HomePod Can Now Alert You If Your Smoke Alarm Goes Off

[George Dawes]

I asked my homepod the other night , will it rain tomorrow ??

It said no

Then it started raining

So I asked it again , apparently it mixed up the days and thought today was yesterday

I think my homepod's been on the gin and tonic behind my back

 

[darthbane2k]

I have 12 Nest protests with homebridge I already get those alerts. Cool feature tho i hope it wont duplicate alerts i already get.

I also have Nest Protects - however, Nest do not manufacture a heat alarm which is what's needed in the kitchen. In fact I can't think of any Smart Heat Alarms, so for that specific scenario, this is a welcome feature.

 

[pp_amorim]

Alarm: pewewewewew
Siri: "Sorry I didn't understand that"

 

[elvisimprsntr]

I was able to get the HomePod to detect the smoke alarm video, but I had to hold the phone speaker right next to the HomePod and it took ~30-60 seconds.

I will have to try with the smoke test button later in the day so I don’t alarm the family.

I also ran around and rebooted all my hubs (ATVs), not just my phone and HomePod. Not sure if that made a difference.

It appears the location based setting for notifications does not work. You have to set it to “off” to get it to work while home. “When I am home” setting did not work for me and I confirmed I have location enabled on my phone. I have some devices with share my location turned off. Not sure if HomeKit is having trouble deciding which device is your primary home vs away location status. Seems like the notification and home vs away should be device specific.

Also, there does not seem to be a way to dismiss the notification in the home app.
I tried checking in, but that just resulted in audio feedback loop between my phone and HomePod. The notification in the home app simply disappears after some period of time.

 

[Itinj24]

I'm curious about that WiFi Networks and Routers section you have. What devices are compatible with that?

That’s HomeKit Routers. Only three manufacturers implemented it and on older models. Linksys Velop (Sold at Apple), Eero (Used to be sold at Apple but not anymore) and the newest is Amplifi Alien (Sold at Apple).

It’s basically a firewall for your HomeKit accessories. Has three modes. “Restrict To Home”- The accessories cannot communicate with anything other than HomeKit, “Automatic”- Only communicates with its native third party app for stuff like firmware updates, and the last mode is “No Restriction”- flood gates are open…

Use routers secured with HomeKit - Apple Support

Add more protection to your HomeKit accessories by controlling which services and devices they communicate with on your home Wi-Fi network and over the internet.

support.apple.com

 

[jhollington]

That’s HomeKit Routers. Only three manufacturers implemented it and on older models. Linksys Velop (Sold at Apple), Eero (Used to be sold at Apple but not anymore) and the newest is Amplifi Alien (Sold at Apple).

Yup, exactly this. Mine are a set of Eero Pro 6 units, which is a mesh system. That’s why there are four entries. The entries themselves don’t do much other than show up as devices in HomeKit, but once you e added one the additional security options show up.

Sadly, eero seems to have dropped HomeKit Router support in its newer models like the 6E and 6+, but it’s committed to continuing to support it for models that already have it.

It’s basically a firewall for your HomeKit accessories. Has three modes. “Restrict To Home”- The accessories cannot communicate with anything other than HomeKit, “Automatic”- Only communicates with its native third party app for stuff like firmware updates, and the last mode is “No Restriction”- flood gates are open…

That’s essentially correct, although “Auto” is a bit trickier. It doesn’t communicate through the third-party app; it’s more like a limited firewall with only specific ports open for things like direct firmware updates and time sync. However, the manufacturer has to give Apple a list of these rules. If a company hasn’t done so, then “auto” is the same as “no restriction.”

In my case, Philips Hue, Ecobee, and Logitech all have specific rules for auto mode. Others like Lutron, Chamberlain, and Eufy don’t, so I leave them as “Restrict to Home” during normal use.



There’s also another benefit to HomeKit Routers. When setting up Wi-Fi HomeKit accessories, they will be assigned a private key instead of using your actual Wi-Fi password. This improves security in the event one of your IoT devices gets hacked or decides to leak Wi-Fi info, and also means you don’t have to run around updating passwords on a bunch of smart home devices when you decide to change your Wi-Fi password.

 

[obviouslogic]

Good point. All my smokes are connected via a third interconnect wire.

Are the smart smokes compatible with the hardwired interconnect? Or are they intentionally incompatible to force one to replace them all?

If your smart detector is from the same manufacturer as your "dumb" detectors, then yes, more then likely it should work, but still check with the device instructions.

Also, from the NFPA.org website...

• When interconnected smoke alarms are installed, it is important that all of the alarms are from the same manufacturer. If the alarms are not compatible, they may not sound.

You would think there would be a standard!?


I have a hardwired OneLink connected to my "safety" circuit along with several First Alert detectors. When I run a test on the OneLink, it is able to also test all the other detectors individually.

 

[StumpyBloke]

Finally got it to work using that video of the fire alarm. And it worked really well. However it does not work with my existing Netatmo and Eve smart smoke detectors. Assuming Apple will need to add additional alarm recognition.

 

[elvisimprsntr]

Finally got it to work using that video of the fire alarm. And it worked really well. However it does not work with my existing Netatmo and Eve smart smoke detectors. Assuming Apple will need to add additional alarm recognition.

Apparently there is no standard. I know my Kidde RemoteLync advertises that it is compatible with all smokes manufactured since the 70’s, but you have to train the device. I suspect there a just too many variables to be reliable without training. Variability between manufacturers, placement, room acoustics, multiple detectors sounding off, etc.

 

[n-evo]

Just open your home app, it's there waiting for one click 😊

Not at the time. That was what the convo in this thread was all about initially.

 

[beanbaguk]

For all those complaining, it's a nice free feature from Apple, and massively cheaper than a premium HomeKit fire or CO detector.

I have a smart smoke detector which works great from Netatmo, but it was $100. The CO sensor is another $100, or I can buy a quality "dumb" sensor for $30.

So if you have a home with four floors (like I do), hallways in each, adding smart sensors can quickly add up. I currently have 6 smoke sensors in my home and one CO sensor.

For a set of quality "dumb" sensors, you are talking about $210.

For a set of HomeKit smart sensors, you are talking $700.

It isn't exactly hard to do the math, but for those who can't be bothered; You're saving $490

Most people can't afford this, so they don't bother putting sensors in all their rooms; However, with this feature, you are now offering some of the benefits of a smart sensor at no extra cost.

Like I said. It's a nice extra feature at no extra cost.

Thank you, Apple.

P.S. Alexa doesn't offer the same feature in all countries. (For example, I don't have it where I live).

 

[beanbaguk]

I was able to get the HomePod to detect the smoke alarm video, but I had to hold the phone speaker right next to the HomePod and it took ~30-60 seconds.

I will have to try with the smoke test button later in the day so I don’t alarm the family.

I also ran around and rebooted all my hubs (ATVs), not just my phone and HomePod. Not sure if that made a difference.

It appears the location based setting for notifications does not work. You have to set it to “off” to get it to work while home. “When I am home” setting did not work for me and I confirmed I have location enabled on my phone. I have some devices with share my location turned off. Not sure if HomeKit is having trouble deciding which device is your primary home vs away location status. Seems like the notification and home vs away should be device specific.

Also, there does not seem to be a way to dismiss the notification in the home app.
I tried checking in, but that just resulted in audio feedback loop between my phone and HomePod. The notification in the home app simply disappears after some period of time.

Just tested that and it's brilliant.

Nice work Apple!

 

[n-evo]

P.S. Alexa doesn't offer the same feature in all countries. (For example, I don't have it where I live).

Hell, Alexa only speaks a fraction of the languages Siri supports.

 

[katbel]

I was able to get the HomePod to detect the smoke alarm video, but I had to hold the phone speaker right next to the HomePod and it took ~30-60 seconds.

I will have to try with the smoke test button later in the day so I don’t alarm the family.

I also ran around and rebooted all my hubs (ATVs), not just my phone and HomePod. Not sure if that made a difference.

It appears the location based setting for notifications does not work. You have to set it to “off” to get it to work while home. “When I am home” setting did not work for me and I confirmed I have location enabled on my phone. I have some devices with share my location turned off. Not sure if HomeKit is having trouble deciding which device is your primary home vs away location status. Seems like the notification and home vs away should be device specific.

Also, there does not seem to be a way to dismiss the notification in the home app.
I tried checking in, but that just resulted in audio feedback loop between my phone and HomePod. The notification in the home app simply disappears after some period of time.

No need to reset or reboot or re-add anything
THANKS a lot for your video, Siri got really worried😆 and every device got the update immediately then I received the notification.
I agree with you : no way to dismiss the notification.
Maybe a nice sound of a firetruck could help 🚒, going to try with my kids toy LOL
Anyway it's impressive , thanks Apple

Update: as soon as I got another notification from my camera , the fire alert went away

 

[elvisimprsntr]

I now have three ways to know if my house is burning to the ground when not at home.


1. Kidde since 2016
2. Echo since 2020
3. HomePod in 2023

Better late than never, Apple

 

[MadeTheSwitch]

https://www.evehome.com/en/eve-smoke ?

They don’t seem to offer a smoke detector anymore. At least not in the U.S.

Your link ends up showing no product. But I wish it did!

FYI: there are several Homekit enabled smoke/CO detectors on the market (First Alert, Onelink, Owl, etc)

From everything I have read about Owl, it seems like an unfinished beta product.

It seems like people have the most success with using Nest and a Starling Home Hub to get it into Homekit. I am hoping that they release a Matter version of their detector though so an extra hub isn’t needed anymore.

Although I don’t know if this new feature Apple released will pick up Nest alarms. Someone above said they sound different. Does anyone reading this have a Nest smoke detector that they could try with this Apple Homepod alarm detection?

 

[B/D]

Found it. It turns out there is a new "Security" tab in the "Home Settings" section of the home app (right below the "intercom" tab).

If I tap on it, it informs me of this new feature, but tells me that it requires to upgrade to the new home app architecture, which I cant do because two people in my home still have Iphone 7, which cannot be updated to IOS 16.

 

[zaxxon72]

Thread still seems active, so I dare to bump:

Interested.

Could somebody test/verify:

• Does this only detect apple's preset alarm sounds?
• Does it really only detect alarm sounds, and not appliance sounds?
• Does it detect alarm sounds you trained on the iPhone (e.g. of an appliance

Thanks
Simon

 

[_Spinn_]

This is great!

 

[Morac]

I enabled this a few days ago when it came out, but I figured I’d test it since it showed as active on both my HomePods. I played the YouTube video and after about 15 seconds I got an alert, but only for one of my HomePods. I was a few feet away from one on the first floor and the one up in my bedroom set me an alert.

I couldn’t get the one on the first floor to send an alert until I unplugged it and plugged it back in. If it’s not going to work reliably I wouldn’t rely on it. Apple’s help text even says as much.

 

[zapmymac]

Umm, gentlepeoples…is the update safe for my OG’s

I had a bad feeling about this update, so I did not.

Any issues 🫣🫣