Oliver Haslam·

Apple Has Moved The HomePod From iOS To tvOS As Of Version 13.4

When Apple released iOS 13.4 for iPhones last month it also meant that HomePods were also going to be updated to the same software. And while little was thought about it, we now know that this was the update that saw the HomePod move away from iOS, and towards tvOS for the first time.

We know that after 9to5Mac reported today that it has been able to analyze the latest HomePod update, noticing along the way that the software is now based on tvOS.

Whether that means a great deal right now however, it isn’t clear.

While tvOS is the software that powers the Apple TV, it’s still based on iOS at its core just like iPadOS. They’re all built on the same software, but with different additions here and there to make them better suited to the devices they run on. Yes, that’s a massive oversimplification, but you get the gist.

Is it possible that the move to tvOS might give us a hint at what’s in store for HomePod? We heard today via Bloomberg that Apple has at least one new audio device in the works, thought to be a smaller and cheaper HomePod.

One thing is obvious, though. The move to tvOS proves that Apple sees the HomePod as a product for its lineup moving forward, rather than something that is likely to be discontinued as has been argued for months. The device itself might not have been a huge hit, but compared to the iPhone and AirPods, nothing is. If Apple’s HomePod was a test run for something else though – that could be a whole new metric to measure it by.

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