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Apple's Home Services Head Departs Company After Two Years

I don't know why Apple wouldn't bring back Airport. A decent Apple router and/or mesh network (a la Eero before Amazon bought them at least..) would serve as a central hub for anything else they wanted to do in this space.

HomePod could have been a success if they had fixed Siri, made it open (i.e. bluetooth) and priced it right (I bought mine on sale in Best Buy for $199/each and thought they were worth every penny).

I use my AppleTv's (I have one for each TV in my house) every day. They are the best of the set-top boxes by some margin - especially since Roku got into a spat with Google. Again - pricing them at a premium is what is causing the failure. To most people a $50 Amazon fire is "just as good" as an AppleTv.

This space is going to be won by those who commoditize and dominate it. Premium pricing for premium quality is not this market. Apple knows this which is why there is a $199 Apple Watch.
 
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TheYayAreaLiving ? said:
Blame the home pod mini colors. That’s probably the most innovative feature he worked on.

He’ll be applying for Google… new colors in NEST coming soon.

This is what could have been a better feature. So, Useful!

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Maybe it is too late for Apple to compete in the smart speaker market but they can rule in a brand new smart flower pot market.
 
WestonHarvey1 said:
The only way Home is ever going to work is if Apple gets into all the other spaces - doorbells, thermostats, security cameras, light bulbs, all of it.
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Even better integration with homekit compatible would be a huge step. My homekit Eufy Camera setup is hamstrung in Home due to the lack of functionality. The Eufy app harnesses all the features, which I consider standard, of the camera. While Apple barely has the basics.

Home also for me fails a lot when just giving normal instructions. "Where is my iphone", "Turn on the lamp" etc - Siri "Please wait... Still working... Unable to connect to device"
 
jaster2 said:
My favorite Siri homekit gaff is when it says "I'm sorry, I can't do that because the device is not responding right now" right after it actually did the thing I asked it to do. Maybe the new team can work on that?!!
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Omg no. If they prioritize not giving an error after completing the task over it not responding at all I’ll start tossing $25 light bulbs westward.
 
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SBlue1 said:
I don't think so. The Home app works. The only thing is that it is very limited. And unintuitive. And clueless. It seems like the people who designed it never ever used it. Looks like nobody at Apple owns an iRobot Roomba otherwise I can't see why the whole category is not supported.
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"Works"

Last week, Siri was telling me that I don't have any devices set up in my house and to please add some before I try to control them.

And every time I ask Siri to dim the lights, "2 of your devices are not responding". Or better yet, "Bedroom lamp 1 and bedroom lamp 2 are not responding" at full volume, at 1am.

And don't forget when I'm laying in bed and ask my homepod to turn off the lights, and Siri on my phone says "What room would you like to turn off the lights? And then tries to read me a list of 15 different rooms in my house".

I agree though, I can't fathom why there's no roomba control in the home app. That was pretty much last Christmas's "must have" present - at least my wife thinks so. It's a missed opportunity for Apple though.
 
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Apple Home may be the end as Amazon, Apple, Google and the Connectivity Standards Alliance (formerly the Zigbee Alliance) joins Matter. The standard will be available at 2022/Q2.

buildwithmatter.com

Build With Matter | Smart Home Device Solution

Matter creates connections between devices, simplifies development for manufacturers, and increases compatibility for consumers.
buildwithmatter.com buildwithmatter.com
 
I tweeted Tim Cook this 5 days ago. I hope he heard.
 

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Rychiar said:
I don't see how a combo Apple TV/homepod would work... I want my Apple TV in my tv stand and speakers spread out around the room for surround...
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Exactly, not to mention you're forced to buy new speakers when AppleTV gets updated hardware? Ya right… Thats not how that works in the real world.

ForkHandles said:
Hey Siri turn the tv on
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I’m working on that
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I’ll be right with you .
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It’s taking a little longer than I expected.

Aaargh!!!!!!
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You forgot “Hmm something doesn’t seem to be working”, right after it does what you asked it to do. ?
 
zachz said:
I‘ve found the Home experience over the last few years to have gone downhill, at least in my experience. Maybe his departure will be in Apple’s interest.

So many bugs, especially with iOS 15 and macOS Monterey, it’s nearly impossible for me to set scenes in the Home app without it automatically switching all my lights to white.

So many smart home competitors seem to be doing better for half the price, it’s a shame a company like Apple cannot perfect the smart home
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You forgot to mention the HORRIBLE user interface of the home app.
 
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Departs after two years? Judging by the sorry state of HomeKit and Apple's home initiative he never arrived in the first place...
 
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A failure for years, expensive limited selection of devices, while Amazon Alexa is pretty much everywhere and has become the standard.
 
rpmurray said:
This explains it. His managers have screwed up and threw him under the bus as a scapegoat which is why he's leaving. Refocus is a code word for when higher-ups have blundered badly but are unwilling to take blame. Now they just need to find another whipping boy for whatever other incompetent discussions they make going forward.
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Good managers at this level don’t let themselves be made the whipping boy.
 
I really hope that Apple will not merge AppleTV with HomePod. I like using the AppleTV to access Netflix, Disney+, Prime and even AppleTV+, but I fully rely on discrete audio components for the sound and I don't want something listening to me like the HomePod does. So please do not kill my AppleTV.
 
Google and Amazon are data-driven while Apple is hardware-driven.

Data-driven companies will make their home assistants as cheap as possible or even take a loss because ultimately what they want is your data and only by putting as many home assistants inside each and every home can they maximize the data they're collecting.

Hardware-driven companies have to make money on the home assistants that they're selling. Apple doesn't care about your data as much as Google and Amazon. That's good for consumers but bad for motivation. Apple isn't as motivated in competing in the smart home department because it's incidental in helping them sell more iPhones and services. People aren't going to stop buying iPhones just because Apple TV, Home app, and Siri are shoddy.

Working with Google and Amazon on Matter is a good start. Bringing the Airport product line back would be even better. Greatly improving Siri to have some semblance of intelligence would be heaven.
 
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