There have been rumors Apple has a dedicated HomeKit app in the works that would give users a central location to control all of their HomeKit devices, but thus far, the Cupertino company has kept quiet on whether such an app exists. More evidence pointing towards the existence of a possible HomeKit app surfaced today, however, in the form of a trademark application filed through a known shell company, iGuide Media.
As noted by French site Consomac [Google Translate], iGuide Media filed a priority trademark for an icon that appears to correspond to a HomeKit "Home" app on March 12, 2015 in Jamaica, and has now filed again in the United States on September 14. The trademark applies to a long list of electronics and home products, including thermostats, smoke detectors, window shades, garage door openers, and more.
iGuide Media is a shell company that has filed trademarks on Apple's behalf in the past, ahead of the 2010 launch of the original iPad.
The icon is depicted in the trademark application as an H with a roof on it to form a house, with the icon placed on an orange background. It is similar in color to the HomeKit icons on Apple's own website, but the design is decidedly different.
Apple's release plans for a HomeKit app are unclear. It is not known if the company intends to launch a HomeKit app for public use in the future, or if the icon in today's trademark filing corresponds to a dedicated app. It could also be an icon simply intended to represent HomeKit going forward, in developer documentation and on product packaging.
Top Rated Comments
They should've waited for iOS 10 or whenever they're really going to launch HomeKit instead of doing a half-assed soft launch last year that resulted in a waste of companies' resources as they were developing for the platform for the past year and a waste of consumers' money as they were buying HomeKit-enabled products that are mostly half-baked. Some of the people who got burned by lousy HomeKit products in the past year may not give the platform another chance anytime soon, if at all.
I really don't like this trend of Apple shoving something out the door that's broken while seemingly having the mentality that they'll just fix it in version 2. All the while, Apple is telling consumers and developers that the product/platform/service is revolutionary and amazing. Apple also keeps telling the media that they only ship things once the things are ready. HomeKit clearly wasn't ready a year ago but it was pushed out the door anyway.
Second, trademarks are domain specific. If the HomeBank app has nothing to do with the HomeKit type of functionality (and it doesn't *appear* to, though I'll admit I can't actually read the app's description), there's no reason why the two trademarks can't coexist.
Third, it's an *application*, not an issuance. You can *apply* for a trademark on anything. You may not *get* one if it is too similar to something else already in use in that domain.
Health was meant to be the golden child of iOS8 - already it's looking like another like another iTunes Ping.