>Why another screen?

One of the motivations is to have a "master controller and dashboard" for the (smart-) home that's conveniently always attached and connected to the house itself.

Consider that many houses already have wall-mounted control panels in the main hallway or kitchen for the burglar alarm or thermostat. Replace that with an all-in-one smarthome touchscreen that configures the same security system as well as everything else ... HVAC, lights, blinds, door cam video feed, etc.

Examples of that concept from other home automation companies such as Crestron, Savant, Control4, etc:

https://www.google.com/search?q=Crestron+home+touchscreen+ho...

https://www.google.com/search?q=Savant+touchscreen+home&tbm=...

https://www.google.com/search?q=Control4+touchscreen+home&tb...

Apple's product marketing pages for HomeView at the moment don't heavily promote the idea of customized programming for home automations (HomeKit API) to compete with Crestron/Savant but many observers think Apple wants to expand into that space. (https://www.apple.com/home-app/)

A lot of homeowners don't want to be locked in with Crestron/Savant. Yes, Apple is itself also a "walled garden" but it's a more palatable lock-in situation than the ridiculous re-programming fees that Crestron dealers charge for every little change.

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sdgluck 7 hours ago | parent [-]

Didn't even occur to me to look for a purpose-built smart home console. I just mounted an old iPad to the wall.

	▲	jasode 7 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		>Didn't even occur to me to look for a purpose-built smart home console. Sorry for not being clear. The Crestron/Savant panels are not typically purchased separately as 1 item. They're installed by certified system integrators as part of a total package where they wire up the whole house (often new construction). There have been rumblings and predictions that Apple could expand HomeKit's capabilities to eventually be a real alternative to Crestron/Savant. The previous iterations of HomePod and Apple TV acting as a home hub really wasn't a credible threat but a new product like HomeView is a step closer to the "professional smarthome automation" space. E.g. Apple offering a wall-mounted PoE option is evidence of that.
	▲	WorldMaker 4 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Yeah, a lot of people are using old iPads for this sort of thing. That seems to be the biggest competitor to HomeView is "old iPad mounted somewhere". The multi-user Face ID seems a big differentiator in that competition and might for some be a good reason to upgrade that old iPad to something newer.