Exploring the HomeKit World

Starting with iOS 10 (released in the fall of 2016), HomeKit has an app for users to use to control their HomeKit world. Over the years since its announcement in 2014, Apple has been building out the HomeKit infrastructure—the application program interfaces (APIs) that developers use, the terminology that is shared among HomeKit developers and users (homes, rooms, scenes, and appliances), the third-party HomeKit-enabled products, and, most important, the ideas of how HomeKit can fit into the real world with real people in it. These various tracks (API, third-party products, terminology, and awareness) come together in the Home app.