If Apple's HomeKit ecosystem powers your smart home, you can either use an iPad, Apple TV, or a HomePod as a control hub. Your hub is what receives your command and directs home automation by telling other connected smart home gadgets what to do.However, with the arrival of iOS 16 and iPadOS 16, iPads will no longer be eligible for use as a home hub. Although Apple has not explained the decision, here's everything we know so far.

HomeKit Ecosystem and iOS 16

A visual of the Apple HomeKit website

In the 2022 edition of its annual Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC 2022), Apple announced a raft of new features coming with the new iOS 16 and iPadOS 16, as well as upgrades to the HomeKit ecosystem.

Key among changes to the HomeKit ecosystem is the arrival of a new Home app. The app, which features a complete redesign, will arrive alongside iOS 16 later in 2022. It will make finding and managing all smart devices on your HomeKit cluster easier.

However, the improvements to the HomeKit ecosystem come with a caveat. Within the footnotes of the iOS 16 preview page, Apple spells out that "Only Apple TV and HomePod are supported as home hubs."

Twitter user Tech Crtr first spotted the caveat. Since Apple discontinued the full-sized HomePod, from now on, there will only be two options to use as a home hub — a HomePod Mini or an Apple TV.

Since Apple doesn't have a HomePod with a screen, using an iPad as a home hub was the HomeKit equivalent of an Echo Show and Nest Hub Max. This was a popular use for retired iPads that owners rarely took away from home. Unfortunately, using old iPads for this purpose won't be possible anymore.

An Apple Smart Home Display?

Person using tablet to control smart home devices

Apple's HomeKit ecosystem lags in a lot of ways. It is still trying to catch up with competitors like Amazon's Alexa and Google Home. One of the areas it needs attention is a smart home display with similar features to the Echo Show and Nest Hub Max.

Now that the company is pulling the plug on using an iPad as a home hub, it is invariably denying HomeKit users the closest thing to a HomePod with a smart display.

While this is terrible news for some HomeKit users, it could also mean that Apple is clearing the ground for a future introduction of a HomePod with a smart display. Widespread use of iPads as a home hub could impede rapid adoption of a HomePod with a display if Apple decides to launch one.

Considering Apple's standard, the HomePod product line has performed poorly, failing to set the market on fire as most Apple products would. A new lease of life in the form of an Echo Show-style HomePod could help turn things around. Considering that the bigger HomePods were discontinued, it could mean Apple is planning something different.

In April 2022, Macworld shared excerpts of an interview with Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, who asserted that Apple was "absolutely" working on a new HomePod that would be different from what is currently available. According to Gurman, the new HomePod would be a hybrid that blends the features of a HomePod, an Apple TV, and a FaceTime camera.

Good Signs for HomeKit?

Apple's strategy with the HomeKit ecosystem has mostly been slow and scattered. It is one of Apple's product lines that has never really caught on.

However, with the renewed interest the company is showing toward the HomeKit ecosystem, things could change drastically. As the company has shown repeatedly, whenever it puts a lot of energy into a project, it makes a great product. The iPad may no longer work as a home hub, but something better could be in the works.