FabianYesterday evening, Apple gave a preview of the upcoming updates for its operating systems at its own developer conference WWDC. This naturally included iOS 18 for the iPhone and iPadOS 18 for Apple tablets. Some of the innovations presented could also be interesting for Philips Hue.
For example, there is a major update for the Control Center. The compact control center on the iPhone and iPad was previously quite limited and can now be designed much more individually. There are more small control widgets and clear sorting into groups, for example for HomeKit devices.
Philips Hue could provide its own control elements
Apple also offers interfaces for the revised Control Center as part of the Controls Gallery API, which developer teams can use to build their own small control buttons. In principle, this would make it possible for Philips Hue to provide small widgets for the Control Center in order to control Hue lamps directly via HomeKit or Matter.
Actions from the Controls Gallery can even be placed in prominent positions on the lock screen with iOS 18: The icons for the flashlight and camera can be easily swapped. The Action Button, currently installed on the iPhone 15 Pro (Max), can also be assigned a Smart Home action.
New Matter versions will be integrated into the Home app
Apple has not officially announced it, but it appears that versions 1.2 and 1.3 of the Matter standard will also be integrated into the Home app with iOS 18. Support for robot vacuum cleaners and energy measurement are two of the new functions specifically mentioned.
There is not necessarily anything exciting about Philips Hue here. However, some lamps from sister brand WiZ are equipped with consumption measurement, if this is not solved by software. This data could then also be displayed in Apple Home if all parties play along.
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