First Alert Debuts HomeKit-Enabled Onelink Smoke Alarm

[zinned]

Maybe you'd care to elaborate? I don't see how your reply addresses the original comment that an additional app would be required.

No, my comment doesn't. But it's tiresome to constantly read these posts that clearly are based on that the person has no knowledge in the matter. It's not on me to educate these persons.

But ok, here we go:

Devices that supports HomeKit can be controlled from any HomeKit enabled app, at least the basic functions. For example, you can get temperature readings from your Elgato Eve Room from the "Home" app, you don't need to use the Eve app. But some functions may not be available, such as getting a reading off the Eve Room regarding air quality. For that, you will need the Eve app. That's not something that's limited by HomeKit though, it's a limit set byt Elgato.

 

[JimmyHook]

Don't people realise that the Nest Protect smoke/CO alarm which is virtually identical to this in function has been around a good couple of years now? The v1 was prone to false alarms, but the v2 is pretty solid. OK, if you don't like Google then you probably won't want Nest, but really this is nothing new. In fact, the only differentiator seems to be HomeKit, which the Nest doesn't support - but all that seems to equate to is that you can't voice-control the device, and I'm not sure that's really not a case of voice control for the sake of it in this instance.

"Hey Siri, has my house burned down this week?"

Yeah, Nest without HomeKit is infinitely weak. HomeKit is amazing. "Works with Nest" doesn't even come close to HomeKit's power.

 

[JimmyHook]

No, my comment doesn't. But it's tiresome to constantly read these posts that clearly are based on that the person has no knowledge in the matter. It's not on me to educate these persons.

But ok, here we go:

Devices that supports HomeKit can be controlled from any HomeKit enabled app, at least the basic functions. For example, you can get temperature readings from your Elgato Eve Room from the "Home" app, you don't need to use the Eve app. But some functions may not be available, such as getting a reading off the Eve Room regarding air quality. For that, you will need the Eve app. That's not something that's limited by HomeKit though, it's a limit set byt Elgato.

Correct. It's worth mentioning that Air Quality from Eve is in a proprietary data format so other HomeKit apps can't interpret it (at the moment). In general HomeKit works amazingly well for scenes, triggers, and conditions. I use the Home app. It's 15 bucks but controls 90 percent of my HomeKit setup with one app.

 

[rhp2424]

I want a smart smoke detector with a 30-minute "cooking" mode, so that it doesn't go off every time my girlfriend makes dinner.

I'd love to have a detector I can shut off when something smoky happens in the kitchen.

You should both consider the Nest Protect if that is what you are most interested in. It was for that reason that I bought the one released just this year. My home had an old school smoke detector installed just feet from an oven and it went off anytime you opened the oven. Multiple times if you were cooking something like yams. The Nest Protect advertised its ability to differentiate between what you two are discussing, and real emergencies. Multiple dinners with baked yams later, I've been happy with the much quieter results. Although my young son enjoyed waving the towel at the smoke detector. I think he misses the multiple false alarms

(snip)...Nest Protect smoke/CO alarm which is virtually identical to this in function...(snip)...you can't voice-control the device...(snip)

Actually, the Nest Thermostat can be voice controlled through the Google App on the phone, it may be possible to control the Nest Protect as well. I've never checked. As you state though, I'm not sure I can think of a reason to.

 

[JeffyTheQuik]

They need to combine this with security camera. I dont think many of us will pay $100+ for a smoke alarm because fire accidnet doesnt happen often.

I, for one, won't miss getting out a ladder, finding the microscopic "silence" button when I burn the bacon at 4am when the kids and Mrs. Thequik are asleep.

It's especially fun with vaulted ceilings.

 

[Howlinmoon]

I, for one, won't miss getting out a ladder, finding the microscopic "silence" button when I burn the bacon at 4am when the kids and Mrs. Thequik are asleep.

It's especially fun with vaulted ceilings.

I don't miss having to test the previous generation of alarms by holding in the button until it blows my ears off...

With the Nest Protects - I can trigger a test, and then walk away during the countdown...

I bought the first generation of Nest Protects - and I'll be watching for feedback of these smoke alarms.
2 of our 5 Nest Protects failed - by that I mean triggering for no reason whatsoever - repeatedly.

 

[doelcm82]

"comes with a built-in battery that cannot be replaced"
No swappable battery. No 3G. No keyboard. Lame.

That's a feature. The battery lasts 10 years. After 10 years you need to replace your smoke detector anyway, because the sensors in it can't be trusted to protect you in an actual emergency. Swapping out the 10-year battery would mean you don't care about the safety of your family. And that's really lame.

And how would you use a keyboard with your smoke detector, anyway?

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

Is it me, or this just... too complicated?

A smoke detector is the sort of device which almost never gets used, but when it does, it must work. Failure is not an option because people might die. I want the simplest damned smoke detector I can get, run off a cheap replaceable 9V battery, that I know will go off if a fire starts.

As awesome as advancement in tech is, this really isn't something that requires advanced technology. It just needs to be loud to wake everyone up so they can evacuate if necessary.

Smoke alarms are often disabled after they either:
1 - Alerted the occupants about a danger that wasn't yet detectable by the people around it (I.E., Carbon Monoxide, or a fire behind the walls).
2 - Just a false alarm for whatever reason.

Then it's unable to warn them about actual dangers. Something like 80% of deaths that are caused by fires or carbon monoxide poisoning occur near a disabled alarm.

Having an app could vastly reduce the number of smoke alarms that are disabled.

In scenario #1, the app could display additional data about why the alarm is going off, so the occupants are more likely to realize something bad is happening and that it isn't just a false alarm.

In scenario #2, you can have a silence button so that if it's just going off because something is making a lot of smoke in the kitchen, or if the room is dusty or something, you can actually do something other than disable it (I know that they're supposed to have a button that silence them on the alarm itself... I have never had those work. It always resumes being obnoxious within a minute. So I disable it.)

 

[JeffyTheQuik]

"comes with a built-in battery that cannot be replaced"
No swappable battery. No 3G. No keyboard. Lame.

As opposed to the other person that said that you hated your family, I'll put it nicely...

I did a little research, and they do wear out and the recommended replacement interval is 8-10 years. That's something I didn't know, as I thought they lasted forever, as long as you changed the battery out. The consensus is that dust, grease, and elemental issues cause them to eventually fail.

For me, when I get a new house, I'm going to make sure the ones they use are a brand name (like First Alert), have HomeKit compatibility, and then, at 7 years, start changing them out, 2 or 3 at a time. This way, I don't get hit with a $1400 bill (yeah, I'm getting a big house) all at once, plus the failure mode is distributed across lots and time.

 

[TXCherokee]

Is it me, or this just... too complicated?

A smoke detector is the sort of device which almost never gets used, but when it does, it must work. Failure is not an option because people might die. I want the simplest damned smoke detector I can get, run off a cheap replaceable 9V battery, that I know will go off if a fire starts.

As awesome as advancement in tech is, this really isn't something that requires advanced technology. It just needs to be loud to wake everyone up so they can evacuate if necessary.

If you think about it, central alerting services have provided this functionality for a LONG time now. My parents have a home security system like this, where it alerts you in case of either fire or a break-in, as well as calling the appropriate emergency service for you.

All this does is take the alerting feature and scales it back so it only contacts YOU via the HomeKit interface, vs. having live operators make calls.

IMO, these smart smoke alarms are fine, but priced way too high. Our house isn't really that big, yet we have 4 smoke alarms here. No way I'll spend $400 to replace them all with HomeKit enabled versions. That's madness.

This falls into the "in my particular situation" category which so many folks here like to pass blanket judgment on a product, so bear with me....

I have two cats and a dog. I work 1.6 miles from home. I would like a direct link from the smoke detector to my phone. It gives me a chance to get home and save my animals. For most, I agree that this isn't super useful, but in my particular situation....

 

[JeffyTheQuik]

I’m a big fan of Apple’s HomeKit technology. I previously posted a tour of my 1870’s home, which is filled with dozens of HomeKit accessories:

When I heard that FirstAlert had released two HomeKit-compatible smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, I jumped to buy them not only because I love HomeKit but also because this was a safety issue I had been overlooking for some time. I made a video review and unboxing to discuss the features of these new FirstAlert Onelink HomeKit alarms.

In this video, I also discuss the third party app: Home - Home Automation with HomeKit By Matthias Hochgatterer.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/home-home-automation-homekit/id995994352?mt=8

(By my estimation, this is the best HomeKit app so far.)

As always: I have gone through a lot of time setting up these devices, troubleshooting problems, and resolving them, so if you have any HomeKit questions or comments please leave them below, and I’ll respond.

Very nice!

(You should look at getting a heater for the house... 59 degrees? I'm getting chilled thinking about it!)

 

[rhp2424]

I have two cats and a dog. I work 1.6 miles from home. I would like a direct link from the smoke detector to my phone. It gives me a chance to get home and save my animals. For most, I agree that this isn't super useful, but in my particular situation....

Joking as you may be, if you really do want something for your particular situation, you should get a Nest Protect. You can get a heads up alert on your phone, so potentially before there is a more serious alert. If you set it up correctly, you can even have it connect to other features in your house such as lights and garage door. Heck, you can actually have it turn your sprinklers on, if you get and connect the Rachio sprinkler system, to possibly prevent any potential fire from populating beyond your home. Now they need to make that connect to your neighbors house as well.

 

[imola.zhp]

That's a feature. The battery lasts 10 years. After 10 years you need to replace your smoke detector anyway, because the sensors in it can't be trusted to protect you in an actual emergency. Swapping out the 10-year battery would mean you don't care about the safety of your family. And that's really lame.

And how would you use a keyboard with your smoke detector, anyway?

He forgot to use the sarcasm font. People always complain about non-swappable batteries in Apple Products, he was applying it to this detector as well as some other off the wall gripes.

Joking as you may be, if you really do want something for your particular situation, you should get a Nest Protect. You can get a heads up alert on your phone, so potentially before there is a more serious alert. If you set it up correctly, you can even have it connect to other features in your house such as lights and garage door. Heck, you can actually have it turn your sprinklers on, if you get and connect the Rachio sprinkler system, to possibly prevent any potential fire from populating beyond your home. Now they need to make that connect to your neighbors house as well.

These same things will be coming to HomeKit soon. I already sold my Nest2 and went to EcoBee3, next is my lift master smartQ garage door opener. Luckily I hadn't yet bought the Rachio Iro, nor any lighting products yet. All home kit form now on.

 

[jlc1978]

As always: I have gone through a lot of time setting up these devices, troubleshooting problems, and resolving them, so if you have any HomeKit questions or comments please leave them below, and I’ll respond.

Do you know i this works with existing OneLink alarm setups? If so, does one alarm the send a Homeland signal even if it is not the Homelink alarm that is triggered? I use OneLink in 3 stories and if this is comparable then I can add Homelink easily by simply replacing one Alarm.

 

[jonnysods]

I want a smart smoke detector with a 30-minute "cooking" mode, so that it doesn't go off every time my girlfriend makes dinner.

Oh man, the running and opening of widows and fanning with alarm to shut it off gets old.

 

[doelcm82]

He forgot to use the sarcasm font. People always complain about non-swappable batteries in Apple Products, he was applying it to this detector as well as some other off the wall gripes.

I also forgot to use the sarcasm font.

 

[SqB]

I'm heading out to get one of these right now. This is exactly what I was looking for in that it integrates with my existing hardware interconnect detectors on all three floors. I really like the Nest Protect, but the idea of buying a detector that won't be interconnected to the other 10 in my house was something I'm not willing to do and I can't truly go out and buy 11 x $100 smoke detectors all at once. My wife would freak. This way I can buy just one now to get the wifi feature and replace the rest of them over time.

This looks like a great compromise and a bonus that it works with HomeKit as I'm just starting to buy smart home type stuff. Unfortunately my first purchase was a Nest 2, on sale at Lowes last week, but I still really like it even though it's not HomeKit.

 

[lincolnater]

It looks pretty clear that OCDMacGeek is actually, Matthias Hochgatterer, the developer of the app he so strongly pushes in every single comment made on MacRumors forum.

I’m a big fan of Apple’s HomeKit technology. I previously posted a tour of my 1870’s home, which is filled with dozens of HomeKit accessories:

When I heard that FirstAlert had released two HomeKit-compatible smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, I jumped to buy them not only because I love HomeKit but also because this was a safety issue I had been overlooking for some time. I made a video review and unboxing to discuss the features of these new FirstAlert Onelink HomeKit alarms.

In this video, I also discuss the third party app: Home - Home Automation with HomeKit By Matthias Hochgatterer.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/home-home-automation-homekit/id995994352?mt=8

(By my estimation, this is the best HomeKit app so far.)

As always: I have gone through a lot of time setting up these devices, troubleshooting problems, and resolving them, so if you have any HomeKit questions or comments please leave them below, and I’ll respond.

 

[ohio.emt]

Joking as you may be, if you really do want something for your particular situation, you should get a Nest Protect. You can get a heads up alert on your phone, so potentially before there is a more serious alert. If you set it up correctly, you can even have it connect to other features in your house such as lights and garage door. Heck, you can actually have it turn your sprinklers on, if you get and connect the Rachio sprinkler system, to possibly prevent any potential fire from populating beyond your home. Now they need to make that connect to your neighbors house as well.

Even if the First Alert costed more, I'd rather buy it then trust the Nest Protect.

 

[xdhd350]

Is it me, or this just... too complicated?

A smoke detector is the sort of device which almost never gets used, but when it does, it must work. Failure is not an option because people might die. I want the simplest damned smoke detector I can get, run off a cheap replaceable 9V battery, that I know will go off if a fire starts.

As awesome as advancement in tech is, this really isn't something that requires advanced technology. It just needs to be loud to wake everyone up so they can evacuate if necessary.

Made just for simple folks like you...

 

[bellang]

It looks pretty clear that OCDMacGeek is actually, Matthias Hochgatterer, the developer of the app he so strongly pushes in every single comment made on MacRumors forum.

Apart from the fact that they look very different...

 

[amjustice]

Had a chance to get hands on with one of these last week and it is a very nice product. They have all the features that a Nest Protect has and then some. If you are building out a smart home with homekit product it seems like a natural fit to me.

 

[rdlink]

If you think about it, central alerting services have provided this functionality for a LONG time now. My parents have a home security system like this, where it alerts you in case of either fire or a break-in, as well as calling the appropriate emergency service for you.

All this does is take the alerting feature and scales it back so it only contacts YOU via the HomeKit interface, vs. having live operators make calls.

IMO, these smart smoke alarms are fine, but priced way too high. Our house isn't really that big, yet we have 4 smoke alarms here. No way I'll spend $400 to replace them all with HomeKit enabled versions. That's madness.

You just contradicted yourself.

Why would you think that $400 is too high for an autonomous system that stops costing you recurring costs immediately, after you discussed a monitored system that would likely cost you in the neighborhood of $40 a month, after the hardware costs of having it installed?

As another poster said, smoke alarm technology is rarely used. So in the end, if you want the ability to monitor it from afar, and easily shut off false alarms without putting your hands on the alarm (think 14 foot ceilings) this system is pretty darn inexpensive.

 

[OCDMacGeek]

Very nice!

(You should look at getting a heater for the house... 59 degrees? I'm getting chilled thinking about it!)

Haha! My wife likes to keep the house pretty chilly to save energy. I've gotten used to it!

 

[OCDMacGeek]

Do you know i this works with existing OneLink alarm setups? If so, does one alarm the send a Homeland signal even if it is not the Homelink alarm that is triggered? I use OneLink in 3 stories and if this is comparable then I can add Homelink easily by simply replacing one Alarm.

I don't have the manual on me, but I do recall seeing a page addressing this and I believe it does work with existing Onelink alarms...