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Apple and Amazon Adopt Opposing Strategies as Smart Home War Heats Up
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I agree with a lot of folks. Security is the most important thing. That's why I don't use any home automation.Apple touts security of Homekit, but we all know there is no system that can't be cracked. Not secure enough for me.
I'll stick with a 2 inch solid iron entry door with triple deadbolts, 1" thick iron bars around the windows and 20 camera CCTV. I might add a paintball turret system to deter those pesky Jehovah Witnesses and neighborhood kids.
All joking aside,dropped the ball on this one. Their system doesn't work as advertized and is expensive to boot.
HomeKit is easily cracked with a crowbar.
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A garage door opener works pretty good.
Why do people think its all about the burglars?
When I was younger and I had Wifi at home only I used to surf in the streets or the parks through some random persons unsecured wifi. Whenever i opened up my MacBook a minimum 4 or 5 out of 20 networks were open! You could bet back then that there will always be at least one idiots unprotected network. I could have messed up those peoples networks, deleted their computers or locked them out of their own wifi.
Nowadays the tech kids are bored too. They could randomly pick someones unsecured Sonos System and prank him with Slayer music at 4 in the morning. They could do worse as well. Like create a bot network with all those devises you have. Ist not about the burglars. Its about your devices being mass controlled by someone else. By bored tech kids if you are lucky. By terrorist, criminal hackers or state sponsored hackers if you are not.
I use both. My Hue lights and Ecobee thermostat can be controlled by Siri/Home app as well as my Echo Dot. I use the Echo to control them while downstairs at home, and then my phone to control them if I'm upstairs or away from home. My only gripe is with Automation in the Home app - it was very unreliable when I first set it up. It was only after I deleted everything and then recreated my automation settings that it started to work.
You're right about this, but you need to reread my OP. I'm not talking about what people should do. We agree on that. Nor am I talking about profit, where Apple is king. You're right that people don't care enough about data security, which is why I'm right about what I posted: Apple's closed model ends up capturing about only 10% of the market. True with macOS, true with iOS, and I predict it'll be true without HomeKit.
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Compared to android and for the average person IOS is more secure and stable. Everyone I know switched from android because of various issues.
Clearly you have absolutely no idea what you're talking about.
Alexa interfaces with the bridge you choose, not the devices.
go watch "Zero Days". Trading security for convenience would seem short sighted, but we as a people seem to excel at short-sightedness these days...
Home automation is so early stage and so expensive and difficult that the market is tiny right now. Apple can be slow here. But home automation is the clear future. Everything will be automated. We all know that. But the real stuff won't be cheap and good enough for years.
Echo is great. But I'm sure most people use it for music and the weather and that is about it. And the $40 Alexa is not locking up you $1,000 home automation setup. If you have that setup, the echo is so cheap you don't care about buying a replacement.
Echo is great. But I'm sure most people use it for music and the weather and that is about it. And the $40 Alexa is not locking up you $1,000 home automation setup. If you have that setup, the echo is so cheap you don't care about buying a replacement.
Besides the observations other have made regarding door locks and garage doors, there's also the concern that all IoT devices are potential places in your network where attackers can gain a foothold and use your internet connection as part of a larger botnet to attack their actual targets. We saw this with the recent attack on Dyn as well as others where ISP routers, IP cameras, and IP DVRs were the sources of the attack. Are you really okay having your internet connection - a resource you pay for with your own hard earned money - used in such a way? It's not just about you and your things.
That's simply not true. The global market prefers fragmented lower cost Android options.
Of course!
Everything Apple does or doesn't do, I come here, and I see your name commenting negatively.
So, you're more than qualified to judge Apple and everyone else about this!
Yes, your definition of "missing the boat" is what?
Having the largest array of appliances officially and securely supported by the platform?
And also having the largest array of devices that control the HomeKit appliances? Even bigger than Android?
How many iPhones out there have iOS 8 or newer? How many iPads, Apple TVs, Apple Watch, AirPods, Macs, etc? Can any other platform beat this?
No!
Also, Alexa would be a FLOP by Apple standards, it would be the LEAST SOLD APPLE DEVICE, PERIOD!
So, no, the "masses" haven't spoken.
LMAO!
Yeah, because making scripts and installing things, is "it just works", no it doesn't.
When I arrive home, the iPhone automatically detects that, and the lights turn on if off, I don't even have to say anything, that's "it just works".
I would really love some homekit light switches but the price isn't at a point where I am ready to pull the trigger. When the price drops by 25% I will likely go all in. I have no desire to get hue bulbs, it makes no sense to put the electronics in the disposable portion of the system. I have many regular LED bulbs and have had many failures well before the advertised time period
Lol. Security and linking your home to the internet shouldn't even be in the same sentence no matter which companies gear you use. You would be a completer moron to trust door locks, window locks or garage doors to the internet. If you want secure stay off line no matter who tells you their stuff is more secure it will never be more secure than using your keys.
My friend in the biz is simply sharing what many others have told us. What do you find in error?
This is my experience:
Hey Siri, turn off the lights... "I'm sorry, I can't do that".
Hey Siri, turn off the lights... "Okay, turning off the lights."
Hey Siri, turn off the lights... "I'm sorry, I can't do that".
Hey Siri, turn off the lights... "Okay, turning off the lights."
Apple could just create product buckets and whatever yours falls into gets different testing. Light bulbs, sprinklers, fridge fast process. Doors , locks, windows secure process. If they make a hub push they'll do it Apple isn't dumb , they just aren't in the market really.
I like my Amazon Echo but in some respects it's still a bit of a novelty item (Alexa...tell me a dog fact!). Ok, it's great for music in the kitchen but the lack of DLNA compatibility is a bit of a letdown. If I cough up more money I can stream loads of songs but I don't want to do that. I want to listen to the music I've bought which I keep on my Synology NAS. As things stand I have to connect my iPhone to Alexa and play the music that way. No big deal but a bit clumsy.
In the UK the number of skills that are of any use seems very limited. Is it better in the USA? I have some control over my Tado wi-fi central heating controls but I don't have much else enabled apart from a skill telling me where the International Space Station is.
Alexa appears to just guess the weather for my location and can't answer even simple questions:- what time does the moon rise tonight? No idea? What's the cosine of 35 degrees? No, can't so that either. Ok, so we don't need the cosine of 35 degrees every day but I'm not exactly asking it to do integral calculus! Only a single commute? Not much good really.
Still glad I bought it though. For the price it's hard to knock it. Reading this it sounds like a moan. It's not meant to be...Alexa is good fun to use. Just don't expect it to be perfect!
In the UK the number of skills that are of any use seems very limited. Is it better in the USA? I have some control over my Tado wi-fi central heating controls but I don't have much else enabled apart from a skill telling me where the International Space Station is.
Alexa appears to just guess the weather for my location and can't answer even simple questions:- what time does the moon rise tonight? No idea? What's the cosine of 35 degrees? No, can't so that either. Ok, so we don't need the cosine of 35 degrees every day but I'm not exactly asking it to do integral calculus! Only a single commute? Not much good really.
Still glad I bought it though. For the price it's hard to knock it. Reading this it sounds like a moan. It's not meant to be...Alexa is good fun to use. Just don't expect it to be perfect!