“In 2015, the first HomeKit products with Apple’s MFi (‘Made for iPhone’) certification went on sale or up for pre-order.,” Jenny McGrath reports for Digital Trends. “The certification ensures that these smart-home devices come with an authentication chip and have undergone rigorous testing to get Apple’s official seal of approval. At the Worldwide Developers Conference in June 2016, the company announced its app, called Home, which rolled out during the latter half of last year. Home lets you control all your HomeKit-compatible devices through the app, or via your iPhone’s Control Center.”
“Apple’s first big partners for its smart-home platform included Philips, Haier, and Honeywell,” McGrath reports. “Devices from these manufacturers have slowly trickled out since then. ”
“Now you can ask Siri to turn on your Philips Hue lights (they can also check the air quality!) or check to see if your August smart lock is secure. If you want to control these remotely, however, you’ll need an Apple TV to act as a bridge,” McGrath reports. “On a recent quarterly earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook shared how he uses HomeKit in his own house: ‘When I leave the house, a simple tap on my iPhone turns the lights off, adjusts the thermostat down and locks the doors. When I return to my house in the evening as I near my home, the house prepares itself for my arrival automatically by using a simple geofence. This level of home automation was unimaginable just a few years ago, and it’s here today with iOS and HomeKit.'”
Read more, and see the list of all the HomeKit-compatible devices, here.
MacDailyNews Take: Nothing is as secure as Apple HomeKit. Not even close.
Home automation is still in its infancy, but Apple is already teaming with large homebuilders, including Brookfield Residential, KB Home, Lennar Homes and R&F Properties, which are now integrating many HomeKit devices into new homes.
SEE ALSO:
Wishlist for Apple’s Siri Speaker: Hi-Fi audio, multi-user control, HomeKit, and more – May 8, 2017
How to configure your 4th-gen Apple TV as a HomeKit hub – January 10, 2017
The best products for building a smart home with Apple’s HomeKit – November 10, 2016
DDoS attack: Apple’s HomeKit for a safer smarthome – October 24, 2016
Honeywell unveils Apple HomeKit-compatible Lyric T5 Wi-Fi thermostat – September 27, 2016
Google’s flaky Nest thermostat shakes users’ trust in the Internet of Things – January 19, 2016
Google’s Nest thermostat bug leaves users cold, angry – January 14, 2016
Honeywell announces ‘Lyric Round’ smart thermostat with Apple HomeKit integration – January 5, 2016
Apple HomeKit-compatible thermostat Ecobee closes in on Google’s Nest – September 28, 2015
Apple pulls Google’s Nest thermostat from stores with launch of HomeKit-compatible Ecobee 3 – July 23, 2015
First Apple-certified HomeKit-compliant devices launch – June 2, 2015
Google engineer trashes Tony Fadell’s precious Nest smoke alarm – February 19, 2015
With HomeKit and Honeywell’s Lyric, a Nest acquisition by Apple would have been foolish – June 18, 2014
Will Apple’s Internet of Things vision hurt a beautiful idea? With HomeKit, Apple promises easy home automation – June 6, 2014
Smart thermostat war heats up as Apple-partner Honeywell takes aim at Google’s Nest – June 13, 2014
Honeywell takes dead aim at Google’s Nest with new iPhone-compatible Lyric smart thermostat – June 10, 2014
Google to SEC: We could serve ads on thermostats, refrigerators, car dashboards, and more – May 21, 2014
Dead to me: Apple’s Schiller ‘unfollows’ Tony Fadell and Nest after Google acquisition – January 18, 2014
I like the echo dot more for home kit type stuff. Alexa is pretty responsive and I don’t have to pull out my phone.
That’s a pretty pitiful list of products compared to other hubs. This is just another hobby that Apple will abandon after it gets clobbered in this market. They are already far behind.
There is NO WAY i’d buy homekit just to spend a premium dollar and then have to do it all over again, because Homekit supports so few and more expensive devices. I’m in the process of installing z-wave devices in my home. Big selection and decent prices.
I have installed the Indigo app (from Indigo Domotics) on my home’s Mac mini server, which runs the Insteon, X-10 and Z-Wave devices in my home. I’ve also installed the HomeKit software bridge (third-party freeware) for Indigo, which permits me to control EVERYTHING that Indigo controls via a “Hey, Siri” command or other HomeKit interfaces.
The best of both worlds.
One big benefit on HomeKit is that it is all local network controlled. There are no third party servers with access to your devices or the availability to be hacked. As for z-wave or zigby? Those protocols will be around for sometime but the future is wifi and bluetooth.
As for “premium dollar” I have to disagree. I have 4 koogeek wifi plug modules that also do power monitoring and I have paid $25 or less for each. Now I did spend up for my Schlege door lock (but read the reports on cheap door locks and security). I also paid up for my camera but yet again security was a major concern.
Overall I don’t understand anyone would want a device that needs an external server to operate. It just makes no sense. HomeKit is the only way.
By your first statement, are you saying that for the same products, HomeKit competiors are not local network controlled? Or are you saying that an option exists for them that doesn’t for HomeKit?
I’m intrigued by the possibilities of home automation, but if my bathroom scale were ever to tell my refrigerator to shut me out, that could create a problem.