HomeKit Weekly

In my house, I always want everything to smell fresh. I am constantly lighting candles, spraying Febreze, and other types of air fresheners. With three small children running around our house, there is usually an odd smell from somewhere that I am trying to cover up. When I came across the VOCOlinc Flowerbud, I knew I had to try it as a way to automate the process. I know some people believe essential oils are as good as medicine, and while I am not going to debate that, I am more focused on providing a pleasing smell in the main area of my house.

Adaptive lighting in HomeKit was one of the new features from Apple in iOS 14. While it took a while for manufacturers to begin rolling it out, I’ve finally been able to spend a few weeks with it. It’s another way that HomeKit is providing experiences to automate your life for the better.

Some HomeKit projects are about convenience, some are about security, and others are just for fun. The Philips Hue Play lights certainly fit in the last category of HomeKit products.

One of the significant changes I’ve made to my HomeKit setup this fall is adding a “second home.” No, I didn’t buy a second home, but I added a new home in HomeKit at work. When the HomePod mini was announced, I took my full-size HomePod to work in favor of two of the HomePod minis at home. Once I added that HomePod, I started slowly taking a few HomeKit devices to work, and I have a full-blown HomeKit at work.

It’s the Christmas season, so many of us are decorating our homes with Christmas trees, outdoor lighting, and other items to put our homes in the Christmas spirit. I’ve been using HomeKit to simplify the operation of our Christmas decorations for years, so read on for some tips, tricks, and essential gear to buy.

HomeKit cameras, for the longest time, were like Bigfoot. We heard all about them, but they were nowhere to be found. Now, there are countless options for integrating cameras into your HomeKit experience. One of the simplest options is the new Aqara G2H camera.

HomeKit outlets are an easy way to turn an existing appliance into one that works with your smart home setup. What if you need more than one? HomeKit surge protectors are the easiest way to turn multiple devices into ones that work with HomeKit. I’ve purchased a handful of them and now have my favorites, so read on if you want to learn about the best HomeKit surge protectors.

I’ve got quite the HomeKit set up at this point as I have over 50 devices on my Wi-Fi network at any given time. A few weeks ago, I woke up on a Tuesday morning with motion alerts on my eufy cameras. This alert is not uncommon as there is a neighborhood cat that frequently walks around our porch at night. Little did I know that once I checked the alerts, my day would get a lot more complicated. Read on to learn how HomeKit likely prevented my car from being stolen.

One of the headline features of the HomePod mini is the new intercom system where you can send messages to different rooms in the house. Intercom will work across HomePods, as well as iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. As much as I am looking forward to trying out the intercom system, as a dad of three, I need less noise in our house, so I am really enjoying using Signals for HomeKit.

Philips Hue is the gold standard of HomeKit bulbs, and I am delighted with the ones I own. They’re bright, rarely need to be rebooted to fix a disconnection, and offer many color combinations. On the other hand, they’re somewhat expensive since it requires a purchase of a hub. If you want a low-cost way to switch over to HomeKit bulbs, check out these two options.

Over the summer, my school did a significant remodeling project, and as a result of it, I moved into a brand new office. One of the ways I decided to make it my own was to begin adding HomeKit products. Of course, I started with a HomePod as my HomeKit hub, and the very first product I added next was the VOCOlinc light strips.

Now that it’s fall here in the US, my family is spending a lot of time outdoors at night. After bracing through the 90 degree days of August and the first half of September, we’re undoubtedly enjoying the cooler 70 degree days. One of my favorite things to do at night is come out to the screened porch and read something from Apple Books, listen to an audiobook on Prologue, or even watch some TV. One of the recent addition to my HomeKit setup is the Eve Flare, and it’s been a perfect addition to our porch.

HomeKit adds many benefits to a home, but oftentimes, it can handle mounting products on the wall, above the door, or even swapping out a doorbell. There are plenty of HomeKit projects that work well in apartments or homes you are renting, though. Read on to find out the best HomeKit products for apartments and rentals.

The HomeKit doorbell market has turned into somewhat of a joke. Countless companies have announced support for them in the future, but very few have delivered it. Currently, Yobi and Robin ProLine are the only two options that are shipping. Countless others have announced upcoming products or upcoming firmware updates for existing products to add HomeKit compatibility, but very few companies have. The Yobi doorbell is a great option, but it lacks a way to record. Robin is a nice product, but it’s costly and requires power over ethernet to operate. What if I told you the most economical HomeKit doorbell was Nest?

I consider myself a technology enthusiast, but I am not someone who wants to maintain a complicated setup. I previously wrote about the Starling Home Hub and how it turned the Nest Homebridge project into a turnkey solution. This product is my ideal type of setup. It’s a turnkey solution that accomplishes something very technical. Homebridge is a growing platform, though. There are countless other projects going to make all of your smart home products HomeKit compatible. Suppose you want to take advantage of the growing Homebridge ecosystem (2,000 plugins) without the hassle. In that case, you’ll be delighted to hear that HOOBS is available as a Homebridge in a box setup.

After my experience installing the OneLink Safe and Sound, I decided to expand my OneLink setup by replacing another smoke detector with OneLink’s Smoke Detector and Carbon Monoxide detector.

My family has never used overhead lights unless we have company over. We prefer natural light and lamps. A few years ago, I swapped out all of our bulbs to LED light bulbs, and I invested in HomeKit compatible outlet switches as a way to control them from the Home app, HomePod with Siri, and HomeKit automations. As part of my outdoor lighting project I did earlier this year, I invested in a Philips Hue Hub with the Hue outdoor floodlights. After a few months of using them, I decided that I was ready to begin converting my switched outlets to Hue bulbs.

As someone who loves technology, it’s easy to get excited about new things. I love to tinker with the latest gadgets, but I know for those who aren’t into this stuff, that seems like a nightmare. My wife doesn’t get excited about new technology, though. As long as it makes her life easier, she’s content. She wants it to work. Right after Christmas of 2019, I purchased the 3rd generation August Smart Lock Pro. Since then we’ve absolutely loved every aspect of it. A few weeks ago, I decided to upgrade to the 4th generation August Wi-Fi Smart Lock. Read on to hear more about August Wi-Fi Smart Lock, and why it’s worth upgrading to the latest generation.

Aqara is a manufacturer that’s pretty new on my radar in terms of smart home support, so I was excited to get to use their devices and see how they work with HomeKit. This week, I want to take a look at the Aqara Smart Home Start Kit and the Aqara Water Sensor to see how easy the setup is, how to connect it to HomeKit, and how it works day-to-day.

After years of not much news around HomeKit cameras, it seems like we’re getting new cameras regularly now, and it’s great to see the products begin to finally mature. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been testing the new eufy Security 2K Indoor Cam Pan and Tilt camera. I also have been testing the eufy Security 2K Indoor Cam and recommend you check out Chance Miller’s review of the product as well to decide which one is best for you.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Because my entire home is filled with HomeKit products, I often forget that some people are getting started with HomeKit and other smart home platforms, so I wanted to take some time this week to explain some basics of how to get started with HomeKit and what products should be your first purchases. Read on to learn more about HomeKit, and what items should be your first purchases in your Homekit starter kit.
Expand
Expanding
Close