If you’ve ever tried to pin down exactly when "Iris" was released, you probably realized pretty quickly that the tech world has a weird obsession with that name. There isn't just one Iris. Depending on whether you're a smart home enthusiast, a vintage computer collector, or a photographer trying to manage clients, the answer changes completely.
Honestly, it’s a bit of a mess.
Let’s look at the most famous one first: the Lowe's Iris smart home system. It basically defined the early DIY home automation era before the big players like Amazon and Google took over the scene.
The Smart Home Era: Iris by Lowe's
Lowe’s officially launched the first generation of its Iris smart home platform in July 2012. Back then, the idea of controlling your thermostat or checking a door sensor from a smartphone was still sorta "sci-fi" for the average homeowner. They actually showed it off at CES in early 2014 to drum up more hype, but the initial rollout happened a couple of years prior.
It wasn't a one-and-done thing, though. Technology moves fast.
Lowe’s eventually realized their first version was getting clunky, so they launched a "Next Generation" Iris on November 16, 2015. This was a massive overhaul. They moved the whole backend to Microsoft Azure cloud services and redesigned the hardware to make it look less like industrial equipment and more like something you’d actually want in your living room.
Then things got rocky.
By late 2018, Lowe's decided they didn't want to be a tech company anymore. They tried to sell the division, failed, and eventually sent out the "death notice" emails. The entire Iris platform was officially shut down on March 31, 2019. They did a cool thing, though—they open-sourced the code under the name "Arcus," which allowed a small community of die-hard users to keep their hubs running on local servers.
The Silicon Graphics OG: SGI IRIS
If you’re a real computer history buff, "when was Iris released" takes you way back to the early 80s. Long before smartphones, Silicon Graphics (SGI) was building high-end workstations that were basically the Ferraris of the computing world.
The very first IRIS 1000 terminal shipped in November 1983.
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It wasn't a standalone computer at first; it was a terminal that had to be hooked up to a bigger VAX system. IRIS stood for "Integrated Raster Imaging System." By 1984, they released the IRIS 1400, which was their first true standalone workstation. These machines were the backbone of early 3D graphics in Hollywood. If you remember the original Jurassic Park or Terminator 2 CGI, those were built on the descendants of these IRIS machines.
The IRIS brand name was used until 1992 when SGI finally dropped the prefix and started calling their machines things like "Indigo" and "Indy."
Google’s Secret Project: The Glass That Wasn't
Then there’s the "Iris" that never actually got a public release date.
Project Iris was Google’s secretive attempt to fix the mistakes of Google Glass. Reports about it started leaking in January 2022. It was supposed to be a pair of augmented reality (AR) glasses that looked like normal frames but could do real-time translation and navigation.
Internal timelines had the Project Iris release date set for 2024.
But tech giants are fickle. After Apple announced the Vision Pro, Google's leadership reportedly panicked. They killed Project Iris in early 2023, shifting their focus to building the software (Android XR) for other companies' hardware instead. So, if you're waiting for Google's Iris glasses, you're waiting for a ghost.
The Other Namesakes
Because "Iris" sounds sophisticated and techy, it pops up everywhere else too. Here’s a quick rundown of the release dates for the "other" Irises you might be looking for:
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- Iris Accountancy Suite: This one is a giant in the UK. The company itself, IRIS Software Group, was founded in 1978, though their cloud-based platforms have rolling updates every few months.
- Iris Browser: A very early mobile web browser for Windows Mobile. The first version was released in 2008 by Torch Mobile, right before Blackberry (RIM) bought them and shut it down.
- Iris Works: If you’re a photographer, this is probably what you’re looking for. Their dedicated mobile app was released on January 22, 2020, designed to help creatives manage their business on the go.
- Consumer Cellular IRIS: For those looking for a simple phone, the IRIS Connect was released in September 2023, followed by the IRIS Easy Flip in May 2024.
Why It Matters Today
Knowing these dates helps clear up a lot of confusion, especially if you're buying "new old stock" hardware on eBay. Buying a Lowe’s Iris hub today is basically buying a paperweight unless you’re comfortable diving into the Arcus open-source community.
On the software side, the name Iris has shifted from being a specific "product" to a "brand." Whether it's the accountancy software or the photography management tool, these platforms now move on a SaaS (Software as a Service) model. They don't have one big "release date" anymore; they have "Winter Service Packs" or "Spring Updates." For example, the IRIS Accountancy Suite just pushed out a major update in January 2026 to handle the latest tax regulations.
If you are trying to troubleshoot a specific Iris device or software:
- Check the brand first. Is it Lowe's, SGI, or a specific app developer?
- Verify the hardware generation. A 2012 Iris hub won't work with 2015 "Next Gen" sensors.
- Look for the "Arcus" tag. If it's a smart home device, that’s your keyword for finding modern firmware.
The "Iris" name is clearly here to stay, even if the products using it come and go.