iOS 26 Includes Adaptive Temperature Option for Automatic Thermostat Adjustment

[Fortimir]

Yeah, my Nest has been using my phone to do this for... um... at least 10 years. Too bad Google ruined that product too, though. Once they drop support I won't be using Nest anymore.

 

[Oberhorst]

Only "supported thermostats", not sure what that means. Mine doesn't seem to be supported, it's not showing the new option.

 

[jonnysods]

Why wouldn't this be part of an automation? like "when I leave home, turn the thermostat down to 65, when I arrive home, turn the thermostat to 73" or something, no need for "learning". But I guess we need all this "automated stuff"

Yeah setting a schedule just seems easy enough. Most thermostats already do home and away temps as well.

 

[BJMRamage]

l read an article yesterday saying you needed a Matter-enabled Thermostat to use Adaptive Temperature.
For anyone with a Nest Product that wants to integrate with HomeKit, use the Starling Home Hub (order sooner or later as they are ending their physical product production due to increasing parts costs).

Nest already has a similar feature that we use when we are AWAY. We just need to remember on longer trips to activate the HVAC system on the way home or when we get home it feels a bit hot/cold. The Nest just drops into Auto/Eco mode and sets a range to keep temperature.

 

[McWetty]

Using a Lennox system and not seeing that setting available on either unit. I suspect this needs to be enabled by the manufacturer.

 

[StuBeck]

ecobee is notorious for not allowing full control over their devices via the Home app. All new ecobee thermostats and sensor come with Thread radios yet they refuse to implement Matter over Thread.

Hopefully they supports Adaptive Temperature, otherwise Apple really needs to build in automatic support for all HomeKit devices.

I just got an e-mail yesterday from them telling me about how I should use Apple Home, so whatever issues should be getting better. As it is, I get recommendations on my location with Homekit/ecobee app already, so I may be one of the lucky ones without this issue.

 

[Rychiar]

I dunno about anyone else but I NEVER want my thermostat thinking for itself.... it should change exactly to what I want it to based on my automations

 

[alexandr]

Dr. Sherman was the first to test this on the Sarah Connor Chronicles...

 

[victorvictoria]

This is intended as 100% respectful. Each incremental Celsius degree equals 9/5 an incremental Fahrenheit degree, so the precision between 0.5 degrees Celsius is very close to 1 degree Fahrenheit. And I wish the US was on the metric system.

I stand corrected!

 

[whsbuss]

ecobee is notorious for not allowing full control over their devices via the Home app. All new ecobee thermostats and sensor come with Thread radios yet they refuse to implement Matter over Thread.

Hopefully they supports Adaptive Temperature, otherwise Apple really needs to build in automatic support for all HomeKit devices.

I have a new ecobee yet I don't see the Adaptive Temp setting in the Home app.

 

[il_teo77]

I own (counts…) 7 Tado X radiator thermostats. These are the latest gen, which means fully matter over thread. No hubs, no apps, nothing. They work flawlessly. Can I automate these beyond temperature (which is already saving me tons of money)? Not a major hurdle currently as someone is always home, except on vacation and the thermal inertia makes it unwise to turn them up and down every time. When I leave for longer times (vacation) I just tell Siri to set all temperatures at a low level (not turned off) and 24 to 15 hours before coming home, I set each room anew. But I’d like to automate further. For instance at night living room and kitchen could go a few degrees (Celsius) lower and in the morning before we wake up “prepare” the room. Is it possible with the feature mentioned in the article?

 

[tennisproha]

Yeah, on the one hand I wish they would integrate more and that their sensors would show up in HomeKit. On the other hand, you can already configure EcoBee to do this based on the temperature sensors around the house since they have motion sensors.

The problem with adaptive systems like this is that if I leave my mother-in-law to watch our kids for the weekend while the wife and I have a getaway, this system would freeze them out or burn them up depending on time of year where we live which can be anywhere from -20F to 110F. I wish I could use more of my sensors around the house to more accurately detect presence for the purpose of Ecobee's motion system. Or does the Home app use other motion sensors as part of the adaptive system?

The issue is I currently only have one other HomeKit motion sensor, I used to have two others that were Ring and used HomeBridge, but I eventually removed them because I kept having false alarms sending police to our home when we were away and I replaced those with glass break sensors.

The problem with smart homes in 2025 is that they're not actually that smart, and you have to be very smart just to get them operating halfway decent and troubleshoot various issues all the time. I've been hoping to completely tear down and rebuild my entire system from scratch near the end of this decade, but IDK if the tech is going to be caught up enough to make it worthwhile.

The problem is every manufacturer is locking their system down behind proprietary hubs and sensors to where you have to use their apps to control them instead of HomeKit. This means you can’t fully integrate to have a holistic system.

ecobee and hue are notorious for this. The ecobee sensors do work well to control temperature based on motion and occupancy, however the problem is they aren’t exposed to HomeKit so you can’t use them for other purposes or use them for Apple’s new Adaptive Temperature.

I’m hoping Apple can force manufacturers to expose everything to HomeKit or setup the API to where everything is automatically exposed.

 

[imola.zhp]

This was great until one of us started working from home (just prior to the virus). Now the house just stays on one setting all day and lowers a few degrees at night which is initiated by a scene.

 

[ndcse2000]

The ecobee sensors do work well to control temperature based on motion and occupancy, however the problem is they aren’t exposed to HomeKit so you can’t use them for other purposes or use them for Apple’s new Adaptive Temperature.

Is this a limitation with the newer models? I see all my remote sensors, with motion, occupancy, and temperature in each room in HomeKit.

 

[tennisproha]

Is this a limitation with the newer models? I see all my remote sensors, with motion, occupancy, and temperature in each room in HomeKit.

No, you can see them but you can't use them with other devices because they are setup using the ecobee app, not HomeKit. That's what we mean by "exposed to". They are not standalone sensors in the Home app.

 

[hagar]

Nest/Google home has had this for ever (and now tied into HomeKit)

The same Nest/Google that decided to cripple their first and second gen Nest thermostats this fall? By removing all remote functionality permanently? That Nest/Google?

I never ever will buy another piece of Google hardware.

 

[hagar]

Nest has had Matter integration for a while now, which means it has HomeKit integration. I routinely manage my two Nest thermostats using the Home app across my Apple devices.

Regarding the automation, based on your phone, it's called Home/Away Assist. That has to be managed in the Google Home app.

I refuse to install the Google Home app and share my location with Google.

What I did was expose the Home/Away functionality of the Nest thermostat as a button in HomeKit (using the excellent Homebridge). And then I use an automation to set that button to on or off depending on wether somebody is home or not. Using Apple’s location of our phones.

 

[ndcse2000]

No, you can see them but you can't use them with other devices because they are setup using the ecobee app, not HomeKit. That's what we mean by "exposed to". They are not standalone sensors in the Home app.

I'm able to...

 

[mavis]

This is a useful change, and certainly a step in the right direction. 👍🏻

There are far better and more effective solutions to this sort of problem though, than HomeKit can provide. I've recently started using Home Assistant - for those that aren't afraid to get a little more technical, it allows full control of vastly more devices than HomeKit (and even HomeKit + HomeBridge) does, and also allows full automation exactly like this article described (but better! For example, my thermostat automation through Home Assistant is based on actual location of my family, not historical trends or 'learned' behavior). Home Assistant can also expose devices back to HomeKit, so that family members who are used to that system can easily control the home, the way that they're used to.

Anyway, this thermostat automation with HomeKit sounds like step in the right direction, so that's good. But there are far better options already available, for those willing to tinker! 👍🏻

 

[ericg301]

The same Nest/Google that decided to cripple their first and second gen Nest thermostats this fall? By removing all remote functionality permanently? That Nest/Google?

I never ever will buy another piece of Google hardware.

yeah cool. you do you. i have 2 of a recent generation that have Matter integration.

 

[tennisproha]

I'm able to...

No, you're not. I see that too. They're ecobee app accessories, not standalone sensors.

 

[ChazSch]

Nest/Google home has had this for ever (and now tied into HomeKit)

I was going to say the same thing. The “next big thing” from Apple has been on other platforms for years. For example- spam call filtering.

Smh