A popular smart thermostat, the Honeywell Home T9 is HomeKit-compatible. Owners can use Siri or Home app to control their home temperature.
HomeKit
Smart Home Technology Finally Has a Standard
The Matter standard is doing what we’d hoped for: unifying smart home technology with a standard way for devices to talk to each other.
Digging into Arduino, Getting Started with Smarthome Tech, with Jeff Butts - ACM 559
Bryan Chaffin and Jeff Butts get geeky with a deep dive into Arduino and a look at how to get started with all this smarthome stuff, especially Apple’s HomeKit.
Latest Amazon TVs Will Support AirPlay 2, HomeKit
Amazon released its Omni and 4-Series Fire TVs on Wednesday. It also announced that the devices will soon support AirPlay 2 and HomeKit, according to The Verge.
Amazon has already rolled out AirPlay 2 and HomeKit to some of its “Fire TV Edition” TVs from Toshiba and Insignia. Curiously, these features have yet to come to the company’s standalone Fire TV streaming devices — including the just-released Fire TV Stick 4K Max. I’m not sure if that’s an intentional choice, but it’s a bit odd that Amazon is ready to announce support on day one for its brand-new TVs with nothing to share about AirPlay 2 coming to its cheaper devices. (Roku supports AirPlay 2 on both its players and Roku TVs.)
Nanoleaf Lines Improve Decor Possibilities in Smart Lighting
Nanoleaf has been offering unique possibilities for blending smart lighting with home decor for years. Its latest product lineup, Nanoleaf Lines, gives you even more ways to light up your space. Each segment is 11 inches long and provides up to 20 lumens of brightness. You can set the lights to more than 16.9 million colors, and each segment has two color zones. This allows you to easily blend your color palette within your design. You can configure your Nanoleaf lines to sync with your music or Mac’s display. Nanoleaf Lines supports Apple HomeKit and also works as a Thread border router, allowing you to extend the reach of your smart home network without additional hubs. The starter kit, retailing for $199.99, comes with 9 light lines, a controller, a power supply, and everything else you need to get started. Expansion packs provide you 3 more light lines for $69.99. The smart lights are available for preorder now, with shipping expected in late November 2021.
Eve MotionBlinds Motors With HomeKit Release Announced for 2022
Eve Systems and Coulisse announced that MotionBlinds, the smart technology for window coverings, will add Eve MotionBlinds motors.
Smart Bulbs vs. Smart Light Switches, Digital IDs, with Jeff Gamet - ACM 555
Bryan Chaffin and Jeff Gamet dive back into smarthome tech, with a focus on using smart light switches instead of smart light bulbs. This includes Jeff’s recommendation for a smart light switch. They also discuss digital IDs and the perils and promise they offer.
Remembering The Hokey Pokey — Mac Geek Gab 887
How much Cool Stuff Found can your Two Favorite Geeks share? You’re about to find out! Listen as John and Dave share all of your (and their) Cool Stuff Found, PLUS answering a slew of your networking and networking-related questions. Good stuff this week, folks, and it’s all because of you. Press play, listen, and enjoy learning five new things!
HOOBS: Simplify Your Homebridge
A Deep Dive Into HOOBS & HomeBridge! Learn More About HOOBS in this video tip from Mac Geek Gab 884.
Arlo Update Fixes Apple HomeKit Issue
Arlo confirmed to AppleInsider that it has fixed a bug that prevented users adding its smart home devices to Apple Homekit. The fix came was included in the latest version of its iOS app –Â version 3.5.1
That version, which has a release date of August 6, is currently available from the App Store. “Arlo appreciates the patience of our loyal customers, and is excited to share that an iOS app release with a remedy to the HomeKit issue is now available,” the company said. Earlier in August, AppleInsider began receiving reports from users about issues adding new Arlo devices to HomeKit. The problem appeared to affect HomeKit tokens, which caused users to get stuck on the “Requesting HomeKit info” screen when adding devices to the Apple smart home platform.