If you’ve always dreamed of one day saying, “Hey Siri, ask the vacuum cleaner to clean your living room and kitchen,” then Apple is here to grant your wish. At least if you have a robot vacuum that qualifies.
With Apple’s latest software, iOS 18.4, Apple Home can now run smoothly and control Matter-compliant robot vacuums like Roborock, iRobot, and Ecovacs. iOS 18.4 is currently rolling out alongside iPadOS 18.4, macOS Sequoia 15.4, tvOS 18.4, and HomePods software.
It’s been a long time coming, to say the least.
Apple initially promised to support these smart home cleaners by the end of 2024, but it actually took much longer — a full four months. However, support is still provided in the latest version.
So what does this mean? Well, if you have a supported model from all three brands, you can add your robot vacuum to your Apple Home and control it directly from there, or even integrate it into your existing automation system.
The latter means you can set up a routine to have your vacuum start once when you leave the house on Wednesday to ensure your floors are clean when you return.
Additionally, in Apple Home or through Siri on any Apple device, you can ask the robot vacuum to clean a specific room or ask about its status. Now, you might want to update your robot vacuum. Roborock today announced a number of firmware updates that will allow these models to work with Apple Home when it launches in early April 2025. These include the Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra, Saros Z70, Saros 10, Saros 10R, Qrevo Curv, Qrevo Edge and Qrevo Master.
Ecovacs and iRobot models may also require a software update, and we’ll let you know when we hear more about this. Regardless of whether an update is needed, it’s a very good thing to see Apple following through on its promise to introduce robot vacuum support for Apple Home, which will really enhance smart home products.
Of course, we’re still waiting for the AI-infused Siri in Apple Intelligence that could make smart home control even better, but it’s coming “next year.” If it does come out, it may need to come out before the smart home display that I and many others have coveted (aka a HomePod with a screen).
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