No you still need the hub to use home kit, apple tv as a hub is for remote access
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Ikea Trådfri Smart Plugs Appear on U.S. Online Store for $9.99, Not Available to Purchase Yet
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True, but I don't think many people are buying this kind of thing just for 1 plug. If I buy the gateway for $30 plus 6 plugs for $10 a pop I'm at $90. That's $40 less than if I were to buy 6 of the iHome Plugs mentioned in the article.
No more reaching behind the Christmas tree to turn on and off the lights!
You're referring to the "hub" as in like the Phillips hue kit hub that comes in the box?
I thought that was the point of the HomePod(s) and AppleTV acting as the hub?
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207057
But you're saying that those will only allow me to turn my lights on and off when I'm away from home?
Awesome! Now if only I could come up with a single use for a smart plug. Maybe I'm boring or old-fashioned but turning on the lights with my hands when I get home isn't really dragging my lifestyle down. I guess I could... start coffee from bed if I think to set it all up the night before? Yeah, that's all I got.
Hue motion sensors work well. The problem I'd have with Siri/Shortcuts is setting it up in a family home with people coming and going all the time. I've got hue sensors outside, in the hall, landing and bathrooms and they work every time, even adjusting themselves for ambient light through the day as winter approaches.
Got that exact model. Didn’t know it was HomeKit compatible.You can already get the WoMo HomeKit-compatible wifi crockpot.
Some smart plugs have build in power usage meters, so you can see how much power stuff uses. I was planning on getting some for the electronics in the house, and see how much I would save by having them automatically turn off when we werent home.
When I moved into my current place the electrical was run in the most f-ed up way possible. Light switches controlled outlets that were immediately in front of a door or in the middle of a hallway. Basically the last place you would put any kind of light. So I bought smart plugs for my living room and bedroom that allow me to tell Alexa to turn them on/off since the light switches in either room wouldn't work (and I didn't want to rewire the place). I can use an app too, but rarely find myself doing so.
It is worth mentioning, that while I have smart outlets, I would much rather use a simple light switch. Like you said, it's not really an inconvenience. I suppose I could set another one to turn on my AV setup, but that's what my Harmony remote does with a single press of a button. Talking to Siri/Alexa/Google to get something that a single button/switch can do isn't really that beneficial.
It is worth mentioning, that while I have smart outlets, I would much rather use a simple light switch. Like you said, it's not really an inconvenience. I suppose I could set another one to turn on my AV setup, but that's what my Harmony remote does with a single press of a button. Talking to Siri/Alexa/Google to get something that a single button/switch can do isn't really that beneficial.
Couldn't agree more -- I have the Harmony remote too, and it has done way more to make my life easier (at least in so far as concerns my A/V setup) than any home automation stuff I've seen so far.
I think the central thing about HomeKit and the like comes down to this: if it's a device in my home and I want to interact with it, 99% of the time I'm standing right there and the device is doing something for me in that moment -- preparing food, lighting things up, playing video or audio, heating or cooling the place -- so being able to do it remotely with an expensive device/app combo is kind of pointless.
I guess this stuff might start making sense if you have a much bigger and fancier home with sprinklers to schedule and... hounds to release? I honestly don't know how the rich live.
The ikea hub supports HomeKit. However, their hub app doesn’t support the outlet yet. I just bought 4 outlets and can’t use any of them because ikea hasn’t updated their app. Lame.