Apple has the best smart home ecosystem — at least for now

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The second generation HomePod in the living room

Roger Vengas / Android Authority

When my family and I moved into a new home last year, I took it as an opportunity to steer us toward elementary school smart home platform. Yes, like Android AuthorityThe resident smart home expert, I need equipment to test all the major ecosystems—it’s just that life is easier if there’s a system you can rely on for everyday tasks like turning on the lights.

Until recently, I tended to Amazon Alexa as my platform of choice. It is still the best supported smart speakersaccessories and music services. And most importantly, it does not run the favorites between Android or iOS. Even Google Home naturally prefers Android, though it’s perfectly usable with iOS.

However, based on some recent developments, I increasingly prefer Apple HomeKit To set up my smart home. There are caveats we’ll talk about, but it’s gotten to the point where Amazon and Google are going to have to do some serious work to catch up.

What smart home platform(s) are you using, if any?

124 votes

1. Apple HomeKit quickly adopted ‘Material and Thread’

View articles on eve power and lighbulb

Rita El Khoury / The Android Authority

as one of the founders Theme And stringIt should come as no surprise that Apple has been quick to adopt smart home standards — the former allows for universal accessory pairing, while the latter reduces reliance on hubs and Wi-Fi. the HomePod mini It’s had a usable Thread Radio since November 2020, and Matter came to HomeKit along with iOS 16.1, which was released the same month as Matter 1.0.

If you have an Apple iPhone or iPad, you will be at the forefront of smart home technology.

Surprisingly, Amazon and Google lag far behind, despite being important founders as well. Google took a couple of months to follow up on Apple’s lead, and had to turn on idle thread bounds router support in devices like Nest Hub. Meanwhile, Amazon has not only waited until December to support Matter, but has yet to turn Thread on echo products. (Amazon and Google only offer Matter pairing through Android so far, even though their platforms support iOS.)

The situation means that if you have an iPhone or iPad, you’ll be on the cutting edge of smart home tech, including a better selection of pre-Matter filament accessories from companies like Eve and Nanoleaf. Anyone who values ​​Thread’s speed and reliability should look toward Apple, at least until later in 2023.

2. Hubs are baked into HomeKit

The second generation HomePod is on an end table

Roger Vengas / Android Authority

While it’s true that one of the advantages of Thread is relying less on hubs, HomeKit’s overall reliance on hubs has some benefits.

This may sound confusing, but I will explain. Many accessories – such as Philips Hue or Lutron lights Smart keys – Use hubs to provide reliable automation that does not depend on Internet access. These not only add to costs, but are often brand-specific while claiming valuable Ethernet ports on your Wi-Fi router.

unlike Amazon Alexa or Google Home which can be used without purchasing any specific hardware, the Apple HomeKit platform actually requires a hub (it’s called the Home Hub) in the form of an Apple TV, HomePodor HomePod mini. It’s what enables remote access and ensures that automation keeps running when you’re away. This role is doubly important in 2023, since all main hubs act as matter controllers, and some can act as thread boundary routers (connecting Thread products to the Internet).

HomeKit’s reliance on hubs gives features like offline automation and improved accessory speed.

What Apple should be promoting, however, is that this brings central benefits to the entire ecosystem. As long as it doesn’t require connecting to the cloud, HomeKit automations can work even when you lose access to the Internet. This is not guaranteed with Alexa or Alexa Google House Unless all of your accessories are paired with a speaker or projected via Thread or zigbee. Hubs can also improve not only overall reliability but speed as well, since extensions don’t always have to wait for a response from the server.

There are downsides to this arrangement—that is, even the cheapest Home Hub (the HomePod mini) is $99, and you might need more than one to cover your entire home. But if you can swallow the expense, you’ll like the results.

3. The Apple Home app is still the best smart home app

The Home app was always fine in my opinion, but it was redesigned in iOS 16 (as well as iPadOS 16 and macOS Ventura) to make it easier to find and control accessories and check sensor and camera data. The result is the best app among the major smart home platforms, and it’s even better than Google’s redesign efforts, which aren’t over yet.

This is important for several reasons, the main one being that every smart home app should provide a minimum level of friction. If I want to turn on the lights or check the room temperature, it should feel as easy as using the remote—these are common tasks, and in many cases, a switch or remote might be the literal alternative. It’s baffling that Alexa doesn’t default to a home-style control panel.

Ease of use extends to automation. Apple’s interface has always been relatively uncomplicated, even if it took some time to learn its full potential. The company has also long supported using sensor data as triggers, unlike Google, which has just joined the party. It’s not hard to imagine the benefits of triggering lights based on motion sensors or fans based on temperature.

HomeKit compatible smart bulbs And lamps Adaptive lighting, which matches the color temperature to the time of day, can be used. There’s no Alexa or Google Home equivalent, though brands like Philips Hue and Nanoleaf offer similar features in their own apps.

4. Privacy and security

Schlage Encode Plus and Apple Home Key

I’m not worried about it Smart home privacy Like some people. That’s partly because I need to use technology for my business regardless, and partly because I’ve succumbed to Amazon and Google’s Faustian bargain—cheap but high-quality hardware at the cost of using some of your data for marketing.

So far, Apple does not compromise on privacy or security.

Apple’s HomeKit and Siri voice assistant are cut short from marketing, unless you count the latter’s preference for first-party services. The main reason you don’t see as many HomeKit accessories on the market as you do for Alexa and Google Home is that the products need to be certified to Apple’s strict security protocols. Matter is actually an extension of some of Apple’s security technologies outside its walls.

The company also offers iCloud Plus Storage Shares is something called HomeKit Secure Video, which enables compatibility security cameras Save end-to-end encrypted video to iCloud, separate from the camera maker’s service or (to some extent) iCloud storage limits. As a bonus, it enables people, pets, and vehicle detection for smarter notifications. Amazon has it Ring Protect And Google has it Live in the knowbut these are subscriptions exclusive to security, and Ring’s end-to-end encryption is a choice that actually cripples a lot of the features—you can’t even see previews in the Ring dashboard when you turn it on.

The bottom line is if you’re not willing to make any compromises in privacy and security, Apple is the way to go.

What about the negatives of Apple?

Siri on Apple iPhone 12 Mini Photo Gallery 7

Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority

Siri icon

There isn’t much left for Apple to fix, make no mistake. The biggest problem is Siriwhich is usable, but still more tolerable than Alexa or Alexa google assistant To misinterpret voice commands or make them fail completely. Even when it works, its features aren’t impressive. It can’t handle two commands in the same sentence like an assistant, let alone imitate chat software like chat. In fact, some people prefer Alexa or Google simply because of their superior voice technology.

HomeKit still has holes like Siri’s performance, platform exclusivity, and lack of affordable accessories.

Exclusivity is a problem Apple probably has no intention of solving — third place market share be damned. HomeKit remains off limits for Android and Windows users, and you can’t even Set up your HomePod Without an iPhone or iPad. When you can get the HomePod up and running, it defaults to Apple Music for Siri music requests, with third-party support limited to less popular services like Pandora and Deezer, or more. broadcast Pour. Battles over issues like subscription fees continue to hamper Spotify audio support.

The price of the ecosystem and the limited number of options attached must ultimately be mitigated by the material. For now, though, the cost of developing HomeKit accessories is still often passed on to customers, and adoption hurdles mean plenty of accessory makers (even relatively popular brands like Wyze, Govee, and TP-Link’s Kasa) skip the platform. As a result, there’s a much better selection of Alexa and Google accessories, and there’s no need to buy something as expensive as the HomePod mini to get it to work.

However, I think Apple has the best smart home ecosystem (for now)

Nanoleaf shapes panels in the bedroom

There are other HomeKit issues that I can point out, like no file Smart screen or support robotic cleaners. It seems that Apple is trying to get on the right path after years of stagnation, however, the situation may be very different by 2024, especially if some Hardware rumors Prove it right. We’ll see what iOS 17 brings as well.

Apple is taking such significant steps that it has not only changed my mind, but is finally poised to change the mind of the smart home market and become a definite favorite, at least among iPhone owners. Amazon remains the industry leader — yet its platform hasn’t evolved much in the past two years, and it’s on shaky ground after mass layoffs in its Alexa division.

Meanwhile, Google is taking similar positive steps for Apple, but it needs to finish rolling out the app and a late update to its speaker and display lineup. Who knows I could be singing a different tune before 2024 arrives.

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