There are a number of existing products that can do this and have been around for a few years. Insteon has them as well as other firms. You can use your iPhone to control or get separate small keypad like devices.
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First HomeKit-Compatible Products Launching Today, Led by Lutron, iHome, Elgato, Insteon and Ecobee
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I have iOS and Android devices. now would i go with a product which only works with iOS or a solution which works with all devices?? people should not lock in to this unless you are an Apple fanboy
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In theory I find the idea of all this homekit stuff super interesting. However, In practice as I look through these specific examples I can't really imagine it being worth the effort 99% of the time. At least for my use cases
Same here. I'm also concerned about the constant use of power. Not really sustainable. All those little devices that use small amounts of power 24/7. It adds up and uses resources and gives a limited amount of comfort in return.
You do realize how ridiculous this statement is, right? I can't say that I'm not this lazy either but this seems like a crazy amount of money and what might be a headache when it doesn't work or when your iPhone is dead. What we have done at our house and now at my mother-in-laws house is set up ETek City RF switches and remote controls. If anyone cares, here is some on amazon, http://www.amazon.com/Etekcity-Programmable-Electrical-Converter-Appliances/dp/B00DQELHBS; you might search Amazon if interested as there are other sellers, I've bought a few on eBay too direct from Etek City and was able to "make offer" to save even more money. So at our house we each have a remote on each "side" of our bed to control all the lamps in our room and bathroom. In the living room we have another remote that controls the lights in the living room. At my mother-in-laws house, she has a similar setup except that when number 5 is pressed on her bedroom remote all of the lights that are connected (10 of them) in her house come on, her living room remote also controls her kitchen and breakfast room so in an instant, probably faster than telling Siri a command and waiting on Siri to decipher what you said if she isn't on break (I'm sorry, I cannot take any requests right now), she can turn on, or off, all of the lights in her house. Pretty cool setup.
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Just be aware that there is a new Insteon Hub that is compatible with HomeKit and then only iOS devices, not Android.
They have another hub that is not HomeKit compatible but does work with iOS, Android (+ Windows I think).
I consider myself lucky to have purchased mostly Lutron Caseta switches and dimmers for use throughout the house. I've dabbled a little with the GE, z-wave, and Cree lighting devices but the Lutrons are the most rock solid and dependable.
Lutron are also very pro-active about their iOS app and recently added Siri and geolocation which I can't wait to try out. Now that they are HomeKit compatible, that is just icing on the cake!
Now, I just hope that my Chamberlain garage opener, Nest and Protects, and the Rachio will work with HomeKit too.
Finally some exciting things to look forward to this year!
Lutron are also very pro-active about their iOS app and recently added Siri and geolocation which I can't wait to try out. Now that they are HomeKit compatible, that is just icing on the cake!
Now, I just hope that my Chamberlain garage opener, Nest and Protects, and the Rachio will work with HomeKit too.
Finally some exciting things to look forward to this year!
I'd LOVE something like this that would let me know if my garage door is open... and then be able to close it if not. Anyone know of a solution?
South African plugs also share most of those safety features, with the exception of built in fuses
Great! Now only if siri worked more than half the time I try to use it!
http://buy2gig.com/LiftMaster-MyQ-Garage-Universal-Remote-Controller-821LM.html
I use this with my security system, and now I always know if I left it open. If I do, I can also close it away from home
As geek-chic as it is to be able to control lights and such from your phone... Am I the only one who would rather just pick up a dedicated remote control with physical buttons?
Let's say I want to turn on the light. With a phone:
- Pick up phone.
- Unlock it.
- Open app.
- Find appropriate section of app to turn on/off the light
- Tap to turn it on or off.
With a dedicated remote:
- Pick up remote
- Without even looking at it, find the right button and hit it.
This sort of thing might be useful for controlling things when you're away from home, but I just can't fathom how this is better than a good old fashioned X10 remote with buttons on it. X10 also has controller modules that can give you control from your phone/computer in addition to the hard-buttoned remote, so you get the best of both worlds.
Let's say I want to turn on the light. With a phone:
- Pick up phone.
- Unlock it.
- Open app.
- Find appropriate section of app to turn on/off the light
- Tap to turn it on or off.
With a dedicated remote:
- Pick up remote
- Without even looking at it, find the right button and hit it.
This sort of thing might be useful for controlling things when you're away from home, but I just can't fathom how this is better than a good old fashioned X10 remote with buttons on it. X10 also has controller modules that can give you control from your phone/computer in addition to the hard-buttoned remote, so you get the best of both worlds.
I like the idea of this, but I really don't want a bunch of wall-warts and little boxes plaguing my home. At least with Hue light bulbs the controllers are in the bulbs themselves, but that also seems wasteful.
I would like to integrate this right into the wall, remove the old sockets and switches with modern network connected ones and keep this home automation out of sight. WiFi might not work when you have a socket wrapped in a metal box, but then you can use power line Ethernet in that case. I would actually love a power socket replacement that is not only controlled remotely but also can read the power usage for each individual plug and show me a report on my phone, ala what Nest does with my thermostat. Also if I could do a hard cut of power to an appliance that might have ghost power drain I might be able to shave a few dollars off my energy bill.
I think there is some hope for home automation, but all I have seen so far seems rushed and not very well thought out, everyone trying to be first to jump on the bandwagon. Better integration with actual home circuitry will make me want to invest in the upgrade, but add-on wall-warts are not the answer.
I would like to integrate this right into the wall, remove the old sockets and switches with modern network connected ones and keep this home automation out of sight. WiFi might not work when you have a socket wrapped in a metal box, but then you can use power line Ethernet in that case. I would actually love a power socket replacement that is not only controlled remotely but also can read the power usage for each individual plug and show me a report on my phone, ala what Nest does with my thermostat. Also if I could do a hard cut of power to an appliance that might have ghost power drain I might be able to shave a few dollars off my energy bill.
I think there is some hope for home automation, but all I have seen so far seems rushed and not very well thought out, everyone trying to be first to jump on the bandwagon. Better integration with actual home circuitry will make me want to invest in the upgrade, but add-on wall-warts are not the answer.
Im really excited for all of the new home kit enabled devices. The fact I will be able to soon ask siri to put my garage door down or to turn the lights off in the mud room is fantastic. Plus this means that you don't have to buy and stick to a brands technology anymore as most of them will have home kit enabled. So you can have Hue in one room and the Belkin lights in another and still be able to control them the same way.
Hey AppStoreNerd. I had the pleasure of working with the iHome development team on this project from the beginning. You will be happy to know that the plug and app were developed to be iOS and Android compatible (iOS 8.1 or later; Jelly Bean 4.2 or later): http://www.ihomeaudio.com/discover/smart_plug/
A number of firms, like Insteon, have controllable wall switches that keeps the automation out of site. This becomes harder for lights as two lights on the same switch are controlled at the same time.
I tend to use the plug in modules and place under furniture between lamps and wall socket. That is more flexible and out of sight as well..
I've been using this stuff since the late '90s (X-10 fun...). The best hardware now uses dual band techniques (power line + RF) to distribute commands and status data. Everything is fine for simple setups, and other than occasional reliability issues at the device level, the gear works as advertised.
Now we try to get "connected" and throw in a "hub" and add some notions of security. Suddenly it all goes to hell, with dependency loops, device link tables, and largely untested software. One issue I've not seen anyone address is what happens when several cross-linked devices fail (e.g. lightning strike) and they have to be replaced? These devices have unique addresses, which for security purposes are non-discoverable, so the replacements will not work until they are integrated into the system. The remaining devices still have stored dependencies and will try to talk to the failed devices that are now gone. Does the lucky homeowner have to wipe everything and start over from scratch?
Now we try to get "connected" and throw in a "hub" and add some notions of security. Suddenly it all goes to hell, with dependency loops, device link tables, and largely untested software. One issue I've not seen anyone address is what happens when several cross-linked devices fail (e.g. lightning strike) and they have to be replaced? These devices have unique addresses, which for security purposes are non-discoverable, so the replacements will not work until they are integrated into the system. The remaining devices still have stored dependencies and will try to talk to the failed devices that are now gone. Does the lucky homeowner have to wipe everything and start over from scratch?
To control a light, some hardware has to exist somewhere (in the bulb/socket, or attached to the light) to control it. Hubs centralize the control of multiple lights so that apps can interface with one device, along with some identifying address, to turn the light on/off/dim. App talks to hub, hub to light, action occurs.
Homekit extends that concept somewhat allowing things like discovery of existing devices in your home. Apple TV may allow Siri to turn lights on/off by voice. The ATV will be a hub of sorts then, and will likely be interfacing with the vendor hub for actual actions. In this case it might be along the lines of: Talk to Siri, ATV recognizes command, ATV talks to vendor hub, vendor hub to device, action occurs.
Actually, all of my Belkin devices can be handled in a single application without a hub. It seems like most devices are going this way now.
Especially the ones with the little grooves. They look like you just shocked them in the middle of the night.Or rather, they look... shocked.