A standalone iOS app for Apple’s HomeKit platform could finally arrive in iOS 10 as a new report claimsan Apple employee on the company’s marketing team revealed plans for the launch in an onlinereview. MacRumors found the mention (pasted below) within a product review related to HomeKit andsays it confirmed the person that left the comment was indeed an Apple employee.

As I work in marketing for Apple, we test many Smart Home devices, especially for iOSHomeKit integration. […]

Some advice, there are many third party applications, most free, that offer more control andcustomization(s) with many Smart Home devices. “Yonomi” is a free app that I often use,“Home” is another which cost $14.99. Both offer support for many devices with more addeddaily (including Amazon “Echo”). The next version of iOS due this fall will have a standalone“HomeKit” app as well.

Apple has had plans for a HomeKit app on your iPhone’s home screen for quite a while as it’sdeveloped the platform that currently only allows control of supported home automation accessoriesthrough Siri or third-party apps. We were first to detail some of the planned features for the platformand app back before the release of iOS 9, some which like the app have yet to be released.

The idea is that rather than using various apps each accessory maker builds, you could just open one“Home” app on your iPhone to manage everything. These apps already exist in the form of third-partysolutions like the Hesperus app we reviewed a couple weeks back, but a solution direct from Applewould hopefully mean one of the best implementations yet and maybe some new features that third-party developers don’t have access to in the current crop of apps.

If the report is true, we could finally get our first look at the Home app at Apple’s World WideDevelopers Conference in June where the company is expected to preview iOS 10 alongside its otherupcoming products and developer tools.