LG smart home accessories will get a feature that Matter devices won't: when an iPhone is held near them, a helpful hint appears in the Dynamic Island. The feature, which code sleuth pdfu says will debut alongside Apple's home accessories at its October 13, 2026 event, reflects the company's integrated ecosystem. Setup works much like AirPods pairing, with the iPhone sharing a notification as it launches setup when the user first taps the accessory.
The feature is called Proximity Control. Tapping or bringing an iPhone near the accessory shows a hint in the Dynamic Island, including an "Open Controls" button that opens the accessory's controls. Cameras and doorbells show a camera viewer instead. iPhones without a Dynamic Island, and iPads, receive a 30-second notification in its place. Users can disable the behavior in the Home app after setup.
Behind the scenes, the accessory writes an "apple-deviceid" into the Matter payload on its NFC tag, which helps iOS identify it when tapped. It also broadcasts a Bluetooth Low Energy advertisement for Apple Proximity Control. The code first appeared in iOS 27.0. Early versions offered three presentation options, while iOS 27.2 uses an on/off toggle. In the current build, the enabled state matches Ask to Launch, which shows the hint or notification and deep links into the control card.
Home's helper text reads: "Show controls when you bring your iPhone near your accessory." Because the feature is still in active development across beta releases, its final behavior may change. The Dynamic Island code in iOS 27.2 was first reported by @aaronp613 and @MacRumors.
Source: AppleInsider · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing