Apple TV will be at centre of its connected home

But it won’t be a hub for the ‘internet of things’, as some had expected

Apple TV will have a key role in the company’s vision for the internet of things, but won’t be the central hub for home automation that some had expected.

Apple's small smart TV puck will be used to allow people to control their smart home gadgets from outside the home using Siri, the Verge reports. All of the connected home gadgets that were shown off at this week's Consumer Electronics Show required an Apple TV to be on the network so that Siri could be used to control them from outside the house.

Without an Apple TV, devices using Apple’s HomeKit framework can still be controlled by Siri from inside the home. And they can be used from apps on the phone from outside of the house.

But to control them from Siri when your phone is off the network will require an Apple TV on the same wifi network.

Third generation or later Apple TVs running the 7.0 version of the operating system will be able to support HomeKit.

Some had expected that the small black TV could be a central part of Apple’s vision for the connected home, a theory that seemed to be encouraged by early versions of the software. Apple TV, which it sells for £79, has been called a “hobby” for Apple — useful for those that have it, but much smaller than its flagship products like phones, tablets and laptops.

Some of the companies that were showing off HomeKit devices at CES are hoping to launch them in the first quarter of 2015, with others predicting the second quarter.

By then, Apple might have updated its TV — an update to the TV has long been expected, but not yet come.