Apple and LG are reportedly teaming up on a new line of smart home accessories—including a thermostat, deadbolt lock, wired video doorbell, cameras, and a temperature sensor—that will offer iPhone-friendly features not seen in many current HomeKit or Matter devices.
Innovative Features Uncovered
First among the new tricks is Proximity Control. If you tap your iPhone (or bring it close) to one of these LG accessories, it’ll trigger a shortcut via the Dynamic Island to “Open Controls” for things like thermostats. Devices like cameras and doorbells will instead prompt a camera viewer. On iPhones without the Dynamic Island—or on iPads—a notification lasting about 30 seconds appears instead. Users will be able to disable proximity controls from the Home app once setup is complete.
Code snippets dating back to iOS 27 reveal that Proximity Control has evolved during development. In earlier builds, there were multiple settings: “Never,” “Ask to Launch,” and “Launch Automatically.” In the current iOS 27.2 beta, the “enabled” state mirrors “Ask to Launch,” meaning users are prompted before controls become active. These options have shifted throughout beta releases.
Setup Without Power? It’s in the Rumors
Another oddball but handy feature rumored: pairing these devices before they even have power. The way it would work is that an iPhone taps the accessory via NFC and sends pairing identity plus network credentials into the accessory’s secure element. Once the device gets power, it joins Wi-Fi or Thread automatically, and a Home hub finishes the Matter setup. This “tap to set up without power” method seems exclusive to HomeKit—the LG firmware replaces the Matter NFC applet in the secure element with a HomeKit applet, even though standard Matter NFC support remains built into iOS 27. Once powered on, the more common Matter pairing option is still in play.
Timeline & Context
This all comes ahead of Apple’s October 13 “Welcome Home” event, where new Home accessories are expected. Even though the LG range has been revealed in regulatory filings and leaks, the full release is not anticipated until several months after the announcement. The code for these proximity controls has existed since iOS 27.0, with functionality refined in subsequent beta builds.
The accessories are built using secure elements—identified in lock and thermostat firmware as the NXP SE051H chip—to enable both the NFC-based setup and the proximity features. Bluetooth Low Energy broadcasts from the accessories, along with the NFC tag identifier, help facilitate recognition and the proximity-based interactions.
What this means: Apple’s pushing its smart home ecosystem forward—tightening integrations, improving usability, and giving users more control over privacy and setup. These leaks suggest HomeKit accessories will start to feel more seamless. If Proximity Control works as it looks now, setup will be more intuitive, especially for less techy users.
