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Quirky Updates 'Wink' App to Support Smart Products from Dropcam, GE, Philips, and More

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MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
63,537
30,847



Quirky today released a major update its Wink smart home app, enabling the app to now work with a number of smart appliances and products from companies such as Dropcam, Honeywell, Leviton, Schlage, Philips, and more.

winkapp-800x470.jpg
In addition extended product support, the app also contains a streamlined interface that allows users to schedule and monitor devices, create shortcuts, and automate tasks with multiple devices. Quirky notes that while many smart appliances simply require a direct pairing with the app, others require the new Wink Connected Home Hub, which is available today from Amazon and Home Depot for $49.99.

The updated Wink app also works with GE's line of "Link" smart LED light bulbs, which were announced last month and developed in collaboration with Quirky. For $49, customers can purchase a Link starter kit that comes with two smart light bulbs and a link hub, while individual bulbs start at $15.

2014 has seen the launch of a number of smart home products, with many coming from a number of well-known manufacturers including Chamberlain, Haier, iHome, Osram Sylvania, and Withings among others. Last month, Apple announced its new HomeKit initiative, which allows products and their corresponding apps to work with iOS using a single, secure protocol. Apple is also said to be working on smart home products for HomeKit, which could debut later this year.

Wink is a free app for iOS devices and can be downloaded through the App Store. [Direct Link]

Article Link: Quirky Updates 'Wink' App to Support Smart Products from Dropcam, GE, Philips, and More
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2014/07/07/quirky-wink-app-support-more-products/
dermeister

dermeister

macrumors 6502
Jan 19, 2003
458
96
Either this is useless because of HomeKit, or HomeKit is the next Passbook...

Hard call.
 
Z

Zxxv

macrumors 68040
Nov 13, 2011
3,558
1,104
UK
iMerik said:
Is Passbook essentially dead and useless? I never touch it, but I guess I haven't heard or read much if others have found good uses for it.
Click to expand...

I use passbook. Its a great idea poorly supported by shops etc who think its better to write their own app and force user to go into that to use store cards etc. Users then end up with a page of shopping apps instead of one passbook. blame the idiots not :apple:pple
 
RMo

RMo

macrumors 65816
Aug 7, 2007
1,254
281
Iowa, USA
I hadn't heard of Wink or the company Quirky before (like another poster, I assumed it was like Facebook Poke or Yo, due in no small part to the ridiculous amount of coverage those apps get on here, though neither quite as much as Flappy Bird).

However, I later realized I kind of had heard of them before: they make the Eggminder "smart" egg tray (WiFi connected to view how many eggs you have, their age, etc.), which I always thought was a bit silly but doesn't seem to be horrible. However, they have a few other products on Amazon that have horrible reviews (a power strip; the "Wink Spotter" that is supposed to detect temperature, light, and sound changes and alert you; a set of "smart dials" that can show you information synced from your phone). They all have generally horrible reviews. I can't imagine their new hub will be much better, though it is much cheaper than apparent competitors like Revolv. The app at least looks nice, though.
 
T

tasset

macrumors 6502a
May 22, 2007
572
200
So... this is a hub that connects to other hubs (like Philips Hue , TCP, or GE Link) rather than removing the need for those? Yeah I don't have any desire to 1) have several single purpose hubs around my home and 2) creating an account for each whereas they can each keep data on me. At least with Nest no hub is required.
Something tells me this land grab will be shortlived and someone will come along and just manufacture lights or outlets that you setup with bluetooth and don't NEED a hub. That will displace all these Belkin, Philips, and Wink hubs.
 
I

Ihatefall

macrumors regular
Jun 30, 2010
156
29
Look up wink / quirky. They recently partnered with GE and have (cheaper) LED lights coming out and an AC unit.

I like this, in that it's nice to have one clean app to control all these white appliances. Plus it helps keep development costs down because a free app already does it.
 
Jessica Lares

Jessica Lares

macrumors G3
Oct 31, 2009
9,612
1,056
Near Dallas, Texas, USA
RMo said:
I hadn't heard of Wink or the company Quirky before (like another poster, I assumed it was like Facebook Poke or Yo, due in no small part to the ridiculous amount of coverage those apps get on here, though neither quite as much as Flappy Bird).

However, I later realized I kind of had heard of them before: they make the Eggminder "smart" egg tray (WiFi connected to view how many eggs you have, their age, etc.), which I always thought was a bit silly but doesn't seem to be horrible. However, they have a few other products on Amazon that have horrible reviews (a power strip; the "Wink Spotter" that is supposed to detect temperature, light, and sound changes and alert you; a set of "smart dials" that can show you information synced from your phone). They all have generally horrible reviews. I can't imagine their new hub will be much better, though it is much cheaper than apparent competitors like Revolv. The app at least looks nice, though.
Click to expand...

Quirky works with "inventors" and helps to bring their product to the market. They don't aim to create a 10 million a year business, they just want to make some cool things some people might like to have.

I personally have the Pen Zen and Cordies Executive that I bought a few years ago. Love them. My parents have all their pens and pencils in cup holders and junk, and I have mine all nicely lined up in the Zen. It is great. It smells great too because it's made out of bamboo. The Cordie is nice too. I keep my calculator, some index cards, and leave the last slot for a cord. It's very sturdy.

I don't think most of their products are that great, and it's mostly because they have a get it out the door as quickly as possible approach to it, but those two have become apart of my daily life and were totally worth the investment.
 
RMo

RMo

macrumors 65816
Aug 7, 2007
1,254
281
Iowa, USA
tasset said:
So... this is a hub that connects to other hubs (like Philips Hue , TCP, or GE Link) rather than removing the need for those?
Click to expand...

The Wink HUB supports Z-Wave, ZigBee, Bluetooth, and WiFi, among others. GE Link and Philips Hue both use ZigBee; I don't know what Connected by TCP uses, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was similar. Kind of like Revolv, I think they use the other hubs right now if needed but include this hardware so that future updates may enable their hub to work directly with the devices that support these protocols.

Of course, that's just speculation on my part about Wink based on what Revolv has said in the past. I do imagine it will be difficult unless the manufacturers publish how they're using ZigBee, however, since I don't think it's quite as standardized as Z-Wave.
 
dermeister

dermeister

macrumors 6502
Jan 19, 2003
458
96
iMerik said:
Is Passbook essentially dead and useless? I never touch it, but I guess I haven't heard or read much if others have found good uses for it.
Click to expand...

From what I hear, apparently it is good, but when you go in it it's just an empty app unless you go hunting for companies that support it. And how good that is depends on the individual implementation by the company.
 
S

SuperRob

macrumors 6502
Mar 14, 2011
253
4
Drumjim85 said:
I thought chamberlain was going to be a supported brand, what happened to that?
Click to expand...

It's in the third screenshot on this story.

----------
RMo said:
The Wink HUB supports Z-Wave, ZigBee, Bluetooth, and WiFi, among others. GE Link and Philips Hue both use ZigBee; I don't know what Connected by TCP uses, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was similar. Kind of like Revolv, I think they use the other hubs right now if needed but include this hardware so that future updates may enable their hub to work directly with the devices that support these protocols.

Of course, that's just speculation on my part about Wink based on what Revolv has said in the past. I do imagine it will be difficult unless the manufacturers publish how they're using ZigBee, however, since I don't think it's quite as standardized as Z-Wave.
Click to expand...

At $50 vs. $250 for Revolv, I'm sold.
 
evansls

evansls

macrumors regular
Jul 18, 2004
132
93
Leesburg, VA
iMerik said:
Is Passbook essentially dead and useless? I never touch it, but I guess I haven't heard or read much if others have found good uses for it.
Click to expand...

Do you ever fly such as United Airlines or American Airlines?
Do you ever buy movie tickets using Fandango?
Do you ever use gift cards?

Anyway... there's lot of uses for it.
 
A

ayale99

macrumors 6502
Dec 6, 2007
345
159
You can get a Wink Hub for .99¢ at Home Depot if you buy two accessories for it. I pre-ordered two of the new GE Link Bulbs.

$30ish for a Wink Hub and two wifi bulbs to test out isn't a bad deal.
 
iMerik

iMerik

macrumors 6502a
May 3, 2011
666
522
Upper Midwest
evansls said:
Do you ever fly such as United Airlines or American Airlines?
Do you ever buy movie tickets using Fandango?
Do you ever use gift cards?

Anyway... there's lot of uses for it.
Click to expand...
I feel those one-time ticket/gift card uses are nice, but I'd really like it if Apple pushed hard to get business, especially regional and more local restaurants and hardware stores, to adopt Passbook for their membership/loyalty/reward cards. I was hoping for mass adoption of Passbook on this front... a solution so easy and convenient that everyone would want to provide their card with a Passbook option.
 
Z

Zxxv

macrumors 68040
Nov 13, 2011
3,558
1,104
UK
iMerik said:
I feel those one-time ticket/gift card uses are nice, but I'd really like it if Apple pushed hard to get business, especially regional and more local restaurants and hardware stores, to adopt Passbook for their membership/loyalty/reward cards. I was hoping for mass adoption of Passbook on this front... a solution so easy and convenient that everyone would want to provide their card with a Passbook option.
Click to expand...

In the UK its the businesses who don't use it because they want their own app and you go in there and then they can sell you **** you don't want just cause you wanted to scan their card :mad::mad::mad:
 
parseckadet

parseckadet

macrumors 65816
Dec 13, 2010
1,489
1,269
Denver, CO
So I downloaded the app, and the lack of information here is astounding to me. Nowhere can I find whether this works with Philips Hue (all they say is Philips products, nowhere do they state what specific products). And if it does, will it work with the Hue bridge, or do I have to buy their bridge and connect my Hue bulbs to that? One would think I could just download the app and try it out, but to do ANYTHING you have to create an account. Sorry, but I'm not going to give them jack just to figure out what the hell this thing does and how it works.
 
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