Arlo Ultra Security Camera and Netatmo Weather Station Now Support HomeKit

[MacRumors]

Two smart home accessories gained HomeKit support today, including the Arlo Ultra security camera and the Netatmo Weather Station.

Arlo Ultra

While users can already control Arlo Ultra cameras via the Arlo app, HomeKit compatibility enables iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch users to control the cameras with Apple's Home app and Siri voice commands. A free-of-charge automatic firmware update is now rolling out for both new and existing Ultra users.

With HomeKit, Arlo Ultra owners will now be able to receive notifications via the Home app when motion is detected. On the iPhone and iPad, users can also use Siri to quickly activate a HD livestream of the camera feed.

HomeKit also allows users to set up automations to control other HomeKit-enabled smart home devices. For example, users can set up an automation to trigger HomeKit-enabled lights to turn on at certain times when motion is detected by an Arlo Ultra camera for added comfort and security.

Arlo Ultra security cameras have a wire-free setup and feature 4K HDR video quality, color night vision, a 180-degree diagonal field-of-view, an integrated spotlight, and two-way audio with advanced noise cancelation.

Pricing starts at $399.99, including a one-year subscription to 30-day rolling storage of cloud recordings.

Netatmo Weather Station

Netatmo has announced that all of its Weather Stations manufactured since October 2016 are now compatible with HomeKit. Older models do not support HomeKit due to necessary hardware changes Netatmo had to make.

To check whether your Weather Station is compatible with HomeKit, open the Netatmo Weather app on an iPhone or iPad and navigate to Settings > Station Name > Indoor Module > Hardware Version within the app. Station V3 models now support HomeKit, while V1 and V2 models do not.

HomeKit support allows Weather Station owners to view the indoor and outdoor humidity and temperature, indoor CO2 level, and indoor air quality in Apple's Home app. Noise, atmospheric pressure, wind, and rain data remains limited to the Netatmo Weather app for now due to HomeKit limitations.

Weather Station users can also ask Siri to read aloud the measurements. Example questions include "Hey Siri, what's the temperature on the balcony?" or "Hey Siri, what's the CO2 level in the living room?"

And with automations, users can trigger various actions, such as HomeKit-enabled lights turning on if indoor CO2 levels become too high. Apple's Home app does not currently allow users to create automations related to temperature and humidity because those metrics are not recognized as triggers.

Weather Station pricing starts at $179.99.

Article Link: Arlo Ultra Security Camera and Netatmo Weather Station Now Support HomeKit

 

[jmh600cbr]

Can we get some dang doorbells already?
And how about HomeKit secure video?

 

[AbSoluTc]

No, no and no. Tired of subscriptions and as an Arlo Q user, they have broken features numerous times without warning or eta on when it would be fixed. Their support is useless. Also tired of their high end cameras being the only items to receive the latest features. What about everyone else? I don’t want batteries in everything I own. Especially a damn security camera.

I went with Arlo initially because it was the better of the cameras on the market and it wasn’t Nest/Google. Plus they’ve been promising HomeKit for years now. Still nothing.

 

[4jasontv]

Do you have to use the cloud storage? Can you just run the camera on your LAN and use an Apple TV as a hub for managing notifications? It seems unnecessary to send video data to someone else.

Apple requires developers to disclose what apps are doing, maybe they could apply that requirement to HomeKit hardware too?

 

[Alex 88]

Up until now, people bought ☠️CO detectors...nowadays trendies think CO2 is literally going to kill them...

 

[chrisdazzo]

Looking at (and waiting on) you, Eufy... my parents have the current-gen Eufy Cams, and they're pretty great, if not the same (but without Homekit support for now). Would like to compare the next-gen Eufy and Arlo Ultra cams before I commit.

Can we get some dang doorbells already?
And how about HomeKit secure video?

https://www.arlo.com/en-us/products/arlo-video-doorbell/default.aspx (new)
No mention of Homekit or similar, and does any brand offer iCloud/Homekit secure video yet?

 

[Marco Klobas]

Netatmo Weather Station V2 here, so no HomeKit for me, unfortunately. I'll stick with Homebridge for this feature which works quite well.

The absence of noise, atmospheric pressure, wind, and rain data is a little disappointing, although as I understand, it's more an Apple's issue than Netatmo's. Probably this category of sensors aren't yet considered by HomeKit. It could change in the future.

Nice to see Netatmo offering this compatibility, though. It was long overdue.

 

[Grimace]

I’d love to see some decent 4K POE cameras that support HomeKit!

 

[GIZBUG]

Thought netatmo was dead. Discontinued on amazon

 

[Kabeyun]

It seems unnecessary to send video data to someone else.

I think the point is that there’s a secure video record in case you need to identify a person or vehicle (there are services that can even automatically read and ID a plate). That said, you could probably store the feed locally, although no idea how simple vs graduate-level doing that would be, not to mention the hardware cost.

 

[SoundJudgment]

Thought netatmo was dead. Discontinued on amazon

Nope. They are still going strong.

 

[Defthand]

Two things became obvious when I researched security cams. 1) An alarm system and monitoring service is a faster responder than a security cam and DIY monitoring. 2) An Internet-based security system is easily compromised if your cable line is exposed outdoors. A pair of wire cutters will render it useless.

 

[hagjohn]

Two things became obvious when I researched security cams. 1) An alarm system and monitoring service is a faster responder than a security cam and DIY monitoring. 2) An Internet-based security system is easily compromised if your cable line is exposed outdoors. A pair of wire cutters will render it useless.

But if they are close enough to cut the cable, you should already have enough video but hopefully, you put it up better.

 

[4jasontv]

I think the point is that there’s a secure video record in case you need to identify a person or vehicle (there are services that can even automatically read and ID a plate). That said, you could probably store the feed locally, although no idea how simple vs graduate-level doing that would be, not to mention the hardware cost.

I don’t know how to define secure when I don’t control the content. If I decide where the content is stored I expect I am also burdened by the cost of doing so.

 

[coolfactor]

$400 for one camera? No thanks.

 

[cjbryce]

$400 for one camera? No thanks.

This ^^