Robot vacs hit Apple Home

Matic was founded by two former Google Nest engineers and operates as a small U.S.‑based company whose sole hardware product is the Matic vacuum‑mop. (theverge.com)) Inside Apple Home the integration exposes room‑level actions so users can start, pause, send the robot to the dock, or run vacuum, mop, or vacuum‑and‑mop routines for single rooms, combinations of rooms, or the entire home. (9to5mac.com)) Published testing captured working Siri phrases such as “Siri, start vacuuming,” “Siri, vacuum and mop [room name],” and “Siri, return the vacuum to the dock,” demonstrating voice control of zone‑based cleaning. (9to5mac.com)) The underlying standard that enables these Home controls is Matter 1.2, which formally added a robot‑vacuum accessory category to the specification in October 2023. (appleinsider.com)) Apple first signaled plans for native robot‑vacuum support at WWDC 2024, framing Home integration as the endpoint for Matter‑based device interoperability. (apple.gadgethacks.com)) Several major vacuum makers have pushed firmware updates to expose Matter functionality, but manufacturers continue to reserve advanced mapping, custom routes and some notification/detail features for their own companion apps. (pcmag.com)) Matic’s update arrives alongside a broader industry shift: Roborock, iRobot, Ecovacs, SwitchBot and others now list or are rolling out native Matter‑capable robot vacuums that can be bridged into platform Home apps. (yoursmarthomecentre.com))