Apple’s recently announced HomeView is a 7-inch smart display with Apple Intelligence built in. If you’re an iPad-first user, or maybe an Android user with an iPad, you might be wondering if and how your tablet interacts with this new hub.

Is it more like the Apple TV, which integrates pretty well with the iPad, or more like the Apple Watch, with next to no iPad integration?

After going through the available documentation, here’s how the iPad can and can’t interact with HomeView.

What the iPad Can Do with HomeView

According to Apple’s documentation, you can use a compatible iPad¹ for the following:

• Device Setup and User Enrollment: You can set up your HomeView and enroll up to six others using facial recognition directly from your iPad. Note that this implementation of facial recognition does not require a Face ID-capable iPad.
• Personal Context & Siri AI: With a nearby compatible iPad², HomeView can access your personal context, including data like your Calendar, Messages, and Apple Music playlists, to provide personalized responses. The iPad must be on the same network as the HomeView and must have been recently unlocked. Siri AI conversations you have on HomeView will also show up in the Siri app on your iPad.
• Siri AI Voice Customization: A paired iPad that supports³ customizing the pace and expressivity of Siri AI’s voice can apply those changes to HomeView.
• Intercom and Notifications: You can broadcast Intercom messages from HomeView to your iPad, and receive alerts on your iPad if HomeView detects a smoke or CO alarm.

What the iPad Can’t Do with HomeView

• Third-Party App Projection: I’ve seen some speculation that HomeView would allow iPads to project third-party apps onto the display using a CarPlay-like system. However, everything in the official Apple documentation indicates this is an iPhone-specific feature. That makes sense, since the iPad doesn’t support CarPlay (though I’d argue it should). It means iPad users will still need to rely on their phones if they want to cast compatible third-party audio and video apps like Spotify or Audible directly to HomeView.

The Bottom Line

Apple HomeView is a fantastic companion for iPad users looking to control their smart home and access personal data at a glance. However, the best overall experience requires an iPhone for third-party app projection. Hopefully Apple expands this (and CarPlay) to the iPad one day.

1. An iPad running iPadOS 27.2 or later. ↩
2. An iPad with 8 GB of RAM or more, running iPadOS 27.2 or later, with Apple Intelligence enabled. ↩
3. An iPad with 12 GB of RAM or more, running iPadOS 27.2 or later, with Apple Intelligence enabled. ↩