HomeKit Weekly

I’ve been a fan of Meross since they first came out with their early HomeKit products. They’re low cost, spread across a variety of product types, and generally work well. Meross recently released a new look Wi-Fi oil diffuser with HomeKit support, and it’s a great way to start getting your home ready for fall weather and soon – the Christmas holiday season. 

As I’ve been building a new home, one of the things I’ve had in the back of my mind is avoiding the permanent installation of as many things as possible that’ll be outdated as Wi-Fi networks and Bluetooth networks evolve. Just in the past few years, we’re seeing Matter and Thread become a key part of the smart home of the future as well. When I was meeting with my builder and electrician, we talked about what kind of outlets we wanted. They asked if I wanted to use some that had various smart home technologies built in like HomeKit or Alexa, and I said, no, give me “dumb outlets.” I really like using add-on adapters so I can easily upgrade them in the future. In preparation for our new outdoor patio, I picked up the Minoston Outdoor Smart Plug to handle automating the outdoor outlets.

When Apple announced HomeKit Secure Video, one of the first products to be desired by customers was a doorbell. Ring doorbells had become very popular, but customers wanted an option that integrated nicely with HomeKit and Apple products and provided an end-to-end encryption option for recording. The idea that a smart doorbell would be able to show you who was at your front door before even opening it up seemed like something out of a science-fiction novel a few decades ago, but now, there are multiple products and platforms that offer this service. Today, I want to look at the current state of HomeKit doorbells, and what Apple should do to build out the category.

The world of smart home lighting is getting more and more crowded. HomeKit-enabled products are popping up left and right, but that’s not always a bad thing. There are plenty of great options out there now, and Nanoleaf is one of them. Today, we’ll be looking at the newest addition to their lineup: the Nanoleaf Essentials A19 Smart Bulb! If you only read one thing about this review, know this: It’s one of the only HomeKit bulbs with Thread support.

Smart plugs are easy to use and a great way to make your home smarter. But what if you’re looking for something that is not as expensive? There are many brands of smart plugs out there, including TP-Link Kasa Smart Plug Mini. This is one of the best values on the market when it comes to HomeKit compatible smart plugs. Not only does this plug have a low price, but it’s also compact enough that it will not block other outlets when placed next to each other. Let’s take a look at the HomeKit edition of the TP-Link Smart Plug Mini.

Thread continues to be the theme of HomeKit in 2022, with it becoming a key future-proofing checkbox I am looking for with all new HomeKit products. Currently, there’s only one HomeKit-enabled air purifier with Thread, and that is the Airversa Air Purifier. I’ve had it in place for a few weeks, and it’s quickly become my favorite HomeKit-enabled air purifier.

A few weeks ago, Eve announced the brand-new Eve Aqua with Thread. While Thread alone is a welcome upgrade for a device that is going to be farther away from Wi-Fi than most other HomeKit devices, it also received a nice overall build upgrade that is worth an upgrade if you’re an owner of the previous model.

I am a HomeKit veteran at this point; I’ve used just about every product that has HomeKit support that I can try without major installation (rewiring electrical outlets, changing out light switches, etc). I think it’s time for Apple to buy HOOBS and officially welcome Homebridge into the fold of HomeKit.

Improving your video meeting quality might include upgrading your webcam, but it most definitely should include upgrading your desk lighting. If you want a budget upgrade that works with HomeKit, you’ll want to check out the Meross desk lamp. With a flexible arm for adjusting the lighting on your face, it makes for a simple way to improve the overall quality while keeping it simple on your desk setup.

As a company, Eve has built their business on HomeKit. There’s no Eve Cloud. There’s no support for Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa. It’s all HomeKit. The Eve app for iPhone is a nice Home app replacement. With its new motion sensor, the Eve Motion, Eve continues to be a great option for privacy-focused smart home enthusiasts who want to future-proof their homes. The new Eve Motion supports Thread, can be installed indoors or outdoors, and works without the need for a secondary hub.

A whole subset of HomeKit device categories often goes under notice. When you think about smart home devices, you will generally think about cameras, lights, speakers, or a switch. The real genius of a smart home is when things can happen without you even thinking about them. There’s a device that I recently picked up that I think might end up being one of my favorite HomeKit devices. This week, I am looking at the Fibaro Multi-Sensor Motion Sensor for HomeKit

For those new to smart home automation, there’s no easier way to get started than with a smart outlet adaptor. When I got my first smart home product back in 2013, a Belkin Wemo for my Christmas tree was the first product I used. Today, smart outlets have remained the best use case for novice uses, but they’ve gotten more reliable and much smaller. I recently tried out the brand-new SwitchBot Plug Mini with HomeKit support.

In our temporary living situation, I am without my normal HomeKit setup, so I’ve had to rethink what HomeKit products I want to reconfigure. I took this time as an opportunity to completely delete my HomeKit Home setup so I can start fresh in my new house. As someone that grew up in the Windows XP era where you reinstalled the OS once a year, old habits are hard to break. As I was culling the large box of all my HomeKit products, I came across my trusty Eve Cam, and I realized it had a flexible use case I hadn’t considered until now.

Air Purifiers are one of the lesser-known and used HomeKit categories. There are only a handful of devices on the market, but I find them really beneficial and an ideal picture of how HomeKit can work with other devices in your home. If you’re looking for the best-looking air purifier on the market with HomeKit support, you’ll want to look at the smartmi Air Purifier. Read on to read my entire review.

A few months ago, I reviewed Switchbot’s curtain automation product, and I came away pretty impressed. The only downside for HomeKit access is it did require using HOOBS or keeping a Homebridge server up and running. While this is a simple process, it’s better to have a native HomeKit product when possible. Today, Aqara is bringing that to the market with the Aqara Curtain Driver E1.

Meross continues to expand its HomeKit compatible product portfolio with its new Light Strips that include over 30 feet of lights for a fantastic price. Meross continues to provide an ever-expanding product portfolio with native HomeKit support. As I review the Meross Light Strips, I want to explain an underappreciated use case for this product type.

In May, I said that a redesigned Home app was on my iOS 16 wishlist, and WWDC did not disappoint. HomeKit is set to get a major upgrade with iOS 16, including an all-new Home app, lock screen widgets, new Home key vendors, deeper Matter support, and more. Let’s look at what’s new coming with iOS 16’s HomeKit upgrades.

I am officially moved out of my house into temporary living quarters while our new house is finished up. My Home app is in chaos as almost everything is offline. I am slowly getting a few essential HomeKit items back up and running in our temporary spot. However, one of the items I sold with the house was my beloved eufyCam Pro. As I wrote a few weeks ago, I am switching to the Nest Cam with Floodlight for the new house due to a continuous recording option. As I said goodbye to it, I want to give my parting thoughts for one of the best outdoor HomeKit camera options.

If you’re starting from scratch with HomeKit, it can look expensive to get started. There are so many devices with different features that you might be concerned about what to buy. However, if you’re new to HomeKit, I’ve got the perfect device to start with: a switched outlet. I recently tested a new low-cost HomeKit compatible outlet adaptor that is less than $20 for a two-pack, and it’s the perfect way to get started with HomeKit.

As I’ve mentioned a few times, my family is in the process of building a home, so I’ve documented some of my HomeKit plans in previous articles. For the moment, I am debt-free since we’ve sold our current home, but our new house won’t be finished until October.

We’re in the final days of this home, so we’re moving into a temporary living situation for the summer. So many HomeKit products and projects assume you’re the homeowner and can easily mount items, drill home, etc. Today, I want to consider some beneficial HomeKit setups for renters.

I’ve written about the home-building process a few times in the past. There’s something refreshing about “starting from scratch” with your home and deciding everything fresh. There’s also a benefit to rethinking the role of smart home technology in your life. How much is too much? Would it be easier to use a light switch here vs. a smart bulb? Do I really need that many cameras? For the next iteration of my smart home diary section of HomeKit Weekly, I want to explain why I picked a brand of cameras I never thought I’d go with a few months back. Let’s look at how I ended up choosing the Nest Cam with Floodlight for my outdoor cameras.