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Some of you may remember this: Shortly before the start of WWDC 2021, a job posting appeared that explicitly mentioned the term "homeOS." Judging by the latest discovery, Apple appears to be continuing to work on the unreleased home operating system.
When a job posting from Apple in June discovered Many people thought that Apple would unveil "homeOS" at WWDC 2021. But that wasn't the case. At the time, Apple was looking for a Senior iOS Engineer for the Apple Music team. The job posting reads:
Job advertisements fuel speculation
You'll work with Apple systems engineers, learn the inner workings of iOS, watchOS, tvOS, and homeOS, and optimize your code in ways only Apple can. Join our team and make a real difference for music lovers everywhere. The Apple Music Frameworks team owns the technology stack that enables the embedded Apple Music experience across all of our mobile platforms: iOS, watchOS, and homeOS.
Naturally, the discovery made headlines and sparked intense speculation. Shortly thereafter, Apple updated the job posting, replacing the word "homeOS" with HomePod. Now, a similar job posting has surfaced that again uses the term "homeOS." This time, Apple is once again seeking an iOS engineer to work on the Apple Music team. The description explicitly includes the term "homeOS." The position, based in San Diego, is also advertised on Apple's regional websites—with the aforementioned "homeOS" reference.
homeOS: Will Apple combine tvOS and audioOS?
Apple currently operates two core home-based operating systems, audioOS for the HomePod and tvOS for the Apple TV. AudioOS is based on tvOS—the only difference is the name. As part of the company's longer-term strategy and future product plans, a "homeOS" operating system would help unify the company's home offerings into a single operating system. At this point, however, this is pure speculation. However, given Apple's recurring use of the term "homeOS," the idea isn't entirely unrealistic. However, it's possible that "homeOS" is a name used internally by Apple and will never be the name of a publicly available software platform. (Photo by Unsplash / Jeremy Bezanger)
