What HomeView does, it does very well, yet there are compromises and so many use cases where an old iPad would do much better. Here's what you can do to get most of the HomeView experience.

Apple got it exactly right when it determined that a device that would control your smart home could also be a simple focal point in the kitchen or the den. But Apple is wrong thinking that a static 6-inch square screen is enough for this.

That's especially obvious to me since I already cook using my 13-inch iPad Pro to display recipes. It's true that this is far too powerful an iPad to just have sitting there on the counter, but it is exceptionally good at the job.

For one thing, the screen size means I can check ingredients lists even when I'm at our fridge across the room.…