The discharge of Apple’s iOS 18.4 on Monday contains excellent news for robotic vacuum house owners. The replace contains assist for controlling robotic vacuums and including them to automations and scenes within the Apple Dwelling app by way of the Matter protocol. With the official rollout of iOS 18.4, corporations like Roborock, iRobot, and Ecovacs are introducing firmware updates so their robovacs might be absolutely suitable with Apple Dwelling.
Roborock’s firmware replace “enhances the implementation of the Matter protocol throughout a number of of its premium robotic vacuum fashions,” based on a press launch from the corporate. Roborock fashions that might be getting this expanded Matter assist embody the S8 MaxV Extremely, Saros Z70, Saros 10, Saros 10R, Qrevo Curv, Qrevo Edge, and Qrevo Grasp.
Roborock says the supported fashions will obtain the firmware replace someday between April 1st and April tenth, permitting customers to regulate their robovacs by way of the Dwelling app on gadgets together with the iPhone, Apple Watch, HomePod, and iPad. The replace may even enhance connectivity and Matter assist with good dwelling platforms based mostly on Google Dwelling and Amazon Alexa. (That’s after all why Matter was created within the first place – to assist make good dwelling gadgets platform-agnostic.)
Further fashions, together with the Roborock S8 Max Extremely and Qrevo Slim, might be getting Matter assist in updates scheduled to be launched “within the upcoming weeks and months.”
iRobot introduced that the Roomba Combo 10 Max robotic and Auto Wash Dock, launched final August, might be its first robovac “compliant with Matter protocol and suitable with the Apple Dwelling ecosystem.” Customers will have the ability to begin, cease, and schedule cleanings for particular rooms utilizing the Dwelling app or voice instructions by way of Siri.
A number of of Ecovacs’ robotic vacuums, together with the Deebot X2, X2 Combo, T50, T50 Max, and X8, may even be getting Matter 1.4 firmware updates beginning at present. The updates will begin “rolling out throughout these fashions in phases,” Ecovacs’ Affiliate Model Advertising and marketing Director, Michelle Jones, instructed The Verge in an e mail.
Apple initially introduced assist for robotic vacuums in Apple Dwelling by way of Matter throughout WWDC 2024 as one of many many adjustments coming with iOS 18, although the options might be restricted to energy management, switching between vacuuming and mopping modes, and specifying which rooms to wash. Matter doesn’t assist extra superior cleansing options like mapping and configuring zones for robovacs to keep away from, so these features may solely be accessible by way of every producer’s personal app.