The Starling Home Hub is a core part of my HomeKit experience, as it bridges my Nest Thermostat and Google Home Mini to HomeKit and AirPlay, respectively. One notable feature that’s been a wishlist item for many Starling customers is Nest support for Apple’s HomeKit Secure Video. Now, with the latest 11.0 firmware update, a handful of Google Nest cameras are now compatible with HKSV.
HomeKit Secure Video enables a suite of additional tools for supported HomeKit cameras, including recording clips to iCloud, downloading and sharing event video clips in the Home app, Activity Zones, Face Recognition, and notifications for animals/people/packages, etc. While it took Apple a few years to see adoption, there are now suitable compatible cameras from eufy, Arlo, Aqara, Eve, etc.
The new update to Starling Home Hub supports the 2021 model Nest Cam (wired), 2021 model Nest Cam (battery) when connected to a power source, and the 2021 model Nest Cam with Floodlight. However, keep in mind that a Nest Aware subscription is still required for these cameras, so you can’t exclusively use HomeKit Secure Video.
Starling plans to support the 2022 Nest Doorbell (wired) when it launches later this year. Unfortunately, the 2021 battery-powered doorbell isn’t compatible, nor is anything pre-2021. The cameras can still have live audio and video in the Home app, but there is no recording option.
If you’re already an owner of a Starling Home Hub, the version 11 firmware is available now. So, head over to the setup page and start the update on your local network. If you haven’t purchased the Starling Home Hub yet, it’s a one-time $99 purchase directly from Starling’s website.
HomeKit Secure Video requires an iCloud+ subscription. With the 5GB plan, you get a single camera. The 200GB plan adds support for five cameras. The 2 TB plan enables unlimited cameras.
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