HomeKit

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.

I’ve noted before that HomeKit presence detection is extremely unreliable for me, relying as it does on Location Services.

GPS location can be less than 100% reliable in cities anyway, as signals are either blocked by tall buildings or bounce off them. There’s then an additional complication for those of us who live in apartment blocks …

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.

One of the new HomeKit features in iOS 14 is something called Adaptive Lighting, which automatically adjusts the color temperatures of smart lights based on time of day. Popular HomeKit accessory maker Eve has announced today that its Eve Light Strip is now the first to support the new iOS 14 Adaptive Lighting feature.

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.

HomeKit security system maker Abode first unveiled its smart outdoor/indoor/doorbell camera back at CES in January. After some setbacks to the original March launch plan, the new Outdoor Smart Camera is available for preorder.

Molekule debuted the world’s first molecular air purifier with the “Air” back in 2017 and it arrived with a handy iOS app. Now the company is taking smart home connectivity a step further and bringing HomeKit support to its Mini+ molecular air purifier and it’s landing at Apple Stores and Apple.com in the US. Read on for a closer look at this top-notch HomeKit air purifier.

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.

Nanoleaf launched its new HomeKit lighting lineup called Shapes this past spring with Hexagons. Now the touch-enabled modular lighting lineup with features like music visualization is expanding with two new options that work with Hexagons: Triangles and Mini Triangles.

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.

Roku has announced that it will add support for Apple’s HomeKit and AirPlay 2 platforms later this year. This marks one of the biggest expansions of HomeKit and AirPlay 2 capabilities that we’ve seen, particularly in the set-top box market.

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?

Belkin’s Linksys brand has confirmed that it is now rolling out support for HomeKit integration to users of the Linksys Velop Tri-Band mesh routers. This gives Velop users additional security controls over the smart home accessories connected through HomeKit.

The wait for the long-promised Netatmo video doorbell with HomeKit support has been a lengthy one. We first got a hands-on look at the device way back in January 2019, with silence since then, but the company says that it is finally launching in Europe on September 28. Unfortunately, the US launch is following ‘later this year.’

We got the first clue in July that we were getting closer to launch, thanks to a 9to5Mac reader …

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.

Signify today announced a variety of expansions of its Philips Hue smart lighting category. The HomeKit-compatible smart lighting collection now includes a reimagined Iris table lamp, a new gradient lightstrip, and more.

Today Level takes the wraps off of its latest HomeKit-enabled smart lock, Level Touch. Similar to the Level Bolt, which we reviewed earlier this summer, Level Touch is designed to be inconspicuous thanks to a design that tries hard not to bring attention to itself.

As its name alludes, Level Touch is touch-enabled, allowing users to lock their doors upon leaving the house with just a touch. Level Touch is available to purchase now for $329, and except for a screwdriver, comes with all of the necessary installation hardware. Read on to learn more about the newest smart lock option to arrive on the scene.