Apple HomeKit Gaining Interest with iOS App Developers

With smart devices beginning to make major inroads in the consumer market, Apple is reportedly on the verge of releasing a new app designed to help people manage their connected devices more easily. The app is said to be called “Home,” and it is believed to provide a single platform for the streamlined management of all connected HomeKit devices. Examples of such devices include security systems, smoke detectors, garage doors, door and window locks, thermostats and home comfort devices, and many others.

While some have predicted that Apple will launch Home at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), which will be held in San Francisco in July, others aren’t so sure. Some media sources are reporting that Home is still in a relatively early stage of development, suggesting that a July unveiling is unlikely at best and a long shot at worst.

Further speculation revolves around whether or not Home is even intended to be a consumer app at all, or whether it will lurk in the architecture of the iOS platforms on which it will run. The company has earned a reputation for being able to make its software products work like magic, hiding operational complexities in the background while presenting users with clean, intuitive and simplified interfaces.

Apple’s Home app could prove to be big news for the Internet of Things app development landscape. Right now, it appears as though Home is headed for the consumer market, and that means end users will have to add it to their mobile devices. Some people will, while others won’t, and that means its functionality and applicability won’t be as universal as the company might like.

For mobile app developers in New York City and around the world, the success or failure of Apple’s HomeKit will mark a watershed moment in the evolution of the Internet of Things. The platform’s fate could depend on which devices support it and which devices don’t, and the end result will have a major impact on Internet of Things app development over the course of the next few years.