Apple TV Confirmed as Central Hub for Remotely Controlling HomeKit-Enabled Accessories

[gugy]

I would love a way for ATV to be able to play media without the need of a Mac/iTunes on at all times. Some way to connect an external drive or over the network option.
My media is stored on my MacPro and when I am not home I turn off my computer and would like the family to still able to access this content.

 

[Shawn Parr]

I would love a way for ATV to be able to play media without the need of a Mac/iTunes on at all times. Some way to connect an external drive or over the network option.
My media is stored on my MacPro and when I am not home I turn off my computer and would like the family to still able to access this content.

Totally agree. I'm surprised it isn't part of Mac OS X Server yet. Having an always on media library, maybe use iTunes to manage (buy new, download, etc). Then the media and caching server would all be on the same device and could even share resources.

 

[goobot]

Guess this means Apple TV will need to stay on all the time now?

It always has since gen 2

 

[FloatingBones]

JJ Abrams wearing an Apple Watch in public = front page material Apple revealing new features = iOS blog. Sometimes I don't get MacRumors' priorities...

Shrug. I could think about something more trivial to complain about, but I would have to think for a very long time.

If you'd actually like to know why a particular decision was made on where to place an article, the site feedback forum would be the place to ask the question. Not here.

 

[amro]

It always has since gen 2

My Harmony sends power off commands which I will have to change (no big deal), but I thought Apple TV timed out and powered off after x minutes of no use.

 

[Shawn Parr]

My Harmony sends power off commands which I will have to change (no big deal), but I thought Apple TV timed out and powered off after x minutes of no use.

There is a setting, but I don't think it really powers off, it goes into a sleep mode. Back when I first got my Apple TV (2nd Gen) I had issues with getting it to wake up and since then I've always set it to stay on, even on my newer 3rd Gen. The screen saver still kicks in, but it never goes to sleep (light out, IIR).

I can't remember how my Harmony is set up as its been a couple years since I've had to tweak it!

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

Will the new Apple TV be a viable game console? Really all you need to do is make a controller that doesn't suck (which I don't think should be too hard, but a lot of iOS accessory manufacturers would have you believe otherwise.)

 

[mark34]

to be honest i would be fine with a whole interface overhall and a box that streams local stuff without buffering endlessly while stuff that actually has to download e. g. netflix works roght away. pos

I would think that is an issue with your network not your Apple TV. NetFlix or any other content starts up instantaneously for me (1080p content of course). I do use a wired connection, but I only have a middle of the road U-Verse connection (18Mbps), nothing super fast.

 

[mw360]

it's not a stunt -- Hue was put into production before HK even existed, it doesnt have the necessary chip. which means either a new bridge, or new bulbs. pros/cons to each.

New bulbs is an extremely unlikely scenario. This is why having the hub is so important. The hub handles all communication with the WiFi components. It isolates the expensive parts - the bulbs - from all the proprietary shenanigans and shifting 'standards' that are likely to unfold over the next few years with Apple, Google and anyone else trying to control your home. No matter what happens, Hue owners will only ever need to get a new hub.

If you went with LIFX with its 'no hub required' approach then you might be stuffed.

 

[mark34]

Storage is NEED badly on the Apple TV. Every time I try to watch a movie on a Friday night, I takes hours to buffer.

Something is wrong.

 

[bushido]

I would think that is an issue with your network not your Apple TV. NetFlix or any other content starts up instantaneously for me (1080p content of course). I do use a wired connection, but I only have a middle of the road U-Verse connection (18Mbps), nothing super fast.

worded it wrong. what i meant is stuff like Hulu and Netflix start instantly for me but as soon as i try to play something locally from my own iTunes library it gets stuck buffering. like it works for 10 minutes before its starting to buffer again. few minutes later the half bar is suddenly loaded before it once again has to buffer around the last 15 mins lets say of a 90 mins movie. sometimes it doesnt even bother to buffer and the spinning wheel just sits there. been so fed up with constantly having to check the bar to make sure it buffered enough that i just plug in my mac over hdmi to watch local stuff nowadays.

a friend on the other side of the world in australia has the same problem with her apple tv.

 

[mark34]

worded it wrong. what i meant is stuff like Hulu and Netflix start instantly for me but as soon as i try to play something locally from my own iTunes library it gets stuck buffering. like it works for 10 minutes before its starting to buffer again. few minutes later the half bar is suddenly loaded before it once again has to buffer around the last 15 mins lets say of a 90 mins movie. been so fed up with constantly having to check the bar to make sure it buffered enough that i just plug in my mac over hdmi to watch local stuff nowadays.

a friend on the other side of the world in australia has the same problem with her apple tv.

ah ok... ugh

 

[Zxxv]

Say it all you want, their bridge has been out for a long time and if they release a new one you probably won't get a free one unless it was within a 30 day period or so, if you are lucky. Quite frankly if you bought one after November last year when there were already rumors and articles about the MFi chip you should have known better.



Apple TV allows multiple simultaneous Apple Account logins for specifically this purpose. It has for some time now. Please stop spreading misinformation.

You didn't listen or understand what I wrote. Many of us asked Philips direct if we would need a new bridge and they said no you will NEVER need a new bridge. So we all bought the product.

 

[kristoffer4]

So this will work with the existing hardware? I wonder if we will get a software update Monday then.

 

[Shawn Parr]

You didn't listen or understand what I wrote. Many of us asked Philips direct if we would need a new bridge and they said no you will NEVER need a new bridge. So we all bought the product.

And Apple famously said they would never make a tablet smaller than 10", or a phone larger than 4".

Companies will gladly mislead people so that the buy today's product rather than wait for tomorrow. Unless there is a rather surprising update at WWDC about this then there will have to be a new Hue hub to support HomeKit due to the hardware requirement.

I would actually like to be wrong on this, as that means that other hubs could also work without new models (Wink, Staples Connect, etc). But everything I've seen involves the hardware requirement for hubs.

EDIT: Here is a snippet from the iOS Security Guide, HomeKit starts at page 20:

To establish a relationship between an iOS device and a HomeKit accessory, keys are exchanged using Secure Remote Password (3072-bit) protocol, utilizing an 8-digit code provided by the accessory’s manufacturer and entered on the iOS device by the user, and then encrypted using ChaCha20-Poly1305 AEAD with HKDF-SHA-512-derived keys. The accessory’s MFi certification is also verified during setup.

The security guide is here: http://www.apple.com/business/docs/iOS_Security_Guide.pdf

Notice the bit about verifying the MFi certification? That's what the hardware chip does. And along with the encryption mentioned there, there is more encryption involved with the communication between the device and HomeKit. It is likely that the existing Philips Hue Hub doesn't have the processing power to handle the encryption.

As I stated before, Philips pushes everyone to use their API. If they told you you wouldn't need a new hub they may have been assuming their API would be able to work with HomeKit. Either way, unless the Product Manager of the Hue line told you that personally since about January or so likely the person you heard it from just didn't know any better.

 

[Zxxv]

And Apple famously said they would never make a tablet smaller than 10", or a phone larger than 4".

Companies will gladly mislead people so that the buy today's product rather than wait for tomorrow. Unless there is a rather surprising update at WWDC about this then there will have to be a new Hue hub to support HomeKit due to the hardware requirement.

I would actually like to be wrong on this, as that means that other hubs could also work without new models (Wink, Staples Connect, etc). But everything I've seen involves the hardware requirement for hubs.

EDIT: Here is a snippet from the iOS Security Guide, HomeKit starts at page 20:



The security guide is here: http://www.apple.com/business/docs/iOS_Security_Guide.pdf

Notice the bit about verifying the MFi certification? That's what the hardware chip does. And along with the encryption mentioned there, there is more encryption involved with the communication between the device and HomeKit. It is likely that the existing Philips Hue Hub doesn't have the processing power to handle the encryption.

As I stated before, Philips pushes everyone to use their API. If they told you you wouldn't need a new hub they may have been assuming their API would be able to work with HomeKit. Either way, unless the Product Manager of the Hue line told you that personally since about January or so likely the person you heard it from just didn't know any better.

********. If Philips lied on Twitter etc then all of us who they lied to deserve rightfully and legally a free product. I'm not going to argue with you over this. Find another sukka

 

[JeffyTheQuik]

I hate to be the engineer here, but 6 watts x 24 hours = 144 watt-hours. A common confusion of units. But it sadly means that the reality is only slightly better than a 4-fold improvement.

Yeah, I was using the 10 hours that the lights were off and the AppleTV was on for the power savings, but you do have a point that the AppleTV is on 24/7, and the lights go on/off during the day, so the power consumption is more. However, on the positive side, being able to program the lights to go off automatically during the daylight hours, or command them off remotely is another positive aspect of having the 6Wh cost.

The last aspect of this is that the AppleTV power supply is rated at 6W, but that is the maximum power it is rated to put out, not the actual power that it does consume, so the cost of the AppleTV is most likely less. For light bulbs, they do consume their rating, so those numbers are pretty reliable.

Another mistake I made (I was multitasking...) was the 10x, rather than a 100x improvement with my numbers.

 

[Tech198]

Wi-fi is industry standard ...

if you start saying, it will connect one way, or i can work round it by converting x to y, then it just complicate matters when your lights go out, and your standing there wondering what's gone wrong..

While i would just flick a light switch and have done my chores before you ever got back up.