1 min readRobot vacuum cleaner compatibility in iOS 18 has been pushed to 2025, and could come even later here in Australia.
At WWDC, Apple announced new Home app features aligned with the Matter 1.2 protocol. This includes robovacs' participation in automations, and scenes, and Siri voice control for core robot vacuum cleaner functionality. Originally, these were to come with the iOS 18 update in September, however an ammendement to the Home app web page states these features will now be available in "early 2025" and voice controls will be available in US English only.
Australian and British English tend to follow closely behind US English controls across Apple's portfolio, but when we can expect that to take effect is yet to be seen.
The delayed rollout won't effect too many users as Matter-compatible robot vacuums are still rare. As it stands there are three available in Australia; the Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra, The Ecovacs Deebot X2 Combo, and the Roomba Combo 10 Max, along with a handful of Switchbots internationally. Off the back of Apple's announcement, Roborock was the only manufacturer to confirm Matter support would come this year.
Roborock told Reviews.org Australia it's rollout timeline has shifted due to the delay, and that the change is outside of their control.
