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Apple, Amazon, Google, and Zigbee Alliance Standard for Smart Home Technology on Track for 2021 Release
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From the article, they're going from many standards down to one, so if that's going to succeed, they can't keep the baggage of the old standards. Secondly, all the old stuff is proprietary, so it'd be surprising if they opened it up. Thirdly, at least on Google's side, they're known not to support their existing products well even when they control everything. So, I doubt a new CHIP controller will be able to control old home devices.
Minor thing, if the new standard really does phase out IPv4, that alone kills any existing systems that don't support v6. Can't imagine that's very many, but I don't know.
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Not if the companies behind the 14 competing standards cooperate (LTE), or if the 15th one is just that powerful (IP).
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Would be nice if the article linked to the GitHub repo: https://github.com/project-chip/connectedhomeip
I think MR has mentioned project CHIP (Connected Home over IP) before, but this time the acronym "CHIP" isn't mentioned.
I think MR has mentioned project CHIP (Connected Home over IP) before, but this time the acronym "CHIP" isn't mentioned.
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I did, searched for Z-wave, there's one company that builds things with several protocols, Z-Wave is one of those, but I doubt my Z-Wave stuff is going to work.
As the other one said, Google didn't promise anything, what they did though is retracting API's, lots of people's home automation stopped working with Nest thermostats.I was pretty pissed about it.
Side note, my Nest Thermostat broke just a month ago(notorious Wifi chip), I bought it just shy of 2 years ago, got a refund from a local seller within days.
Shame, in a way it's the best thermostat aside from the fact that Google bought Nest.
When has apple been about backwards compatibility? They always get rid of old stuff to introduce proprietary stuff to lock you in.
This is interesting
"Open: The Project’s design and technical processes should be open and transparent to the general public, including to non-members wherever possible."
This means anyone can contribute to it, so my guess is lots of others can be added like Z-Wave, Development Boards, Arduino amongst many others
"Open: The Project’s design and technical processes should be open and transparent to the general public, including to non-members wherever possible."
This means anyone can contribute to it, so my guess is lots of others can be added like Z-Wave, Development Boards, Arduino amongst many others
I’m confused about this whole thing. For example, I have Eve Bluetooth sensors, Phillips Hue Zigbee lights with the Hue hub, and a Tado thermostat, all but tado is mentioned as being technologies that will work with this new standard (Zigbee, Bluetooth), so why won’t they work with a firmware update? If they’re going to develop a new standard, surely each device should run on just 1 protocol? I really hope this means the end to hubs, I have always found them cumbersome and fairly pointless having all the extra hardware required, couldn’t hubs be built into homepods, routers etc instead?
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I make no layman assumptions. iTunes app on macOS behaves very differently than Music on macOS does in Catalina (Ringtone creation, setup, migration to iPhone etc) and THAT is their OWN app and THEIR OWN ecosystem. Now we're playing with the others. so again no assumptions.
Glad you got your refund. I'd gladly take refunds for both nests that I own for Ecobee just for the Homekit support.
I have my kettle (pot) plugged into a HomeKit outlet that boils when I turn my phone alarm off in the morning. Works a treat. But I have to remember to prepare the kettle before I go to bed.
maybe this is an Alexa limitation. I have several devices that are currently connected to both HomeKit and google home. For example, I can open the home app and adjust the colour of my LIFx light, then close the home app and open the google home app and adjust the colour from there.
Not really a good example to use. The case of iTunes/Music was very much intentional, as Apple sought to deprecate iTunes and separate out the functionality to smaller, more efficient apps. Conversely, these changes to home automation are all back-end stuff the user doesn't see. Perhaps you can explain to me why Apple would need to render legacy HomeKit devices useless in order to implement CHIP? I (again as a layperson) don't see why it would need to be any more complicated than adding CHIP support to Siri and the Home app for new devices to the market using that technology. At this point, anyone screaming about everyone's existing HomeKit devices being bricks is just fearmongering. Anything is possible, but I don't see why that would end up being the case in reality.
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Will current smart home products continue to work?
Yes. Amazon, Apple, and Google are committed to continue support for developers and their products.
Will they also be compatible with the new protocol?
The focus of the Project will be on new [emphasis mine] products. For developers interested in joining the effort, please join the Project Connected Home over IP Working Group.
What are the market-tested smart home technologies being contributed?
The Project intends to leverage development work and protocols from existing systems such as:
- Amazon’s Alexa Smart Home
- Apple’s HomeKit
- Google’s Weave
- Zigbee Alliance’s Dotdot data models
No. The Working Group at this time does not intend to standardize smart home user interfaces such as voice assistants, smart displays, or desktop and mobile apps.
Project Connected Home over IP
Project Connected Home over IP is a new Working Group within the Zigbee Alliance. This Working Group plans to develop and promote the adoption of a new, royalty-free connectivity standard to increase compatibility among smart home products, with security as a fundamental design tenet.
www.connectedhomeip.com
Consider me unconcerned at this point. HomeKit is being leveraged in CHIP. HomeKit isn't being thrown out with the bath water. Another key is that this isn't an attempt to standardize the UI, which makes sense. Like I said, these are all back-end changes, and companies can use whatever UI they desire.
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“What NEST offers in their app”? Jittery video; janky UI; no pause button; useless controls; the inability to view a specific point in time without it jumping to several minutes before or after where you wanted; the inability to create clips of a specific length; etc.? You mean all that good stuff?
But it can recognize the mail man so I guess that’s something.
Nothing prevents them from joining later with a smart kettle.
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True.
Though given the expected lifespan of home automation devices a pattern of 5-year deprecation won't encourage buying.
It’s about time!!! It’s so maddening I can’t buy a frickin HomeKit doorbell because apparently every single manufacturer hates my privacy and wants everyone to see when I get packages like Ring
I hate you now. Now I want my Zojiruishi bread maker to have easier automation!
Exactly. I don't know why this new standard making people flip out.
-You bought a product that supports HomeKit. It will continue to work in the Home App via Homekit.
-It's entirely up to the manufacturers if they wish to retrofit the newer protocol on their existing Homekit compatible products. They have no obligation to.
-This new standard will be supported via Siri and the Home app in coexistence with Homekit.
I have a HomePod, and I'm getting ready to dump it for an Echo Studio. The sound is definitely better on the HomePod, but not so much so that it's worth giving up all of the other functionality that Echo/Alexa brings. Apple blew this space, that they had a huge advantage in, by not doing two things:
1. Create an app (skill) ecosystem.
2. Not continuing to develop products in this category, like the various Echo Shows, Tap, Flex, Amp, Dot, and accessories.
I tried Wemo smart plugs and what a nightmare. Daughter got me 3 for Father’s Day and all 3 went back. Not one would connect using Wemo app so went directly to HomeKit app and exact problem. The product could not be found. What nonsense. Wemo app would tell me my router is too old (it’s not) and that I needed to buy a new router. So I am just assuming HomeKit isn’t ready for prime time.