Apple now lets you use your iPhone to control your connected home devices even when you're away from your house

Today at Apple's Worldwide Developer's conference, Craig Federighi the company's SVP of Software Engineering announced a few notable updates to its connected home program HomeKit.

For one, the iOS controlled hub for connected devices added new things that it can control. These include:

• Window shades
• Motion sensors
• Carbon monoxide sensors
• Home security systems

This means that users' iOS devices are now able to control even more items using just the HomeKit app.

Even bigger, however, is news that HomeKit is now able to be accessed remotely, allowing the user to connect to the house even when they're on the go. This means that users whose home devices are controlled via the iOS app can keep control even when not connected to the home's network.

For example, if a user forgets to lock their doors, using iCloud and HomeKit they can remotely lock the door.

The HomeKit announcements are necessarily earth shattering, but they do show Apple working to make its connected home backend more of a draw to the everyday consumer.

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