Whether you rent or own, there are some chores you have to complete on a near-constant basis. The good news is, you can get some help from robots and apps in your Apple Home.

I’m a firm believer in optimizing when possible. If a robot, machine, or gadget exists to speed up or even remove the need for certain tasks, I’m going to implement it.

While we’re still waiting on a robot that can fold your laundry and put it away, there are plenty of robots available that can take on your chore list. Whether it’s mowing, mopping, or changing out the litter box, there’s something available.

I’m also going to discuss managing your Apple Home via apps, at least this time maintenance and stock-specific ones. While my approach leans into Apple apps, there are third-party options that offer interesting capabilities.

This is the fourth story I’ve written in the Owning an Apple Home series. The first covered moving, the second was about whole-home audio with HomePods, and the third was about smart home tech involving pets.

Let’s get into chores, robots, and maintenance in your Apple Home.

Let the robot do it

It may seem obvious, but having a robot step in and complete a chore for you is the ultimate luxury. Thankfully, you don’t have to be filthy rich for the privilege.

You do have to be careful which robots you purchase, though, because they may not meet your expectations if they’re too cheap. Sure, there are plenty of sub-$1,000 options, but they’re not always going to be up to the task.

The way I have approached choosing the right robots so far is to look for basic capabilities like LiDAR navigation, object recognition, and overall performance. You shouldn’t be buying a bare-minimum robot the same way you probably wouldn’t buy the bare-minimum refrigerator or dishwasher.

Robot vacuum and mops

Matter works with robot vacuums and mops. Apple has adopted the Matter version that allows this, but there are very few options available.

The Narwal robot can easily clean floors and carpets

The Narwal Freo X Ultra that I use in my home isn’t Matter-compatible and won’t ever be. However, the Narwal app is good enough for the manual controls I need to have it occasionally clean the common areas.

Unlike my previous home, this one has a ledge between the living room, kitchen, and den, so the robot is confined to one half of the home. It can’t scale the ledge, and I have no interest in installing a ramp.

However, that doesn’t make the robot any less useful. It can clean all of the bedrooms, hallway, and living room without interference.

I manually sweep and mop the stone-tiled kitchen, and the den is so small the effort to clean the floor is negligible. I share this to say that a robot helping with any amount of cleaning is worth it.

There are lots of options for indoor robots, and while I won’t be making any direct recommendations today, I will say the $800 to $1,200 range should be good enough for most needs. There are tiny robots that are great for single rooms or single-purpose cleaning, but I haven’t investigated those.

It’s easy to say that a robot vacuum and mop is as essential as any other appliance in your home in 2026. There’s lots of silly marketing speak around these machines, but one thing is definitely true — they’ll take care of cleaning the floors so you don’t have to.

Robot lawn mowers

I recently published a review of my first functional robot lawn mower. There was no telling how it would perform considering my first foray into the space ended disastrously.

Mova LiDAX Ultra Lawn Mower

Thankfully, my yard in the new home isn’t what you’d call challenging. It’s a flat backyard and a 90% flat front yard with a slope off of one edge.

The Mova mower I tested handled everything without issue other than the hill and one dip in the front yard. After those issues though, it learned and didn’t get stuck again.

I’m willing to bet that some of you reading this have never even considered a robot mower. Let me tell you that it is a lifesaver, especially if you don’t particularly care for mowing or have severe allergies.

Don’t pay a mowing company, just buy a little robot and set it loose weekly for perfectly trimmed grass each week. It can sometimes roll over a weed and leave it standing, and some corners are a challenge, but you’d want to weed-eat after the mower anyway.

The key here is that instead of mowing for an hour or two each week, you have to weed-eat for ten minutes every two weeks. That’s it, chore complete.

Just trust me when I say don’t get tempted by the cheaper options. You don’t want to have to lay a boundary wire no matter how much money it saves you.

Litter robots

Now, if you’ve been reading this series, you know I’ve already discussed the Litter Robot 5 in my pets edition. However, I have to mention it here because it is one of the best chore eliminators I’ve encountered.

The litter robot takes over yet another undesirable chore

Sure, mowing sucks, and mopping isn’t exactly a delight, but cleaning the litter box is a universally hated task. My Litter Robot 5 not only handles the task, it keeps things clean and fresh without any human intervention beyond taking out the trash.

I have three cats, which means topping off the litter box and changing the trash bag about once a week. That’s it.

It’s kind of a genius product when you sit and think about it. It’s just a giant wheel with a motor, a sifting tray, and a big hole to the actual litter waste.

Sometimes the more simple solutions are the best. Really, don’t scoop your cat’s business when you can have a robot do it for you.

Air purifiers

I know an air purifier isn’t a robot, but I wanted to throw this in here since we’re talking chores and cleanliness. A well-placed air purifier can make all the difference in terms of a space’s comfort, odor, and allergen levels.

Air purifiers can keep your home air feeling fresh and work quietly in the background

Since I have three cats and allergy medication can only go so far, an air purifier helps keep things under control. I’ve got the Smartmi E1 hanging right above the Litter Robot to keep the den nice and fresh.

It’s heavily discounted and requires proprietary filters, so I’m a little concerned that it may be discontinued soon, so keep that in mind.

I’ve got another air purifier in my bedroom, the AirVersa Purelle, to keep the dust and cat dander levels in the air down. Thankfully, for both units, it’s very much a set it and forget it technology.

Our house stays fairly clean thanks to the other robots doing their tasks, but the extra bit of help from the air purifiers keeps things feeling extra fresh.

Outside the tech

I wanted to have a small diversion from tech-related talk here to say that maintaining a clean and healthy home goes beyond your little robot helpers. I’ve worked hard to ensure our home is free from toxic chemicals and harsh cleaning agents too.

I don’t want to get too hippie-dippy here, but seriously, we should all stop using those expensive and toxic cleaners like Windex, Clorox, and others. They’re packed with forever chemicals, staining agents, and irritants that only replace the mess with what is basically a slow-moving chemical spill.

We’ve gone all-natural for our cleaning supplies. There are plenty of options out there, but we’ve tried solutions from Branch Basics and Pure and Gentle.

I can also highly recommend the non-toxic air and fabric freshening scents from Grow Fragrance.

Another aspect of maintaining a clean home is ensuring chores are easy to complete. I invested in a Simplehuman trash can that has the trash bag refills readily available via a slot in the back of the can.

There are a million ways to maintain a clean, healthy, and happy home. Robots can cut down on how much time you spend cleaning, the right supplies can keep your home free of toxins, and finally, apps can help you manage everything.

Managing things via apps

Now, I’m all in on first-party Apple apps, so I primarily rely on Apple Reminders and Notes. However, there is a ton of great smart home management apps in the App Store.

Managing your Apple Home in Apple apps like Home, reminders, and Notes

I’ll probably do a story on third-party apps in general later, so I won’t get too into that today. Instead, I’ll highlight a few obvious apps related to maintenance that go a bit further than a standard reminder.

For Apple Reminders, it is the perfect place for tracking things like when you last changed a filter, when the next order for trash bags is about to go through, or just managing a grocery list.

I know there are dedicated apps that are better at each of these functions, but I like having everything in one space. I’ve set up a Reminders list just for tracking subscriptions and recurring purchases, for example.

I’ve even created reminders for which rooms I should give a specific deep clean each day. Really, Reminders is a great catch-all for anything that needs to be done on a repeating basis.

Apple Notes has become a haven for home purchase wish lists and maintenance guides. I’ve got a shared list just for what cleaning supplies we use, where to order them from, and cleaning guides for each.

Of course, third-party apps go much further.

• HomeBatteries: see the battery level of devices like sensors, locks, and other reportable devices in one place
• HomeLog: view live network conditions to troubleshoot a product’s connection
• Homepass: manage your HomeKit and Matter codes in one place

I used to use an app called Directive for logging filter changes and such, but it hasn’t been updated in five years. Other apps exist for this, but I find that Reminders is just fine for this task.

If you’ve got a shared Reminders list with your spouse, kids, or roommate, you can take things further by assigning different tasks to individuals. Reminders is a great place to manage chore lists even though it isn’t a well-advertised feature.

Where Apple Home should pick up the slack

The Apple Home app is seriously lacking in design and functionality. I agree with my colleague Oliver here. Apple Home needs an overhaul.

Apple Home needs an upgrade

When the smart home was just entering the mainstream around 2014, Apple Home made sense. It was a utilitarian app that simply showed what you had and gave you a button to press.

Today, we’re so far beyond that functionality.

Apple Home is behind on adopting the latest Matter standards. It doesn’t have icons for many products you can add. There are no troubleshooting or maintenance tracking functions, and some things feel absolutely obtuse and arbitrary.

It’s time for a change.

Everything I’ve mentioned in this story today should be managed in the Home app. Chore reminders and assignments, robot schedules, filter replacements, and even weather alerts should all be in Apple Home.

The background for each room doesn’t even sync across devices or to other users.

Apple Home is a mess that needs to be cleaned up. I shouldn’t need a third-party app for viewing battery levels or managing HomeKit codes.

WWDC 2026 didn’t address these complaints, but that doesn’t mean Apple won’t upgrade the home experience at any time. There are rumors of new home-focused products that could be announced at any time, which could warrant a new Apple Home app launch.