Apple HomeView review: The best looking smart screen but only for an Apple family

Apple has been in the smart home speaker space since 2018 when the epic HomePod first launched – back then Apple wanted to show their sound credentials – today, the race for the smart home is in screens, with Google and to a much bigger extent Amazon offering a wide range of home speakers with screens. That’s where the Apple HomeView comes in.

It’s been rumoured as a device for as long as I can remember, but last month in New York Apple took the covers off and it’s a very impressive device.

What struck me most taking it out of the box and setting it up in our dining room was it’s size. The launch photos didn’t do it’s small scale justice.

This square screen is just 7 inches – frankly, tiny. But it is in fact, all you need.

Where I’ve put it, it’s replacing a Google speaker which sits there pretty much to be the clock for the room and set timers when cooking. So it doesn’t have a high bar to pass.

Take a look at JB HiFi’s listing for smart speakers and you’ll see that Google isn’t even in this race any more, Amazon is dominating not just on product but their reach right now.

At $449 the Apple HomeView is actually a really great price. There’s a cheaper Amazon Echo Show, and there’s a more expensive one – if you’re working on screen inches no, it won’t make sense, but this is a stylish metal body screen and speaker that really stands above the rest in terms of it’s bench appeal. That’s a big win.

HomeView comes in Silver, Starlight, Space Grey and Rose Pink, and I think I’m glad I have the Silver, though Rose Pink might find a home at our place for sure.

Setting up your HomeView

Out of the box, HomeView is quintessentially Apple. Setup is a breeze. You’re just standing next to it with your iPhone and the rest is like setting up an Apple Watch or any Apple Device.

In a short time it will sync with your Apple account and you’re off to the races.

From here it’s really about swiping left and right to find what you want the home screen to be. A clock? Calendar? A mix of both?

For us, this has to be a glanceable clock, so we went with a clear set of numerals so the time was an easy read.

HomeView’s almost iconic design

Gotta say, love this design. And while Apple won’t say it, there’s a sure nod to the iconic G4 iMac with it’s half spherical base, metal arm and monitor screen.

Apple HomeView’s screen doesn’t quite articulate in the same way, but it still looks the goods.

What’s great is you can get it on pretty much any angle of view, so it’s great in any setting.

More than a clockface?

Assuming you have a recent iPhone or iPad you’re getting the latest Siri AI here with Apple HomeView – and that’s a really powerful thing. I’ll get to personal context in a moment.

But at the very basic level Siri is there for your alarms, timers and challenging trivia requests.

Swipe up from the bottom you see the “home” apps and icons. This is where you can browse a website, make a FaceTime call, set timers or alarms, all the good simple stuff.

Where you have apps that support it, they will also show here – I had MLB to stream live Baseball, and Spotify for my music library.

Check the weather every morning too – easy. That’s also a “face” you can have showing any time too.

HomeView – Personal for anyone

What’s awesome, for an Apple Family Sharing group, is that you can swipe up and tap the top corner to log in as any family member.

First time users will need to have their iPhone handy to pair up, log in and register their Face and Voice.

What this means is that if you’re registered, you can walk up to Apple HomeView and when you swipe up or ask it questions, it’s responding to YOU. My personal context, I can ask it about a message I received and what info was in it. I can get it to play my playlists and share from my phone.

Works a treat too, and very fast.

Practicing this with Victoria I was standing there, reading my messages, then stepped no more than a meter to the side, and she swiped up and saw her own profile and messages.

Felt a little bit like the good old “Apple Magic” they used to talk about, but it was genuinely instant. It was only confused when we both literally stood right in front of it side by side.

The Catch – You’ve gotta be an Apple Family

Of the five of us at home, three of us had iPhones when I was setting this up. Jackson and Harri, despite being in our Apple Family Sharing plan, having Apple Accounts and using Apple Music on their Android devices, no luck.

Unless you have a recent iPad or iPhone, you can’t setup your account.

And that’s a fail for Apple in my book.

I know people bang on about the Apple Ecosystem all the time, for better or worse, but I love that my boys can choose to have any phone, but still take advantage of our family Apple Music plan.

Now they can stand in front of it as a Guest and still swipe to control our smart home – turn on and off lights etc.

But I’d like to think that if they were home on their own, doing the dishes, they could request music from their Apple Music playlists. Seems an easy win to me.

Wall Mounted HomeView

There is a second version of HomeView too – A Wall mounted one. It’s just the screen, literally. I haven’t tested it out yet, but what’s staggering is that it also comes at 9 – but without the base and speakers in that base. Surely it should be 9. The mounting plates to actually get it on the wall cost more too! A strange one, because for me, this is the optimal solution. I just don’t understand the pricing structure.

Overall thoughts

For those all in and deep in the Apple Ecosystem, this is an easy win.

For those who’ve never dabbled in smart home speakers with screens what an impressive example the Apple HomeView is. And I’ve barely scratched the surface.

Pairing HomePod Mini’s in our home allows features like Intercom, and of course the more smart home you are, the cooler the things you can do on this are.

If you’re an Amazon Echo Show speaker and screen user, who is also strong in the Apple ecosystem, the only reason to jump ships would be design and style – which some might do. Apple’s standout feature to compete for that user is probably Siri AI and personal context, something I don’t think we’ve yet fully scratched the surface of – as that improves and people realise what it can do, perhaps that will tip the balance further Apple’s way.