Apple’s HomeView needs an iPhone for some of Apple’s own entertainment services

Apple’s new household hub has the hardware to handle demanding media features, but its CarPlay-like software model means users must pair an iPhone or iPad to access several of the company’s own services.

Apple’s new HomeView smart display is being pitched as a central point for the household, but some of the company’s own entertainment services still do not run on it directly. According to The Verge, Apple TV, Apple Books audiobooks, Apple Music Classical and Apple News Plus are not natively supported on the device, meaning users must rely on a paired iPhone and AirPlay to access them.

That creates an awkward contrast with rival smart displays from Amazon and Google, which can play services such as Prime Video and YouTube without needing a phone in the loop. Apple does, however, present HomeView as a device for both smart-home control and entertainment, and at least one promotional image shows Apple TV on the screen. The small print on Apple’s announcement page makes clear that some applications require a compatible iPhone nearby.

MacRumors reported that HomeView ships with Apple apps including Music, Podcasts, News, Calendar, FaceTime and Messages, and that it can also surface third-party audio and video apps from a paired iPhone or iPad, such as Spotify and Audible. The key limitation is that HomeView does not have its own App Store, so it depends on a CarPlay-like system rather than a conventional app environment.

That software model helps explain why the hardware is not the bottleneck. Apple says HomeView uses an A18 chip, the same processor found in the iPhone 16, and the device also includes a 7-inch Liquid Retina display, Siri support with Apple Intelligence and a 12-megapixel Centre Stage camera. In practice, though, its design appears closer to CarPlay than to iOS or Apple TV, with the iPhone or iPad acting as the bridge for many of its most visible media features.