Apple TV DashBoard App 'DayView' Updated With HomeKit Support

Apple TV dashboard app DayView has received its first major update and a couple of much-requested features, courtesy of developer and former Apple intern Punya Chatterjee.

For anyone unfamiliar with DayView, the app has similarities to the Today View on iPhone, in that it displays widgets that hook into useful online platforms and personal services, providing at-a-glance information in a unified dashboard.

You can customize the dashboard wallpaper and select which widgets go where in the dashboard panels, plus they automatically refresh, so you could leave the app up on your TV screen during your morning routine, for example.

Since we last looked at DayView, Chatterjee has implemented iCloud/Apple calendar support (the calendar widget can now read calendars that come in the standardized iCalendar format) and the Commute widget now has a transit option, which uses Apple Maps' estimates, just like for walking or driving.

The big addition in version 1.2 of DayView however is support for HomeKit widgets, including Scenes, Accessories, and Camera.

As this is a new feature, control over accessories is currently limited to toggling them on and off, likewise when triggering scenes. Meanwhile the camera widget lets you stream from any HomeKit cameras and you can select the widget to switch between them if you have multiple.

Elsewhere in this update, Chatterjee has included an optional $2.99 in-app purchase for DayView Pro, which gets users additional premium features including the ability to add multiples of widgets (to view weather conditions for several places at once, for instance) and the ability to use pictures in your iCloud photo library as wallpapers.

Development will continue for DayView, and Chatterjee plans to expand the social widgets, flesh out the HomeKit accessories support, fix reported bugs, and otherwise respond to feedback and feature requests from users.

DayView 1.0 is a free download on Apple TV from the tvOS App Store. [Direct Link]