“Apple’s introduction of HomeKit in iOS 8 two years ago was in many ways what we had been waiting for in the home automation world — a unifying framework that would signal a departure from the proprietary apps, devices, and ecosystems that we’d all come to know, and would take us into a place where we can build out smart homes from a collection of the best accessories available from a wide variety of vendors,” Jesse Hollington writes for iLounge.
“It’s been a long road from HomeKit’s initial debut, with many accessory makers taking a while to get on board, and Apple being slow to add support for new types of devices, and new capabilities,” Hollington writes. “With iOS 10, however, the HomeKit ecosystem is finally maturing, with Apple’s own Home app, support for a wealth of new devices and automations, and a critical mass of accessories that users can now work with.”
“However, with dozens of HomeKit-compatible accessories now availble to equip your home, where do you start? What are the areas you should be looking at and what are the best products?” Hollington writes. “To help you get started, we’ve gone through our collection of HomeKit accessory reviews and singled out our top choices for you across the five most significant home automation categories.”
Covered in the full article:
• Best Outlet — Incipio CommandKit Wireless Smart Outlet
• Best Lighting Solution — Lutron Caséta Wireless
• Best Thermostat — ecobee3
• Best Door Lock — August Smart Lock
• Best Sensors — Elgato Eve Room & Weather
Much more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Remember: HomeKit for security.
How automated is your home? Have you gone beyond a smart thermostat, yet?
SEE ALSO:
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