** The HomeKit Thread **

Completely agree. It sucks.

I ask it simple stuff and it fails.
Can't even give me train times in London.

Exactly. Siri was a revolution when it was debuted back with the iPhone 4S but they could've done so much more since then to develop it but haven't.

Now with Google Home/Alexa Siri is really isn't good enough currently to make it central to the function of a new product it needs to be smarter......and work really well!
 
Aye, it is slightly disconcerting, and one of the reasons I haven't bought a home assistant device yet (albeit just a minor one in the back of my mind, main reason is cost and I'm not sure I'd get much use out of it yet)

They say it's only every listening for the 'wake' word, and only then does it record your command and send it to their servers.

But once the device is in your home, you've literally installed a very high quality bug inside your house. I have no doubt that if any government really wanted to gain access to it they could.

It's not like I have anything to hide, it's just a slightly creepy feeling and reminiscent of the telescreens in 1984.

I'm not sure how much I trust the direction the UK government is going in regards to personal privacy and protection what with the likes of the snooper's charter passing not so long ago.

There have been cases where the authorities have requested the data captured by them too

https://www.engadget.com/2016/12/27/amazon-echo-audio-data-murder-case/
 
Exactly. Siri was a revolution when it was debuted back with the iPhone 4S but they could've done so much more since then to develop it but haven't.

Now with Google Home/Alexa Siri is really isn't good enough currently to make it central to the function of a new product it needs to be smarter......and work really well!

It feels like Apple have fallen a long way behind. The Siri implementation on the Mac is a good example - utterly pointless, as it is so limited.
 
It feels like Apple have fallen a long way behind. The Siri implementation on the Mac is a good example - utterly pointless, as it is so limited.

I'm really hoping they put this right with the next versions of macOS and iOS it's one of my wish list items from WWDC next month. If they rumours about a dedicated Siri speaker are true then it's a must for that product to be a success, in my view.
 
Not sure I'd trust a house alarm hooked up as an IOT device. How do most normal new alarms work these days? Plugged directly into a phone line to ping the security company?
 
Yeah, there's just too much that could go wrong. You wouldn't necessarily want it to always activate when you'r x meters away from the house in case there's still other people inside the house. Or what if you forget your phone and it doesn't turn on.

Does it really make life any easier to say 'Alarm deactivate' than it is to punch in a few numbers?

It looks like the wireless ones from 3 years ago were hackable

https://www.wired.com/2014/07/hacking-home-alarms/


Yeahhh.....no thanks.

Side note: Apple home siri speaker on the way, possibly next week

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...dy-siri-speaker-in-bid-to-rival-google-amazon
 
Interesting article on 9to5mac about whats new with HomeKit in iOS 11: https://9to5mac.com/2017/06/07/homekit-ios-11-sprinklers-faucets-qr-code-nfc-authentication/

  • Adding support for Sprinklers, Faucets and Speakers for Multiroom Audio via Airplay 2
  • Occupancy and Duration Triggers
  • Pairing new accessories via QR Codes and NFC
  • Software authentication & Self-certification
  • Improved Latency for Bluetooth LE Accessories

For me the most interesting points there are Software authentication & Self-certification, if I'm reading this correctly this allows support for HomeKit to be added to existing products via software without the need to include the hardware authentication chip Apple previously required! If this is correct, I'm really hoping that this could potentially open the door for NEST to offer HomeKit support for their products. Would love to have official support for Nest Thermostat and Protects in the Home app, not to forget the ability to use Siri to set temperatures.

The other good thing is Improved Latency for Bluetooth LE accessories, I have a few Elgato Eve plugs and they can take a few seconds to react to a command so anything that can speed that up will be very welcome indeed.
 
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Went with tado. They already have homekit support, have zoned heating if you buy extra valves and it can adjust your heating depending on your phones location (if you want it to). Also i wasn't replacing a wired thermostat so needed a remote connection to my radiator, which is available on tado. Not sure about that on nest.

For me tado seemed like a better all round package for roughly the same cost. It just isn't as pretty...
 
Went with tado. They already have homekit support, have zoned heating if you buy extra valves and it can adjust your heating depending on your phones location (if you want it to). Also i wasn't replacing a wired thermostat so needed a remote connection to my radiator, which is available on tado. Not sure about that on nest.

For me tado seemed like a better all round package for roughly the same cost. It just isn't as pretty...

Tado looks great and has really developed well since it's launch and has the added benefit of HomeKit.

I'm a Nest owner (Thermostat and Smoke Alarms) since it launched in the UK and have been really happy with it and would be reluctant to change. If Nest would adopt HomeKit either with a Hardware Bridge product or now using the recently announced Software Authentication method it would be fantastic and make a lot of existing Nest customers very happy. I'd probably invest in a Nest Cam if it happened.

I think it's safe to assume the relationship between Apple and Nest isn't great though, Apple no longer stock Nest products but if Apple and Amazon can patch things up then hopefully the same thing can happen between Apple and Nest.
 
Good news on the Ikea Tradfri lights, sounds like Ikea is committed to rolling out official HomeKit support by the end of the year.

https://www.macrumors.com/2017/05/23/ikea-homekit-support-tradfri-smart-lighting/

Ikea has come good on it's promise and added official HomeKit support for Tradfri lights. New multicoloured lights are also due to launch later this year in October.

Owners just simply need to update the firmware on the Tradfri hub by telling it to check for an update.

https://www.macrumors.com/2017/08/10/ikea-tradfri-smart-lighting-supports-homekit/
https://9to5mac.com/2017/08/10/ikea...date-new-multi-color-bulbs-coming-in-october/

EDIT: It appears IKEA has jumped the gun with announcing this. They are now saying it'll be by the end of the year!
 
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