iPhone with Nest

markwilliams82 · 26 Dec 2024 at 12:57

I’ve got an iPhone and my wife has now joined the iPhone family so instead of using google home on the phones to control home smart devices like hue lighting and nest cameras and door bells I was going to get the apple home app setup

I’ve got the hue lights working straight away but the Nest thermostat, camera and doorbell are not having it

The set up QR codes for the devices too don’t seem to get read by the Home app when adding a device

Any ideas ?

LiE · 26 Dec 2024 at 13:09

They aren’t compatible with HomeKit, being Google devices.

You’ll need a workaround like Starling hub https://www.starlinghome.io/

markwilliams82 · 26 Dec 2024 at 13:12

Thanks, was just looking at that but seemed to be getting mixed messages if the nest devices work ‘out the box’ with apple

Semple · 26 Dec 2024 at 13:19

If you don't mind a bit of tinkering I'd honestly be looking at Home Assistant which is the leading platform for home automation. Definitely wouldn't want to be paying $100 for a device just to link two technologies together.

markwilliams82 · 26 Dec 2024 at 15:15

The one I just saw was $99 so its not much cheaper?

andy_mk3 · 26 Dec 2024 at 15:22

markwilliams82 said:
The one I just saw was $99 so its not much cheaper?

You can run home assistant on pretty much anything, no need for specific hardware. If you’ve got an old PC laying around or a raspberry pi, or even a £20 Dell off eBay would do the trick.

Depends on whether you feel home assistant is something you want to get into or not though.

markwilliams82 · 26 Dec 2024 at 15:24

Thanks, I'd still need to buy and set up a raspberry pi or I presume have an old PC on 24/7 to set up and run?
As Starling is pretty much just add onto the network and set up it seems the easier option unless i'm missing something

BMox81 · 26 Dec 2024 at 19:53

We're an iPhone house but find no issues using the Google Home app. I'd stick with it tbh.

markwilliams82 · 26 Dec 2024 at 19:55

BMox81 said:
We're an iPhone house but find no issues using the Google Home app. I'd stick with it tbh.

If you want to use Siri for voice commands for google home though can you?

BMox81 · 26 Dec 2024 at 20:40

markwilliams82 said:
If you want to use Siri for voice commands for google home though can you?

I’ve got a full Google Smart Home setup in our house so no need to use Siri.

markwilliams82 · 26 Dec 2024 at 21:13

how are you getting on with the google smart home?
I don’t find some of the voice support that responsive

BMox81 · 26 Dec 2024 at 21:20

markwilliams82 said:
how are you getting on with the google smart home?
I don’t find some of the voice support that responsive

Yeah all good-we’re not using it for anything too advanced bar lights, the family calendar, the odd video call via Meet and timers but our two girls can do the commands with no issues (well there will always be the odd hang with a request) so it works for us.

Nice GH widget available to use as well.

LiE · 26 Dec 2024 at 21:51

We are an Apple household but use Google home. Nest doorbell and many Nest Mini/displays etc. My business also has 2 Nest cams so I can switch locations in the App and see what’s happening there.

markwilliams82 · 26 Dec 2024 at 23:15

From experiences since having an iPhone, I’ve found that they’re more responsive when using voice commands

The google hub can be hit and miss whilst it can sometimes say devices are offline