HomeKit Weekly

My Kids have become quite used to using HomeKit in our home as the years have gone by. A HomeKit smart plug controls their white noise machines, we run HomeKit compatible air filters in their rooms, and we’ve recently been experimenting with fun lighting options for “night lights.” I’ve discovered one of the best HomeKit night light options, and it’s the Cololight Hexagon Light Works.

Aqara, one of the best ways to build a HomeKit powered smart home for low cost has a new way to get started for even less upfront expense. The new Aqara E1 hub features a compact design with high installation flexibility and can be bridged to HomeKit.

There is no shortage of HomeKit lamps on the market, and they’ve been a big hit at my house with my family. My kids love the multi-colored lights, I love the ability to turn them off from Siri using HomePods, and they are fairly inexpensive. My new favorite lamp is the YEELight HomeKit Lamp, which is the perfect size and shape for a bedside table.

My wife and I have recently finalized the plans for our new home, so I am now able to think through how the HomeKit setup will work thoroughly. I plan to completely rebuild the “Home” to eliminate any software “crud” accumulated over the years. The first aspect I’ve been thinking through is what kind of cameras I want to use. I’ve debated using Nest cameras for outdoor use and bridging them to HomeKit using the Starling Home Hub. For indoor use, I am having a hard look at the ONVIS HomeKit Security Indoor Camera in my current home to see how it will work in my new home.

Halloween is almost here, and HomeKit provides a lot of fun ways to automate your Halloween decorations to offer a little “cyber spooking” to trick or treaters as they come knocking.

Onvis has been a long-time HomeKit device manufacturer, but I’ve just recently started using its products. One of the easiest ways to build out a smart home is by adding motion sensors in your home to automate lightning based on if someone is in the room or not. This week, I am looking at the Onvis HomeKit Motion Sensor.

A few months ago, I reviewed Qingping’s e-ink temperature tracking device. I loved the look of it, as it didn’t follow the trend of high-resolution screens. For the past few weeks, I’ve had Qingping’s Air Monitor Lite, and it brings another unique style to HomeKit.

I’ve written about a handful of HomeKit compatible light strips in the past few months, but a new model looks to be the best yet. The Onvis Kameleon Smart Light Strips bring some unique features to HomeKit that are worth checking out.

The August Lock is one of my favorite HomeKit devices I own, so when I came across the Yale Smart Cabinet Lock, it was something I was immediately curious to try to see how it worked with HomeKit, as I’ve not used an indoor lock before.

Since I’ve started working from home full-time as the Senior Digital Web and Marketing Manager for Cribl, I’ve had to rethink my desk set up in the short term. My wife and I are currently in the home building process, so this setup isn’t permanent, but it’s what I have for now. A few weeks ago, I added the HomeKit compatible Meross Smart LED Floor Lamp to my home office, and it’s become the perfect way to brighten up my video calls.

About a year ago, I did a review of HOOBS, which is an out-of-the-box solution for running a Homebridge environment. Homebridge has become the centralized platform for connecting devices that don’t natively support HomeKit to Apple’s platform. There are countless other projects going to make all of your smart home products HomeKit compatible. HOOBS 4 is a recently released software update that makes it an even better place to run Homebridge

I frequently review Eve products for HomeKit because I’ve grown to appreciate their support for Thread and being very privacy-focused. One of their products I am just getting around to using is the Eve Aqua with Thread support.

Weather plays a huge part in the automation of your home. From understanding when to heat and cool your home to running the sprinklers at optimal temperatures, being able to drill down with your home’s actual temperature will be a handy feature. Over the past month, I’ve been using the new Eve Weather as yet another data point in understanding my home’s weather.

I’ve been working my way through all of Eve’s products sold in the US, and I am continually amazed by its tight integration with HomeKit and reliable products. If Apple planned on buying a vendor to build first-party HomeKit products, Eve should be at the top of the list. A recent addition to my office was the Eve Room indoor air quality monitor.

HomeKit surge protectors are a popular way to add HomeKit support to multiple appliances at the same time. Many of them allow you to individually control each outlet using the Home app, Siri, or an automation. This week, I am looking at the Energy Strip as a HomeKit option for power strips and built-in energy monitoring.

Aqara has been a great option for people starting out with HomeKit, as their starter kits provide a low-cost way to add a number of HomeKit-compatible products all at once. Once you add a hub, you can add start adding water sensors, motions sensors, etc. Today, Aqara is unveiling a brand-new TVOC Air Quality Monitor with an e-ink design.

Meross has become one of the top Homekit manufacturers due to its expanding product portfolio and affordable price points. I’ve got a number of their previous products in my house including its smart strip, table lamp, outdoor plug, and dual smart plug. This week, I am looking at the new HomeKit compatible Meross LED light strips.

There is no shortage of smart outlet adaptors for HomeKit. In the past, I reviewed products from VOCOlinc, Eve (with Thread), Meross, Wemo, and more. The one thing they are all missing is support for dimmable bulbs. If you need that feature, keep reading to learn more about the Legrand Smart Switch.

HomeKit Secure Routers have had an interesting lifespan. The technology was first introduced at WWDC in 2019, but it was another year before any manufacturers started rolling out support. Even into 2021, there are still just a handful of Wi-Fi solutions that support HomeKit Secure Routers. One of the most recent additions is eero Pro 6 and eero 6. I recently decided I was ready to implement HomeKit Secure Router, so I purchased the Pro edition and went to work upgrading my network.

It’s summertime, so many people are sprucing up the outdoor parts of their homes with new flowers and mulch, but it’s also a great time of year to take on some new HomeKit projects to streamline aspects of your house, including adding some extra security.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been testing the Aqara M2 hub, and it’s a worthy addition to HomeKit. I’ve been using the original Aqara hub in my home for the better part of a year. I’ve done a complete reversal on my opinion on the use of hubs between devices and HomeKit. In my early days of using HomeKit, I preferred devices that worked on Wi-Fi or Bluetooth without using a hub. In practice, I’ve found that the devices attached to hubs are the most reliable in my HomeKit setup.