Apple launches ‘Home’ on iOS to manage all your HomeKit devices

Apple Photos in iOS 10 still won’t have a free cloud storage option like Google Photos does.

Indeed, Apple has added some nice features to its Photos app, but they left out the meaty part that actually solves the problem of limited storage in an age where we take a ton of photos.

Next is the new “Raise to wake” feature, which causes the lock screen to wake up whenever the user picks up the device.

Now, Apple’s iMessage, which is thought to have around the same number of users as WhatsApp or Messenger (Apple has said it has 1 billion active devices) wants its fair share of attention and today’s unveilings have firmly announced that iMessage isn’t going to go down in the messaging war without a fight.

One year after launching the HomeKit framework for smart home devices, Apple is releasing a dedicated “Home” app to control them. You can even check your connected front door camera from your iPhone locks screen. According to Engadget, Siri will also power the keyboard in iOS 10 to make the QuickType suggestions more relevant and intelligent. In fact, there’s little that differentiates the two photo apps.

So, that’s great, Apple Photos has the great functionality of Google Photos, except for one key feature. No word on an Apple device for the home.

Home make be a few years late to arrive but it still sounds pretty sweet. Apple News will be able to send out notifications for breaking news and will offer in-app subscriptions.

(Also included are things like order delivery via DoorDash, inline videos, music and photo/video integration, but those may be less important in the near-term, but more important over the long term as iOS 10 adoption rates rise over time).