Apple may debut 'smart home' platform for iOS at WWDC

Smart home technology is gaining popularity among consumers, and Apple is apparently paying attention.

Apple may reveal details of a new software platform specifically for smart home technology at next month’s Worldwide Developers Conference, the Financial Times reported today. That means Apple devices would more seamlessly be able to control various processes within a home, such as lighting, temperature/thermostats, smoke alarms, security monitoring, and more.

Related: How companies are making your dumb home smart at CES

You might be saying to yourself, “I can already do most of these things from my iPhone right now,” but the new platform would seek to give you control in one central location so you wouldn’t have to juggle a handful of third-party apps. For instance, I could change the settings for my Phillips Hue lighting system from a new dashboard built into (presumably the next version of) iOS rather than having to go to the Hue iOS app.

The FT report likens Apple’s strategy to some of its other less publicized projects, including its iBeacons support and its CarPlay platform.

An iOS-integrated smart home platform would make a lot of sense, if only to recapture some of the initial excitement people used to get when Apple first debuted the iPhone. It could also provide a way to further jumpstart the connected-home services market — with more third-party developers building apps to control your home via iOS.