Apple explores home robotics as potential 'next big thing'

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

State of Smart Home Tech

  • Many see “smart home” as having under-delivered: voice control is slower and less reliable than physical switches; novelty wore off without life-changing value.
  • Core successes: smart bulbs/switches, thermostats with home/away detection, robot vacuums, smart plugs and simple automation (lights, coffee warmup, aquarium/fish feeding, gardening).
  • Many “smart” appliances (coffee makers, clocks, dishwashers) are viewed as gimmicky and not worth added complexity.
  • Stability and interoperability across vendors remain major pain points.

Privacy, Cloud Dependence, and Standards

  • Strong resistance to devices that require cloud accounts or collect personal data (e.g., thermostats demanding address and identity).
  • Desire for systems that fall back to “dumb” behavior (e.g., smart switches, Hue with local remotes).
  • Frustration that Matter/Thread hasn’t delivered on its promise; still feels proprietary and fragile.
  • Some regard Apple’s HomeKit as the best current local-first approach, though it still has iCloud and hub constraints.

Apple, Voice Assistants, and Ecosystem

  • Siri and HomePod are widely seen as unreliable and far behind competitors; some say this alone kills interest in Apple home products.
  • Others argue Apple’s tight integration, long-term R&D capacity, and willingness to kill weak products make it uniquely positioned to test whether home robotics is viable.
  • Counterview: Apple is chasing inherently weak markets (smart speakers, AR/VR, self-driving, home robots) instead of obvious wins; some suggest returning cash to shareholders instead.

Home Robotics Use Cases and Limits

  • High-demand fantasies: full-service housework (laundry including folding, dishes including putting away, bathroom/toilet cleaning, lawn mowing, trash handling, cooking, elder/disabled care).
  • Robot vacuums and lawn mowers are seen as the only “mature” domestic robots today; even these need frequent maintenance and struggle in cluttered homes.
  • Skepticism that near-term robots can safely and competently handle complex, dexterous, or varied tasks (folding clothes, navigating stairs, handling knives, dusting fragile items).
  • Safety, size, and creepiness concerns around human-scale robots in homes.

DIY and Alternatives

  • Several participants advocate local DIY setups (Home Assistant on Raspberry Pi + Zigbee) as a practical, privacy-respecting solution, though still technical to configure.
  • Some think the bigger opportunity is robots doing home maintenance and enabling more complex home infrastructure by making repairs cheap and automated.