Apple could unveil a new operating system at its Worldwide Developers Conference this month.

On Wednesday, the Cupertino company posted a job listing for a senior iOS engineer working on Apple Music. As first spotted by Javier Lacort, the listing included two mentions of homeOS, presumably a yet-to-be-announced operating system. Apple has since removed homeOS from the listing and replaced it with HomePod. Here's what the full passage originally said: 

"You'll get to work with system engineers across Apple, learning the inner-workings of iOS, watchOS, tvOS and homeOS, and optimizing your code for performance in ways only Apple can. Come join our team and make a real difference for music lovers worldwide," the posting read, according to MacRumors. Later, it stated: "The ‌Apple Music‌ Frameworks team owns the technology stack that enables the system-integrated ‌Apple Music‌ experience on all of our mobile platforms: iOS, watchOS, and homeOS." 

There is a lot to unpack here. First, it's possible Apple could announce homeOS at WWDC 2021 as a new operating system for smart home devices. But, as 9to5Mac noted, Apple's smart speakers, the HomePod and HomePod mini, both run a variant of tvOS, the operating system also used to power its newer Apple TV set-top boxes. Perhaps the speakers are due their own OS.

Apple's developer conference starts next week. It's also expected to announce updates to its other operating systems, including iOS 15 and MacOS 12, so a homeOS announcement wouldn't be a complete shock.

For more WWDC 2021 rumours, see our guide.