Apple has announced that Apple Home will finally support robot vacuums with iOS 18. This was one of just a few updates to Apple Home announced at WWDC 2024. The others were guest access for door locks and hands-free unlocking, plus a new electricity usage feature in the Home app, which is limited to Pacific Gas & Electric in California at launch.

Apple didn’t provide many details about robot vacuums in the Home app, only stating in a press release that the devices can participate in automations and scenes and be activated with voice control using Siri.

However, the feature most likely comes through Apple Home’s support of Matter, which added support for the floor cleaners in Matter 1.2. The Matter spec enables starting and stopping the robot, adjusting cleaning modes (dry vacuum, wet mopping), and receiving progress notifications and alerts. So, we should hopefully see these capabilities come to the Home app.

With support for robot vacuums, Apple Home users should be able to add the robot directly to the Home app without using the manufacturer’s app or cloud. To access more advanced features — like room mapping and adding keep-out zones (areas the robot shouldn’t go) — the manufacturers’ app will be necessary, as those features are not supported in Matter.

Smart locks are getting more control features in Apple Home. With iOS 18, you’ll be able to share access with guests to control locks, garage doors, and security systems, and customize access based on time and other factors. Apple is also bringing hands-free unlocking to compatible UWB-enabled locks with Home Key, which will unlock the door automatically when you’re six feet away.

A new electricity usage page in the Home app’s Energy section will show your electricity usage through a connection to your utility. It will launch with a partnership with Pacific Gas & Electric Company in California.

WWDC is traditionally where Apple has announced new features for its Apple Home smart home platform, giving developers time to integrate them into its devices ahead of the launch of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, macOS 15, watchOS 11, tvOS 18, and HomePod OS in the fall.

While the updates are often minor, we sometimes get things like an all-new Apple Home app. This is a relatively minor update, however, and I for one had hoped to see support for many more of the device types Matter supports, including TVs, washing machines, and fridges.

Matter is an interoperability and communication standard that allows any Matter-enabled smart home device to work with any Matter platform, meaning all Matter devices should work with Apple Home. However, the platforms have to add support for the new device types, and Apple has been slow to do so. With robot vacuums now on the map though, lets hope there are more devices coming soon.

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