launch milestone. A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 26 of the company's Starlink internet satellites lifted off from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base on Thursday (June 12) at 9:54 p.m. EDT (6:54 p.m. PDT local time, or 0154 GMT on June 13). The satellites were deployed in low Earth orbit (LEO) about an hour later as planned, the company announced via X. And, with that success, SpaceX's Falcon rocket family hit a very significant round number. Booster 1081 missions Crew-7 | CRS-29 | PACE | Transporter-10 | EarthCARE | NROL-186 | Transporter-13 | 7 Starlink missions "Falcon completes its 500th overall mission! Congratulations to the entire SpaceX team for making the impossible possible on the road to rapidly reusable rockets!" SpaceX said in another X post on Thursday night. And speaking of reusability: The Falcon 9's first stage, serial B1081, came back to Earth on Thursday night, touching down on the droneship "Of Course I Still Love You," which was stationed off the coast of Southern California. It was the 15th launch and landing for the booster, according to SpaceX's web page for the 15-6 mission. SpaceX's record for reusing a Falcon 9 first stage stands at 28 launches. The 26 newly launched spacecraft will soon join more than 7,600 active satellites in the Starlink megaconstellation, the largest satellite network ever assembled. SpaceX, led by billionaire Elon Musk, bills the Starlink service as "high-speed internet around the world" and its satellite megaconstellation does now reach around the planet. A growing number of the spacecraft support direct-to-cell capabilities, enabling texting and internet service from certain smart phones and service providers. With Thursday's launch in the books, SpaceX has now launched 72 Falcon 9 missions in 2025, of which 54 have been in support of the Starlink service. Editor's note: This story was updated at 11:20 a.m. ET on June 13 with the news that this was the 500th completed Falcon mission overall for SpaceX.
Yahoo
39 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Tinder's cure for Gen Z loneliness: A new feature for double dates with your bestie
Tinder is launching a "Double Date" feature for joint profiles with friends. The feature allows users to match in pairs and plan a double date for the first meetup. Gen Z, the "loneliest generation," makes up over half of Tinder's user base. The "loneliest generation" will now be able to add their emotional support friend to their Tinder profile. On Tuesday, the dating app launched "Double Date," a feature that allows you to create a joint profile with your bestie and swipe right on other pairs for a group date. Tinder hopes the new feature will be a hit with younger generations, especially Gen Z. Gen Z accounts for over half of its global user base, the company said. During testing, which began earlier this year, about 90% of Double Date profiles were under 29 years old. Tinder and its parent company, Match Group, need Gen Z more than ever. Match Group's new CEO, Spencer Rascoff, said one of the biggest problems facing dating apps like Tinder is the "failure to recognize and respond to" what younger generations want. "We have to build lower-pressure ways for Gen Z users to interact with each other," Rascoff said during the company's first quarter earnings call in May. He said he thinks new features like Double Date will "start to change user perception of Tinder." A number of studies have found that Gen Z, typically considered those born between 1997 and 2012, is lonely. Nearly a quarter of adults ages 18 to 29 in the US said that they felt lonely, Pew Research Center reported in a September survey of over 6,000 participants. For comparison, 6% of adults 65 and older said the same. Coming of age in the pandemic meant fewer in-person interactions, and Gen Z is taking their transition into adulthood slow. They aren't rushing to marry and have children, according to Jean Twenge, a psychologist and the author of "Generations: The Real Differences Between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, boomers, and Silents — and What They Mean for America's Future." For Gen Z, dating has been largely defined by the chilling rejection felt from ghosting and the endless swiping on dating apps. In an effort to help navigate that, matches on Tinder's Double Date are put into a group chat of both pairs to coordinate a hangout. Tinder said it only requires one like per pair to match. Group dates can be a casual way to break the ice and explore a human connection before deciding if there's a romantic connection. Other startups, like Fourplay, have apps built entirely around group dating. Dating events, too, are en vogue as users experience dating app burnout and swap swiping for in-person connection. Tinder is not alone in vying for Gen Z. Bumble is also grappling with how to meet the generation's needs. "I think the reason Gen Z has abandoned the apps is because they're getting on the apps and they're not seeing who they want to see and they're feeling two things, which I take full accountability for at Bumble," Bumble's newly-returned CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd told The New York Times in May. "They're feeling rejected and they're feeling judged." Read the original article on Business Insider
Android Authority
44 minutes ago
- Android Authority
An unlikely source just confirmed the Exynos 2500 and its extraterrestrial feature
Ryan Haines / Android Authority TL;DR Satellite connectivity provider Skylo has confirmed the existence of the Exynos 2500. The chipset is expected to debut on the Galaxy Z Flip 7. The announcement notes that the Exynos 2500 will offer 'better energy efficiency and higher performance.' The Exynos 2500 is expected to be Samsung's next flagship processor, but so far, all the information available has come from rumors and leaks. Surprisingly, the next big Samsung chip has now been confirmed, not by Samsung but by a company called Skylo. If the name sounds a bit familiar, that's because Skylo is the satellite connectivity provider for the Pixel 9 series and the Galaxy S25 series on Verizon. 'Today, we are excited to announce the certification of the Exynos 2500 mobile processor, offering better energy efficiency and higher performance,' Skylo noted in a press release, confirming both the chip's existence and its extraterrestrial capabilities. The Exynos 2500 is expected to debut on the Galaxy Z Flip 7. Rumor has it that the chipset could power the new foldable in all markets, even the US. This is also the first time Samsung will introduce a flagship Exynos chip on a foldable phone instead of its latest Galaxy S series flagship. 'Samsung's partnership with Skylo is built upon 3GPP NTN standards to unlock connectivity everywhere,' Hui Won Je, VP of the Modem Development Team at Samsung Electronics, noted in Skylo's press release. 'Through our collaboration on the Samsung Exynos Modem 5400 and the Exynos 2500 mobile processor, mainstream devices worldwide will now have the underlying technology to connect to satellites wherever cellular networks are unavailable, ushering in a new era of ubiquitous connectivity,' he added. In addition to its collaboration with Samsung, Skylo also announced partnerships with OPPO and TECNO to bring NTN-compliant satellite connectivity to future devices from the respective brands.
