Technically speaking, Apple does have an initiative built around the smart home, but it's not as aggressive as some other companies. And Apple may have run into a bit of a speed bump recently. According to reports, the head of Apple's Home Services division actually departed not too long ago.
It's been a bit of a busy years (going on a busy two years, honestly), so no one would blame you if you didn't remember that, at one point, it was rumored that Apple could be launching a brand new operating system in 2021. Or just rebranding an existing framework. Either way, "homeOS" was all the rage for a very short period of time, and now it's back to help stoke the rumor flame.
Back in July of this year, Amazon's "Fire TV Edition" smart TVs made from Insignia and Toshiba started rolling out support for Apple's AirPlay 2 and HomeKit. But, for fans of Amazon who have been waiting for the company's own self-branded TVs, there's good news on the horizon: AirPlay 2 and HomeKit support is coming to those sets, too.
Apple now allows Siri voice commands on third-party devices, with Ecobee's SmartThermostat becoming the first smart home appliance that comes with Siri on board.
AirPlay 2 support and the HomeKit feature have expanded to certain smart TV sets from Toshiba and Insignia manufactured in 2020, including Insignia's 4K-enabled Smart Fire TV.
watchOS 8 brings a significant update to the Home app on your Apple Watch, making it easier to control your HomeKit accessories and scenes, use Intercom and more, right from your wrist.
Apple is bringing Siri to third-party devices, but it's not what you think. Rather than let Android smartphone owners use its digital assistant, Apple is bringing Siri to smart home devices.
Apple's confidential information regarding upcoming changes in iOS 15, watchOS 8, tvOS 15 and macOS 13 are trickling in, with just a few hours left until the start of the WWDc21 keynote.
Apple may unveil a new operating system at the WWDC21, its upcoming developer conference, with an Apple Music job ad referencing the previously unannounced software twice.
You don't need to spend big money on a brand new garage door opener in order to be able to control it with HomeKit and/or Siri. Indeed, you can simply use an add-on accessory that will bring HomeKit support to virtually any garage door opener, letting you control it using Siri or the Home app on your iPad, iPhone, or Apple Watch.
I personally upgraded my garage door opener with such an accessory a few weeks ago, and in about 30 minutes, I was all set. Now this is not a hack. This is not a workaround. This is real HomeKit support, and all it requires is the meross Smart Garage Door Opener Remote, a $49 accessory you can find on Amazon.
With macOS Mojave, Apple brought the Home app to Mac. So if you have HomeKit accessories set up on your iPhone, you can conveniently manage them from your Mac. Need the light in your office turned on? Want the temperature in your home adjusted? Wondering if you’ve locked the door?
Whatever accessories you have set up, you can interact with them from your Mac without searching for your iPhone. Make sure you’re logged in with the same Apple ID, open the Home app, and see here what you can do!
When I started looking at smart video doorbells for my new home, one specific feature I was looking for was HomeKit support, but as it turned out at the time (merely 3 months ago), there was none. So like everybody else, I settled for a Ring doorbell, which has worked reliably for me. Installation was simple. Set up was a breeze, and daily use was just as frictionless as you would expect from a doorbell.
But then Logitech introduced the Circle View Doorbell in December of 2020, the first device of its kind to support HomeKit, thus playing nice with all the Apple devices in my house and pocket.
So I reached out to the folks at Logitech who sent me a Circle View Doorbell after giving me a short briefing on the product. In this review, I’ll share my impressions of this smart video doorbell. But a bit of warning: this review will be heavily tinted by my experience with Ring, which I see as the standard in the category, or the device to beat, if you will.