A reference to “homeOS” was recently found in Apple’s job posting, which indicates that Apple may plan to change the classification and display of software that runs on devices like the HomePod mini in the future.
Twitter user Javier Lacort discovered the terms in the job listing related to Apple Music and Post a screenshot on Twitter. “You’ll work with Apple systems engineers and learn the inner workings of iOS, watchOS, tvOS, and homeOS,” the article reads. He added shortly thereafter: “The Apple Music Frameworks team owns the suite of technology that enables the Apple Music experience to be integrated into the system on all of our mobile platforms: iOS, watchOS and homeOS.”
The work list It appears to have been later updated to say “HomePod” instead of “homeOS” in the first case and “tvOS” instead of “homeOS” in the second.
Currently, the software running on the HomePod mini does not have a generic name, although it appears to be a variant of tvOS, which is itself a version of iOS. It’s possible, of course, that Apple simply refers to HomePods as internal and unofficial “homeOS,” and the job posting writer omitted those unofficial terms.
But the potential leak is more interesting in part because of the recent leak Bloomberg The report claims that Apple plans to expand its efforts in the smart home, as well as Cupertino Work on one or more products This combines some features of the Apple TV 4K and HomePod. For example, Bloomberg sources said that Apple is working on home theater speakers that use HomePod technology, but that they can also function as an Apple TV, giving users access to several streaming video apps, as well as Apple Music, Apple Fitness+ and Apple Arcade – Contents.
If those plans become a reality, homeOS could serve as the name for a unified operating system for the HomePod, Apple TV, and new smart home products Apple plans to introduce in the future. It might be more like an iPadOS-style rebranding than an entirely new operating system.
WWDC Annual Apple Developer Conference, Starts next Monday. This is the most likely time and place to announce if homeOS will become a user-centric or developer-centric product.
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