Nobody wants this.
I sure don’t want this but I think you’re wrong. The market for this is slim but lots of people are all-in on HomeKit and there really aren’t many (if any) great touch panels out there - especially not ones with the “Apple polish” that fans are used to.
If Apple wants to contribute to homekit, the way to do this is for Apple to start selling their own matter certified light switches, light bulbs, garage door openers, security systems, thermostat, door locks, smoke detectors, etc. This is what Amazon and Google have done and it’s pathetic that Apple has left this to a market where everyone is having to use solutions like Homebridge to get anything to work with Homekit or Siri.
The whole point of HomeKit is that you automate it or yell at your watch/phone/HomePod. Putting an iPad on the wall so that you have to get up off the couch to dim your lights or adjust your thermostat defeats the purpose.
I don’t disagree with your assessment of product offerings so no notes there!
Touch panels are really nice for home automation even if you primarily use your phone. I like them at the entry doors for things like locking up and setting the alarm. Touch panels also give your guests access to as many controls as you want without adding their devices to the network.
I have a ton of home automation dashboards around my house, and they’re awesome. Friends that stop by love them, although they have no technical skills to build these themselves (basically a raspberry pi with an lcd panel showing some specific home assistant dashboard, or monitoring webpage, etc).
I think there’s a decent market here for a company like Apple that can make it more accessible.
