Apple Launches iOS 18.3 Beta 1 with New Support for Vacuum Robots in Smart Home App

Today, Apple released the iOS 18.3 Beta 1 version to developers, fulfilling the promise made at WWDC 2024 by adding support for vacuum robots to the iOS Home smart home application.

Initially, it was expected that Apple might introduce support for vacuum robots in the official release of iOS 18 in September. However, this feature did not appear at the time, and Apple later updated its official website to announce the feature would be released later this year.

Apple has now updated its website again, marking this feature as coming in an upcoming update. The official version of iOS 18.3 is expected to be released as early as January next year, after which vacuum robot manufacturers will need to provide the necessary compatibility.

Below is Apple's explanation of the support for vacuum robots in the Home app:

The Home app now supports core functionalities of vacuum robots, such as power control, cleaning modes, vacuuming, mopping, and charging status.

Vacuum robots can also participate in automations and scenes and respond to Siri requests. Therefore, users can add vacuum robots to Home and configure scenes, allowing them to initiate cleaning through Siri.

Vacuum robot manufacturers are expected to gradually offer HomeKit compatibility, which is necessary for integration into Apple devices. While integration may not be a big issue for manufacturers, whether existing devices can be integrated remains a question.

Future vacuum robots that support Apple Home are likely to be additionally marked to provide ecosystem support, whereas other robots not supporting this feature will still need to be operated through the manufacturer's own app.