HomeKit

Aqara is back with another great release ahead of the Christmas season, and while it’s not fully compatible HomeKit, because it’s tightly integrated with the entire Aqara ecosystem, it’s something I want to look at from a HomeKit perspective. Let’s take a look at the brand new Aqara Smart Pet Feeder.

It’s officially Christmas decoration season, and if you’re looking for a smart plug so your Christmas lights can be controlled from your iPhone, iPad Apple Watch, or from Siri (even remotely), the Meross Smart Dimmer Plug is a great option. It’s easy to set up and works with HomeKit, Amazon Alexa, and Google Assistant as well. The plug itself is designed with a sleek, compact design and has an LED indicator light that will let you know when it’s powered on. You can also use customize the schedule in the Home app so it automatically turns on at different times of the day. Let’s look at the Meross Outdoor Plug with HomeKit.

Philips Hue is expanding its line of smart home products with something many people have been waiting on: Festavia string lights. These new string lights pack HomeKit connectivity, among a number of other useful smart home features. They’re perfect for holiday decorations but can also be used year-round for accent lighting and other special occasions.

I have always had a “broken” smart home situation going on; I’ve had products that would only work with Google Home, others that were Amazon Alexa exclusives, and then you have the elusive HomeKit-enabled products.

Over the last year, I have slowly transitioned all of my smart home products to make sure they are HomeKit enabled so I could use Apple’s Home app as my central hub. The last set of products that I was looking for was a HomeKit-ready video monitoring and sensor-enabled security system; that is where Abode’s HomeKit security bundle steps in to fully complete my smart home experience. Having a trustworthy, top-rated security system that was built to integrate with HomeKit was exactly what I was looking for.

As with many other HomeKit manufacturers, Yeelight is announcing Matter support across its product line. Finalized in early October, Matter aims to improve the overall smart home landscape with an open standard that’s supported by Apple, Google, Amazon, and others. The initial release of Matter will support a number of the most common smart home categories: lighting and electrical, HVAC controls, window coverings and shades, safety and security sensors, door locks, media devices including TVs, controllers as both devices and applications, and bridges.

The Meross Water Leak Sensor MS400H is a HomeKit-compatible leak sensor that can connect to your Wi-Fi network. The unit has three parts: the sensor itself, a new Meross hub, and the power adapter for the sensor. The sensor itself is about two inches long by one inch wide and just under an inch deep, so it should fit into most places where you want to place it. It has three prongs on the underside, which is how it detects water leaks. The prongs are also part of the pairing process with onboarding into Homekit, and I’ll cover the weirdness of that later.

Today marks the official launch day of the new Matter smart home standard, a cross-platform collaboration between companies like Apple, Amazon, Google, and more. A number of companies are officially jumping on board with new accessories today, including Amazon and Philips Hue. There are, however, some caveats with these announcements…

November 3, 2022: Level Lock has issued a statement regarding the LockPickingLaywer video. Find it below.

After a back and forth about the company’s plans to support Apple’s Home Key feature, smart home accessory maker Level officially released its new Level Lock+ last month. While the new smart lock does indeed support Home Key, it turns out that the physical design of the lock actually does a pretty bad job at keeping your door locked…

Nanoleaf is out with the news that it’s bringing Matter support to some of its popular smart lights along with two brand-new bulbs. Arriving soon, the lineup will feature GU10 and BR30 options in addition to its popular smart Lightstrip and A19 bulb.

Today, Aqara, shared its plan for the Apple-backed smart home protocol, Matter. Aqara has worked with the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA) and Apple, Google, and Samsung on early testing programs to ensure a smooth transition toward deploying Matter. Aqara users will first gain access to Matter in December 2022 via the Aqara Hub M2 through an over-the-air firmware update, which will allow existing Aqara Zigbee devices to become compatible with Matter.

One of the valuable updates that arrived with iOS 16 this fall is an overhauled Home app. Additions and changes in the fresh experience include a new UI and iconography, customizable sections, fresh wallpapers, a more seamless experience, and more. Now Apple has shared how it approached the big Home app update in an interview.

The LIFX Mini White is one of the lowest costs HomeKit bulbs on the market today, with a price tag under just $20. It’s compatible with Apple’s HomeKit and doesn’t require a hub to connect to your Wi-Fi network. At that price point, it’s hard not to be tempted by this smart light if you’re looking for an inexpensive way to try out some Internet-connected lighting in your home. But as with any budget product, there are sacrifices made in order to meet such a low price point, especially when it comes to color options.

One of the main highlights of iOS 16 is the redesigned Home app, which is part of the Apple’s efforts to push HomeKit and the new Matter standard for smart home devices. Now with iOS 16.2 beta, the company is finally introducing the promised new architecture to the Home app, which is expected to make the experience more reliable for users.

Back in May, IKEA teased an overhauled smart home hub with Matter support for cross-platform connectivity, plus a brand-new app for an improved experience with its smart home products. Now early listings for the DIRIGERA have popped up giving us a look at the price, release date, and more.

Update 10/24: IKEA has shared the official launch date of the DIRIGERA smart home hub and price for the US with 9to5Mac.

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. 

HomeKit Secure Video (HKSV) is Apple’s answer for bringing privacy to indoor and outdoor cameras by processing footage locally for person and animal detection and features end-to-end encryption. However, the capability has a number of technical requirements that can make it a challenge to implement. After planning to bring HKSV to its existing Smart Video Doorbell via a software update, Netatmo has made the difficult decision to skip the feature, here’s why.

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.

Eve is out with its third-gen HomeKit Light Switch today with two notable upgrades – Thread support and compatibility with 3-way switch setups by just adding one of the new switches. Read on for all the details on this handy future-ready smart home light switch.