If you have been wondering whether HomeView will support YouTube, it doesn’t seem like it. At least not yet. Apple says that 7-inch smart display supports “compatible third-party audio and video apps from your iPhone,” but specific third party apps, including YouTube or Netflix, are not named anywhere in the launch materials.
HomeView launches with a short list of Apple apps and no App Store
Apple’s announcement material does not show an App Store on the device. Reports ahead of the event said the same thing, that HomeView would ship without one. The apps Apple has confirmed so far are below:
- Apple Music, with lyrics and animated album art (subscription required)
- Apple Podcasts, Audiobooks, and Apple News, which is limited to Australia, Canada, the UK, and the U.S.
- Apple TV
- Safari, which powers the Start Cooking recipe view
- FaceTime, Messages, Calendar, Reminders, and Find My
- Compatible third-party audio and video apps from your iPhone
Based on what Apple has shown, there is no place on the display to install YouTube or an unofficial YouTube client. Third-party apps appear to depend on the paired iPhone instead.
Handoff is the closest HomeView gets to playing video from your iPhone
Handoff is described as a way to start a song, podcast, call, video, or recipe on iPhone and continue on HomeView. Apple has not said which video apps support it, and neither YouTube nor Google appears in the launch materials.
Apple has also not published a list of supported third-party apps or explained how developers add support. A YouTube option would depend on Google building it. If that happens, video would play on the 7-inch Liquid Retina display with Spatial Audio from the two drivers in the screen and the woofer in the base, albeit with black bars since the display is in a square ratio.
Everything else about the hardware is built around the home. The device covers face recognition for up to six people, Siri AI, and the Home Camera face that shows up to nine camera feeds at once.
