Apple's new HomeView smart hub lacks native support for any video apps, including Apple TV, requiring users to AirPlay from an iPhone — a limitation competitors like Echo Show and Nest Hub don't share.
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<img alt="Two Apple HomeView’s, with one displaying Apple TV." data-caption="Apple’s HomeView marketing calls out audiobooks, TV shows, and says you can “keep an eye on the match while you do the washing up,” but shys away about these features needing an iPhone connection. | Image: Apple" data-portal-copyright="Image: Apple" data-has-syndication-rights="1" src="https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/Apple-HomeView-Apple-TV.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0,0,100,100" />
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Apple’s HomeView marketing calls out audiobooks, TV shows, and says you can “keep an eye on the match while you do the washing up,” but shys away about these features needing an iPhone connection. | Image: Apple </figcaption>
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<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Apple says HomeView is "<a href="https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2026/10/meet-apple-homeview-a-new-way-to-enjoy-entertainment-and-manage-the-home/#:~:text=engineered%20acoustic%20system.-,HomeView%20is%20the%20perfect%20way%20to%20enjoy%20Apple%20Music%2C%20complete%20with,users%20can%20enjoy%20music%20throughout%20the%20entire%20home%20with%20multiroom%20audio.,-HomeView%20is%20the">the perfect way</a>" to enjoy its audio and video entertainment apps, but some notable examples like Apple TV only work if you AirPlay it through your iPhone. As noted on the HomeView spec page, Apple TV, Apple Books audiobooks, Apple Music Classical, and Apple News Plus aren't natively supported on the smart hub, so you'll have to use your phone to operate them.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><a href="https://www.theverge.com/tech/1009704/apple-homeview-smart-display-first-look">HomeView</a> is foremostly designed as a hub for managing smart home gadgets, but competing smart display hardware like Amazon's Echo Show and Google's Nest Hub devices can natively stream Prime Video and YouTube, respectively, without requiring a phone connection. …</p>
<p><a href="https://www.theverge.com/tech/1011062/apple-homeview-airplay-apps-streaming">Read the full story at The Verge.</a></p>
# HomeView doesn’t natively support any video apps yet — not even Apple’s
Source: [https://www.theverge.com/tech/1011062/apple-homeview-airplay-apps-streaming](https://www.theverge.com/tech/1011062/apple-homeview-airplay-apps-streaming)
[](https://www.theverge.com/authors/jess-weatherbed)
Jess Weatherbed
is a news writer focused on creative industries, computing, and internet culture\. Jess started her career at TechRadar, covering news and hardware reviews\.
Apple says HomeView is “[the perfect way](https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2026/10/meet-apple-homeview-a-new-way-to-enjoy-entertainment-and-manage-the-home/#:~:text=engineered%20acoustic%20system.-,HomeView%20is%20the%20perfect%20way%20to%20enjoy%20Apple%20Music%2C%20complete%20with,users%20can%20enjoy%20music%20throughout%20the%20entire%20home%20with%20multiroom%20audio.,-HomeView%20is%20the)” to enjoy its audio and video entertainment apps, but some notable examples like Apple TV only work if you AirPlay it through your iPhone\. As noted on the HomeView spec page, Apple TV, Apple Books audiobooks, Apple Music Classical, and Apple News Plus aren’t natively supported on the smart hub, so you’ll have to use your phone to operate them\.
[HomeView](https://www.theverge.com/tech/1009704/apple-homeview-smart-display-first-look)is foremostly designed as a hub for managing smart home gadgets, but competing smart display hardware like Amazon’s Echo Show and Google’s Nest Hub devices can natively stream Prime Video and YouTube, respectively, without requiring a phone connection\. Apple TV is also featured in at least one promotional image for HomeView, but the AirPlay requirement is in small print on its announcement page:
> “Subscription may be required to access some content and services\. Some applications are not available in all areas\. Select apps require a paired and compatible iPhone nearby\.”
We have reached out to Apple for more information on why HomeView doesn’t natively support Apple TV, Apple Books audiobooks, Apple Music Classical, and Apple News Plus, and if that may change in the future\.
The hardware itself certainly isn’t a limitation — HomeView runs on Apple’s A18 chip, the same processor that powers an iPhone 16\. Its software functions more like CarPlay than iOS, iPadOS, or even Apple TV, since, like CarPlay, it requires a connected iPhone for many functions\. The HomeView also doesn’t have an App Store \(which is typical for smart home hubs\), which makes that CarPlay connection even more significant for third\-party app developers, since apps that support projecting video or audio through the platform will work easily from day one\.
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- Jess Weatherbed
The Verge reviews Apple's $299 HomeView smart display, arguing its simplicity as an always-on, shared, fixed household interface — with multiuser support, home hub capabilities, and video calling — makes it the right product for Apple Home despite overlapping with iPhone and iPad features.
Apple is set to unveil the HomeView, a Siri-powered smart home hub with a display and A18 chip in countertop and wall-mounted versions, marking its most serious smart home push yet alongside updated Apple TV and HomePod mini devices.
The Verge gets a hands-on look at Apple's newly announced HomeView, its first smart home display, featuring a 7-inch Liquid Retina touchscreen, 12MP camera, HomeKit controls, and Siri AI with personal context awareness.