r/HomeKit • u/clonked • 1d ago

Discussion HomeView does not support the Notes app

Per the tech specs: https://www.apple.com/apple-homeview/specs/

Notes feels like a big omission especially with all the other personal context they bring in. My family has a shared notes folder with details on house maintenance and troubleshooting tech in the house. It seems obtuse that we can't access this on HomeView.

Maybe Siri will allow searches inside notes, we'll have to see.

177 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

85 comments sorted by

103

u/Ojamm 1d ago

I saw this earlier, it’s really a dealbreaker for me as I use notes for most of my recipes.

14

u/OneSharpSuit 1d ago

It’s such a weird omission. They literally have someone looking up a recipe in the ad, but never stopped to think that people might want to access Notes or Paprika from the new screen in their kitchen.

2

u/evoneselse 1d ago

I use Paprika too, great app. This HomeView doesn’t have these iOS apps? Not sure what they intend this to be for then, just to view HomeKit along with some of their iOS apps (messages, safari etc) like CarPlay?

2

u/RentBeTooDamnHigh 1d ago

There has literally been nothing posted to the dev portal about an SDK or HIG anything… so don’t expect anything any time soon.

Def made me lose all interest in it.

2

u/TruthyBrat 1d ago

Me 3 on Paprika. Great app.

1

u/evoneselse 1d ago

Yep. From their screenshot it looks like those recipes curated in Apple News. I can see them wanting to push that sub as another income and as an incentive to buy the HomeView, but they should still accommodate the other sources and apps that we use, imo.

28

u/clonked 1d ago

Same over here, we have a huge recipes shared folder my mom adds thing to (that will never be cooked, but it is incredibly important they are kept).

11

u/frockinbrock 1d ago

Yeah I'm going to submit to Apple feedback about the Notes omission; they've pushed it heavily across their ecosystem, it really should more usable in HomeView, and also in CarPlay which uses the same Widget/projection system.

I had just made a guess that their software people were allocated to the Duo launch, and maybe now they'll have the resources to make HomeView better?
But best if we push them to it thru feedback.

9

u/frockinbrock 1d ago

It's definitely something I'm going to send thru Apple's feedback. I also use Notes for everything, and they have heavily pushed it across their ecosystem. And it's clunky-to-unusable on non-Apple hardware.
I hope they'll add it eventually, maybe they just needed more time? Surprising though because rumors had implied this thing has been done and ready for months. Although they probably had a lot of software people allocated for the Duo.

18

u/Searchforcourage 1d ago

Heck, I have Notes on my watch

14

u/dragon_stryker 1d ago

But that took 10 years to bring to watchOS… start the clock for HomeOS

7

u/The_Manoeuvre 1d ago

Siri, set a 1 decade timer

7

u/essjay2009 1d ago

“Calling Wanda Catimer”

59

u/Former_Roof4623 1d ago

I’m normally the first in line for new Apple gear, what a waste of a day.

26

u/SuggestionOne7475 1d ago

No notes app, and can’t watch YouTube on it… so it’s pretty useless for how I want to check recipes and watch videos while cooking

2

u/10dot 1d ago

Pretty sure MKBHD said in his video you can run YouTube in safari just fine fwiw

2

u/Big-a-hole-2112 20h ago

Then they can’t sell you an iPad.

2

u/SuggestionOne7475 19h ago

They already did. And if the homeview was actually useful they’d sell me a homeview as well.

But for now I’ll just stick with my iPad

-5

u/Badga 1d ago

You can add third party video apps from your phone so YouTube should be possible.

7

u/SuggestionOne7475 1d ago

At present only CarPlay enabled ones, which won’t play YouTube video only audio.

1

u/The_Manoeuvre 1d ago

Looks like it’s some hybrid version, Apple TV is enabled under apps from your phone. I have no experience with CarPlay but I’m hoping given this is on the home WiFi it doesn’t drain my phone to use the homeview screen to play Ted Lasso

1

u/SuggestionOne7475 1d ago

MKBHD’s video said it does play from your phone rather than natively from the home view for third party apps like Spotify, ala CarPlay style.

Not sure about first party apps like Apple TV. But if they were going to support it you’d expect them to highlight red lasso on your home view in their marketing

2

u/The_Manoeuvre 1d ago

That is disappointing, I was hoping maybe the phone somehow enabled / authenticated then the Homeview handled the work :/

1

u/essjay2009 1d ago

They added video streaming to CarPlay a little while ago so just needs Google to update the YouTube app to support it. This might be the kick they need.

3

u/Beautiful-Sun8973 1d ago

Not for me. I’m buying it

7

u/clonked 1d ago

The HomeView has potential. There's a story out there about the development of the original HomePod. The software and hardware teams were completely isolated from each other and some say this is why the HomePod experience felt so different from audio quality to Siri control quality. Maybe a similar thing has happened here.

3

u/Former_Roof4623 1d ago

Agreed on the potential, I’ll be interested with a less iPhone/iPad dependent device with a real App Store

2

u/Fun-Region-1576 1d ago

I agree! The A18 instead of an A19 is a slight disappointment. I just need to know how much RAM. Hopefully at least 8GB!

1

u/75Meatbags 1d ago

this is going to be something that i want to play with at the Apple Store before i even think about it further.

Not having Notes seems like a huge omission.

0

u/ToastedLog1c 1d ago

$300 AppleTV.

rofl. I want what Apple is smoking.

27

u/Neutral-President 1d ago

I’m sorry, but that’s a fucking stupid decision by Apple. I have hundreds of recipes stored in my Notes app. That should have been a use case.

1

u/Fun-Region-1576 1d ago

I'm not too worried about the lack of Notes right now because this is just software and there's always WWDC next year. Hopefully, Notes and an App Store will be here in 2027! 

18

u/Left_Piglet_7411 1d ago

Stinks this thing doesn’t have an App Store at all. I guess you can YouTube cast to it? Maybe?

Otherwise, I may wait until this is more fully featured.

15

u/clonked 1d ago

It has not been well communicated but there is supposed to a be a carplay like sharing of compatible apps installed on your phone. I believe the developers need to do a minor update to allow the app to render on homeview but otherwise it is supposed to be straightforward.

10

u/Possible-Bet3598 1d ago

You're right, but not having the Notes app be 'native' feels really weird for the reasons you described.

18

u/Qicker85 1d ago

They should’ve just given it iPadOS and no Notes is a a huge miss.

8

u/frockinbrock 1d ago

I think I agree; like if it was iPadOS, and just give it a HomeView app/interface option. And if they did that they could bring back iPad HomeHub compatibility (granted they never worked well).
It just seems very limited for the cost, and it just smells like the type of niche thing that Apple will quickly abandon.

The whole recipes functionality is going to be SO much more limited than like a cheaper Amazon hub/tablet, since it has no App Store and no YouTube. Is there even a web browser?? And if so, does it support extensions? Because Recipes websites are TERRIBLE to unusable without uBlock/Wipr

4

u/FuzzyPuffin 1d ago

You should be able to get YouTube with a connected iPhone, as well as other video or audio apps.

Yes, it has Safari. And it has a new mode that scrapes the recipe page and presents it in an easy to read view with timers. IMO this is the thing’s coolest feature and I hope it comes to iOS.

I’m still not interested, though, til I can get my recipe app on it.

1

u/techbear72 1d ago

Not if it truly relies on CarPlay as the protocol; if that is the case, you’ll only get audio from YouTube etc.

2

u/FuzzyPuffin 1d ago

Presumably it’s using the “play video while parked” CarPlay feature introduced in iOS 26.

1

u/techbear72 1d ago

Cool. That one slipped past me, didn’t know of it (don’t use YouTube in the car).

1

u/last_first_initials 1d ago

and then I could put the sonos controller on it, so I have to stick with my kludgey old ipad, unless someone more learned can tell me it will work somehow.

12

u/BlackReddition 1d ago

Nice device but it’s being held back by no third party apps and no notes, WTF?

4

u/d4rkha1f 1d ago

The iPhone also launched with no third party apps, and don’t get me started on iPad calculators.

1

u/BlackReddition 1d ago

Agree, not having a calculator was shite

1

u/Fun-Region-1576 1d ago

HomeView needs it too. 

2

u/BlackReddition 1d ago

Probably won’t though

1

u/Fun-Region-1576 22h ago

I know! 😢

1

u/Fun-Region-1576 1d ago

Yes, a very baffling decision. Can't believe it took like over a decade for Apple to get a calculator app for the iPad.

1

u/Soilmonster 1d ago

I know I’m spamming this joint with home assistant bs, but shiiiiiii…..

ESP32 dev board displays (4”-11”, take your pic) can be had for ~$20-$80, and they connect directly to Home Assistant via the ESPHome Integration. From there, you can put anything you damn well please in it, and the limit is basically unreachable (hardware, but then you can rotate entities if you like). From there, create a helper device and bridge it to HomeKit so that you can tell Siri to turn off the lights before you get into bed instead of tapping the screen. That’s all Siri is good for, and Home Assistant lays waste to the commercialized and patently useless pile of dog feces that is HomeKit in 2026.

Be mindful though - the nerds are fast at work with building local LLMs out of recycled milk jugs that already converse, respond, and understand much of what Siri wishes she could dream of. So in the very near future, you can host an LLM on your fridge, tell Home Assistant Assist to go steal Siri’s boyfriend and adjust the brightness of your nightstand so that you can clearly see Siri say that she doesn’t understand why you hate her.

6

u/Badga 1d ago

As someone with a couple of esp32 displays linked to my Home Assistant deployment it’s orders of magnitude more difficult to set up and harder to use that this thing would be.

3

u/AudioHTIT 1d ago

More appropriate for this thread would be having the HA App on HomeView, as it is on watchOS.

3

u/HonkersTim 1d ago

Home Assistant user for over 10 years here. This is a wild take. Are you seriously comparing an ESP32 dev board display and ESPHome to this Apple gizmo?

Furthermore Siri is pretty crappy as far as Voice assistants go, but have you even tried a HA voice PE unit? Even Siri with all it's shortcomings is orders of magnitude better.

1

u/BlackReddition 1d ago

I’m heavily invested in HA, love it and yes have already gone down the ESP screen route. Will definitely be building a few more of these for the staggering price of $450 AUD for the HomeView.
I mean there’s probably $100 in parts.
Apple’s price hikes and greed have priced me out of a lot of their products.

1

u/clonked 1d ago

Third party apps are allowed via the connected iPhone just like carplay

2

u/FuzzyPuffin 1d ago

Only video and audio apps.

If Apple opens it up over time and I could use my recipe app on it, I’d consider it. As it is, it’s too limited.

2

u/Fun-Region-1576 1d ago

Not everyone knows what that is like because they haven't used CarPlay before. 

1

u/BlackReddition 1d ago

That’s not really supporting 3rd party apps. But as I have all my stuff connected to HA before it gets to HomeKit, this thing would work pretty well. Just the price tag is the problem for such a cut down device.

1

u/cac2573 22h ago

Very convenient for them to require both devices when only one would do. 

2

u/eric-dolecki 1d ago

Does HomeView have a virtual keyboard?

3

u/Fast1195 1d ago

From the Wired overview, yes.

2

u/gloomndoom 1d ago

All of our recipes are in Notes. Bummer.

2

u/Salty2286 1d ago

Notes was the only thing I wanted it for, I’m not buying untill they add it

2

u/gratitudeisbs 1d ago

That’s like building a house without a kitchen

1

u/_spindrift_ 1d ago

I’m struggling to understand the HomeView. Why is it not just an iPad dock with some custom software?

1

u/Fun-Region-1576 1d ago

Not disagreeing with you there. The HomeView isn't the most original idea, but it's sort of priced right. 

Google had a pretty good idea with its tablet and dock combo. Too bad it never took off and Google just discontinued it.

2

u/VashWatters 1d ago

I preordered mine yesterday in silver I’m so hype

1

u/victim_of_technology 1d ago

If this thing can’t run a browser or HA companion I will send it back for a refund. That is unacceptable. Anything can run a browser. It would mean that it has been intentionally crippled.

3

u/Fun-Region-1576 1d ago

It has Safari!

2

u/victim_of_technology 1d ago

Yes!

2

u/Fun-Region-1576 22h ago

Apple TV still doesn't have Safari. 😢

2

u/cac2573 22h ago

It’s almost certainly going to auto close. If you’re hoping to pin safari open, I’d think again. 

2

u/chrispylizard 1d ago

You ordered it without checking?!

-1

u/victim_of_technology 1d ago

I did. It seemed like a good deal based on the screen, speakers, and camera, nothing of quality hits that price point.

0

u/minasoko 1d ago

What the hell?
100% agree this is a deal breaker,
Was considering getting this but cannot understand why they’d lock out one of the main use cases?

0

u/Fun-Region-1576 1d ago

Yeah, it's pretty disappointing. I'm really surprised Safari will be included though!

2

u/TruthyBrat 22h ago

Heck, I wish you could do Safari with a late model ATV-4K.

0

u/Witty-Butterscotch25 1d ago

No notes then I’m not buying it! Like everyone else I use it for recipes …

0

u/TruthyBrat 1d ago

My wife and I have a Note that is a running grocery list. We use it multiple times a week. I'll be cooking and call out across the room, "Hey, add xxx to the grocery list," she does it, and there it is the next time one of us goes to the store.

Yeah, that absolutely needs to be in there.

2

u/Gentleman-Goose 22h ago

Apple as a native todo list for shopping/grocery’s and it automatically sorts it into isles and sections for you when you open your phone

3

u/CoaxialDrive 21h ago

Also it’s the only way to get it to work with Siri: “Hey Siri, add milk to the shopping list.” Will only work in reminders.

1

u/Big-a-hole-2112 20h ago

Can’t you make a note called shopping list and have Siri AI add to it? I had it make a shopping list in lists today for a recipe from my phone.

It would be cool if I could snap a pic of my grocery receipt and Siri AI will categorize it and ask about expiration dates and when the perishable stuff went into the fridge and check every day if I have used any of it so it can make a new list and if I haven’t, remind me that there is some stuff that is gonna go bad soon.

2

u/CoaxialDrive 13h ago

Not sure about with Siri AI, but with regular Siri, no.