In December, Apple pulled one of iOS 16’s biggest features, its new Home architecture that was supposed to be “more reliable and efficient.” According to a reference in iOS 16.3, Apple has scrapped the original version and will release a new one soon.
According to Nicholas Alvarez and AppleDB contributor Aaron on Twitter, the original Home architecture was “a buggy bug” and has been completely rewritten. References to “hh2ManualMigrationV2Enabled” have been spotted in iOS 16.3 to replace the previous “hh2ManualMigrationEnabled”.
Users who have previously updated will presumably need to reinstall the new version when it arrives, though Apple has said previous upgraders are “unaffected” by removing the upgrade option. A support document quickly appeared explaining that the upgrade options had been “temporarily removed” and that the option to upgrade “would return shortly”.
According to Apple, the problem is related to “the ability for users to share the Home within the Home app,” although the move to a new version suggests that there were deeper problems. Before Apple pulled the update, users were complaining about issues with the app crashing and devices not responding.
The iOS 16.3 update arrived on Monday with several fixes, but the Home architecture was absent, despite appearing in the second beta. However, the code strings suggest development is well underway and it could arrive anytime in an iOS 16.3.1 update or a Home app update.
