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Apple-Backed 'Project CHIP' to Start Smart Home Device Certification in Late 2021
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Im curious what next week’s event and iOS 15 will bring. Apple‘s smart home strategy is murky at best and we need a clear statement they’re still investing and innovating after discontinuing HomePod instead of improving it. And then there’s the overpriced 2017 ATV. Not exactly a clear strategy.
There's no way IoT will reach billions of loyal sales (e.g., smartphones today) until compatibility is settled, though.
You'll like Thread, then, and it is the primary low-bandwidth radio for Project CHIP certification. Eve’s latest HomeKit devices showcase the amazing Thread experience
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Exactly. Until it's ready to "live" in the building, there will be very limited adoption (in absolute terms of how many light switches exist, etc.). It will all be piecemeal, random retrofits. IIRC, Project CHIP has a ridiculous number of backers: over 170 and it includes anyone who's anyone in IoT.
During a recent CHIP Webinar, they claimed that was the exact goal: "We need it reliable enough that people will just expect it in newly-built homes. Until it's that good, we haven't met the goals."
That was stated by Distinguished Engineer at Apple, Stuart Cheshire; he's also the Director of the Thread Group.
If you need it, I'd buy it.
But, if you're concerned about long-term IoT compatibility (not that you need be), it might be prudent to check if it'll support CHIP (Thread and/or Wi-Fi is a requirement). It'll be late 2021 / 2022, though, until certifications are out.
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No, you're wrong.
"The Project uses Internet Protocol (IP) rather than the Zigbee transport and networking protocol. Project Connected Home over IP and Zigbee are two separate protocols."
"Yes, the Zigbee Alliance and its members are continuing to drive the development and growth of the Zigbee protocol, both today and after the launch of the Project’s protocol. Those developing Zigbee products today will continue with confidence."
This is completely separate from the Zigbee protocol/connectivity. This is IP-based, not Zigbee-based. In fact, their architecture diagram shows Thread over 802.15.4, which means no Zigbee.
connectedhomeip/docs/images/CHIP_IP_pyramid.png at master · project-chip/connectedhomeip
Matter (formerly Project CHIP) creates more connections between more objects, simplifying development for manufacturers and increasing compatibility for consumers, guided by the Connectivity Standa...
github.com
I'm sure Zigbee will continue in some form for a while, but why bother? They're taking the Zigbee data models, so that's a plus.
About damn time!
Here's hoping EV manufactures take note and collude with charging stations. Without a single standard, **** gets messy.
Here's hoping EV manufactures take note and collude with charging stations. Without a single standard, **** gets messy.
As someone who loves this stuff, I would like might smart home to be a little smarter.
when I ask for lights, turn on the one(s) for the room I am in, faster. HomePod knows what room it is in, why can’t my phone/watch.
Make it easy for anyone to set up routines they can use.
so much is cool, but so little is “wow, I have GOT to have that in my house.”
when I ask for lights, turn on the one(s) for the room I am in, faster. HomePod knows what room it is in, why can’t my phone/watch.
Make it easy for anyone to set up routines they can use.
so much is cool, but so little is “wow, I have GOT to have that in my house.”
With the Alexa and Google Home ecosystem. Let's be honest, the product selection for HomeKit has been quite small and the average price has been very high in comparison. It was a lot more economical for me to use home bridge for a number of plugs and bulbs rather than get HomeKit accessories.
Unfortunately, I think that's not been true because consumers get irritated with their initial choice and experiment with other options. I have several buddies who tried Apple HomeKit, for example, but opted to move away from it and swap out a lot of "smart" devices so they could go with an all Google or all Amazon environment instead.
When I bought any of these devices for my own house, I tried to only select ones that listed compatibility with all the major options. (I strayed from that when I bought a couple of August smart locks that were "Homekit" versions only. Regretted that when I went the Amazon Alexa route at my new place. Had to leave it all behind and buy other locks.)
Funny how it costs more to make devices that protect your privacy and which are secure.
No dispute about that, but it nevertheless leads to a less developed accessories ecosystem compared to competitors. For most people privacy is important, but not 2x the price with a tiny fraction of the choices important.
You should be in luck. IKEA's devices are all controlled by a hub. Replace the hub and you're good.
Since when is it apple’s job to cater to “most people?” Why can’t they produce devices for people who do think security and privacy is worth 2x the price?
Maybe at its inception, but in the last 5 or so years, I've not had any problem finding devices that work with HomeKit. My home is fully decked out and everything works with HomeKit.
The benefit to being on a more expensive ecosystem is that while you get less of the cheaply designed fluff that inflates other ecosystems, you get the best designed devices in each category.
Hue, Nanoleaf and Eve provide the majority of HomeKit devices in my smart home and even if I had a choice, I wouldn't choose any others.
The only real exception is Nest which was always an Apple inspired brand (Tony Fadell) committed to excellence in design and usability that Google happened to buy and miraculously hasn't ruined. I'll be happy to return to Nest once their CHIP compatible devices are released.
The HomePod is told, "You are in the living room", and so are the lights. They don't figure it out, unfortunately: it's all manual input by the user for every device they install.
Maybe one day with UWB tracking and/or geo-fencing, all devices will be able to smartly guess where they are inside your residence.
//
But, I agree. Smart homes don't really have a killer feature yet, at least not worth the price of admission. Some things that come to mind:
- Automate outside lights turning on after sunset
- Smart garage door openers that can be activated via voice
- Security cameras with alerts, esp for doorbells (package thieves)
- Smart thermostats to use outside temperature to moderate HVAC use
- Emergency outside-the-home notifications via sensors for fire, leaks, smoke, carbon monoxide, etc.
- Energy usage per-outlet to monitor vampire drains (and is IoT itself a vampire drain?)
- Authenticated lockboxes outside apartments (package thieves again)
So privacy is only important as long as it’s cheap? Ridiculous. I wish all companies were forced to be private by design but until they are, privacy should be considered above all, including cost. Anyone that thinks different is absolutely making the situation worse. it’s not some weird conspiracy- it’s actually a researched and proven thing.
Much welcomed decision! A universal system to bridge the plethora of IoT’s/smart home devices would be fantastic.
I'm not saying that privacy isn't important, but most consumers don't consider it to be worth the HomeKit markup, which is why the HomeKit ecosystem stagnated badly for years before Apple decided to do away with the required hardware component and it's not doing super well even now since Apple had a late start despite being one of the first smart home platforms. Privacy is only useful when it can be acquired. For the sake of argument, if privacy is considered above all, a $1 million smart light switch can be made, but almost no-one will benefit from that.
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Considering the very wide reach of Apple's other products across different income brackets, why is HomeKit any different? They obviously can make an ecosystem that considers privacy to be 2x the price, but they usually don't. iPhones and iPads are priced comparably to similar high end devices with much much better privacy protections. Obviously Apple has noticed this issue, since they've decided accessories can be made up to their privacy standards with project chip without needing it to be 2x the price.
Smart home stuff is a really long game. X10 was around long, long ago. Z-Wave and Zigbee are basically generation 1 technologies. They're great, but there are a ton of problems with them besides their sort of flakiness.
Pairing, for example, is much easier now. In fact, there was a manufacturer that made pairing super-easy with NFC tags (Oomi). They're gone now.
I suspect that the industry pays too much attention to security. Look at your door lock: do you know the ANSI grade of your front door's lock? And yet when it comes to computer security everyone expects ANSI grade 1 locks. Is that reasonable?
This fixation on ultra-security causes all kinds of problems. Upgrade your hub? You have to re-pair all your devices (until recently). That's because the key was bound to your hardware "for security." Have you ever tried to re-pair devices that are in gang boxes? Wow, what a PITA. It takes days.
In reality, nobody is going to hack your smart home. Nobody cares that much. And if you're paranoid about it, don't use it.
All the public cares about is that some random joe can't unlock their door, garage, mess with the thermostat, or access their cameras. High security? Nope.
Pairing, for example, is much easier now. In fact, there was a manufacturer that made pairing super-easy with NFC tags (Oomi). They're gone now.
I suspect that the industry pays too much attention to security. Look at your door lock: do you know the ANSI grade of your front door's lock? And yet when it comes to computer security everyone expects ANSI grade 1 locks. Is that reasonable?
This fixation on ultra-security causes all kinds of problems. Upgrade your hub? You have to re-pair all your devices (until recently). That's because the key was bound to your hardware "for security." Have you ever tried to re-pair devices that are in gang boxes? Wow, what a PITA. It takes days.
In reality, nobody is going to hack your smart home. Nobody cares that much. And if you're paranoid about it, don't use it.
All the public cares about is that some random joe can't unlock their door, garage, mess with the thermostat, or access their cameras. High security? Nope.