Adaptive Lighting was introduced in iOS 14, providing a way to automatically adjust the color temperature of smart lights throughout the day. The feature currently only works with HomeKit-enabled devices, but it will be extended to smart lights that are compatible with the Matter standard with iOS 18.
Matter, a smart home interoperability protocol developed collaboratively by Apple, Google, Amazon, and other smart home brands, seeks to create a unified, platform-agnostic ecosystem for smart devices. Adaptive Lighting is an exclusive feature of the Apple Home ecosystem, meaning it is not included in the Matter specification itself.
The expansion of Adaptive Lighting to Matter devices was discovered in the latest beta version of iOS 18. Users running the beta reported seeing a new toggle for Adaptive Lighting in the settings of their Matter-compatible smart lights within the Home app.
Confirmation of the feature's development also came from Nanoleaf, whose CEO Gimmy Chu stated that the company is "one of the partners that are part of the launch of Adaptive Lighting on Matter products." It is highly likely that other major smart lighting brands, such as Philips Hue, will also support the feature in due course.
In addition to the expanded support for Adaptive Lighting, iOS 18 brings a range of other smart home enhancements to the Home app such as improved guest access controls, support for robotic vacuum cleaners like the iRobot Roomba, and hands-free unlocking of smart doors.
This article, "iOS 18 Brings Adaptive Lighting to Matter Smart Lights" first appeared on MacRumors.com
Discuss this article in our forums
English (US) ·