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iPad Home Hub Support Apparently Being Removed in iOS 16
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I assume this is a matter of practicalities. Who never ever ever lets their iPad run out of battery? What if you go away for a week or two, unless you’re comfortable leaving the iPad charging constantly for that period of time, your automations aren’t going to work.
It seems sensible to have a hub option set for a device that’s mains powered (likewise, desktop computers should be included)
It seems sensible to have a hub option set for a device that’s mains powered (likewise, desktop computers should be included)
What I wonder about is why Apple never says anything regardless re: how much its customers are affected by Apple's decisions. I know "Legal" always emphasizes that minimizing exposure is the best approach NO MATTER WHAT. I intuit that Tim & Co. think absolute secrecy has some sort of value to Apple. But really, why can Apple not be a bit more forthcoming ?? They make drastic (for some folks) changes: nothing. They have absolutely terrible bugs that should have been caught in generic QA: nothing or some sort of "...this is very, very minor re: affected folks...". Personally it does A LOT of damage re: Apple's brand for me. Likely I am in the minority because I am a skeptic first. But really, does "Legal" has so much purview that Apple never says s**t not matter what ??
I really like HomeKit, but for it to survive they need to encourage adoption. Forcing people to buy a speaker or TV box they don't otherwise want to make the thermostats work doesn't seem like the path to broader adoption.
What I never understood is why a Mac can't act as a hub.
HomeKit just seems like it could use more love from Apple before its niche gets too small to sustain.
What I never understood is why a Mac can't act as a hub.
HomeKit just seems like it could use more love from Apple before its niche gets too small to sustain.
I'll wager that most people using an iPad as their home hub don't even know that the iPad is performing that function.
It could also be saving the battery? Currently the local network is kind of flooded with HomeKit traffic, draining many iPhones.
I have eight HomePod mini's and two AppleTV 4K scattered around the house. All HK bluetooth or Thread devices are served by the one that is nearest. Even Mac's (with Mojave or higher) are used to connect to HK bluetooth devices.
They all work indeed, regardless which of the HomePod's or AppleTV 4K is "master". But as it turns out, bluetooth devices react seconds slower when one of the HomePod's is "master", even when it is physically closer to one of these HK bluetooth devices (Like an older Eve Energy).
But the most annoying thing I have encountered is the connection with Hue. When the wired AppleTV 4K is "master" any trigger with Hue buttons work with almost no delay. But when one of the HomePods is "master", then it often is extremely slow or doesn't work at all. When that happens I have to power-cycle the Hue bridge to get it working again for a limited amount of hours. Or I pull the power of all homepods until the wired appleTV is master again.
It isn't that "smart". It is a good speaker with voice commando options. 😄
In the past I had pair of AudioEngine active speakers, combined with a dedicated Airport Express it was a great set. With iTunes and a couple of audio processing plugins it was a great music player. But they need more space and its partly wired. In a small room, the HomePod is the only alternative that has a very good sound works perfectly with Mac and AppleTV.. JBL has something similar with built-in battery, but it also contains Google sniffing and Airplay isn't stable. Those HomePod mini's sound great and compared to the AudioEngine boxes, no background hiss, no need for the equaliser, less wires and easier to place in smaller rooms. It runs a fulll week on a 30Ah powerbank.
AppleTV 4K... I said the same thing until 2017: I don't need that. And then I bought it just for fun. Boy, that thing turned out to be much faster, smoother and better than all the cable company cable boxes then. It immediately replaced the cable receiver. And still today there's nothing that works so smooth and easy compared to all the "smart" TV boxes in the market. My family embraced the ATV within two weeks.
I have eight HomePod mini's and two AppleTV 4K scattered around the house. All HK bluetooth or Thread devices are served by the one that is nearest. Even Mac's (with Mojave or higher) are used to connect to HK bluetooth devices.
They all work indeed, regardless which of the HomePod's or AppleTV 4K is "master". But as it turns out, bluetooth devices react seconds slower when one of the HomePod's is "master", even when it is physically closer to one of these HK bluetooth devices (Like an older Eve Energy).
But the most annoying thing I have encountered is the connection with Hue. When the wired AppleTV 4K is "master" any trigger with Hue buttons work with almost no delay. But when one of the HomePods is "master", then it often is extremely slow or doesn't work at all. When that happens I have to power-cycle the Hue bridge to get it working again for a limited amount of hours. Or I pull the power of all homepods until the wired appleTV is master again.
It isn't that "smart". It is a good speaker with voice commando options. 😄
In the past I had pair of AudioEngine active speakers, combined with a dedicated Airport Express it was a great set. With iTunes and a couple of audio processing plugins it was a great music player. But they need more space and its partly wired. In a small room, the HomePod is the only alternative that has a very good sound works perfectly with Mac and AppleTV.. JBL has something similar with built-in battery, but it also contains Google sniffing and Airplay isn't stable. Those HomePod mini's sound great and compared to the AudioEngine boxes, no background hiss, no need for the equaliser, less wires and easier to place in smaller rooms. It runs a fulll week on a 30Ah powerbank.
AppleTV 4K... I said the same thing until 2017: I don't need that. And then I bought it just for fun. Boy, that thing turned out to be much faster, smoother and better than all the cable company cable boxes then. It immediately replaced the cable receiver. And still today there's nothing that works so smooth and easy compared to all the "smart" TV boxes in the market. My family embraced the ATV within two weeks.
How many people would buy this though ? A non portable Ipad ? Would Apple even sell enough of these to justify making it ?
Paying almost Ipad prices (minus battery cost) for an Ipad that's not portable and has to be plugged into a wall outlet at all times IMO isn't appealing unless you only want to use it mostly for homekit access but why pay almost the same price for just a homekit controller ? but what happens when you're in your bedroom and you have to walk to the other side of the house to use your plugged in ipad ? I feel it causes more problems then it solves.
Also I feel most people would just use their iphones as controllers for homekit before they spend almost $300 on a non portable Ipad. Or you can just get a regular Ipad and in 3-5 years pay the 99$ battery replacement fee. I feel like the 99$ is worth the extra utility you get from a portable Ipad over 3 years plus the resale value it would hold over a plugged in version would be way better.
and if you want a non-battery controller for homekit just buy an Apple TV. That controls homekit with no battery needing a recharge and if you want it separate from your regular TV just put it on a stand with a small 21 inch TV. That would basically be the same type of station as needing one location for an always plugged in Ipad. Buying those two things and putting them together would be cheaper if not the same as Apple making a non portable Ipad.
The third option would be waiting to see if Apple makings a homepod with a screen.
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It doesn't have to be just for Home Kit.
The point is the touch capability of the iPad. If Apple refuses to add touchscreen support to their desktops in macOS ( I know there is a 3rd party company that sells drivers for touchscreens) then they should at least provide a device that can use touch without batteries.
There are a lot of applications mostly in arts. This device could act like a Wacom tablet with the Apple Pencil or a mixing board. There are a lot of people that use iPads for such purposes because there aren't solid alternatives without any battery.
It would also be a great as an additional portable monitor with Sidecar.
I know it isn't just for homekit, it's going to have full functionality which means almost full price as a regular portable Ipad.
but you really think there's a LARGE demand for people absolutely against having to just pay a $99 battery replacement fee in 3-5 years in exchange for completely eliminating the portability of their Ipad and having to always have it attached to the wall ?
I mean even the Iphone mini didn't have enough customers to stay alive after years of hundreds of comments online asking for one. Also remember the original Homepod that was discontinued due to poor sales. I feel like the demand for a non portable Ipad is like 1% of the demand for those other items.
Same here. I will avoid updating to iOS 16 till the apps I use stop supporting iOS15
The homepod are on WiFi and may not be as reliable/robust as a wired AppleTV. I find that when my Homepod mini takes over, homekit video is not reliable and often fails. Apple needs a setting to disable hub on Homepods.
The fact that you cant use a mac as a hub is irritating, imacs, mps, and mms rarely move outside the house
That is bad. Those using iPad as a hub will now be forced to buy a HomePod mini or Apple TV.
As it should be. I had nothing but trouble with my Home devices until I disabled my iPad as Home Hub.
They will still be able to use the Home app to control, just like you currently can on the iPhone. On the backend the iPad will no longer be handling all of the communications from the HomeKit devices, an ATV or HomePod will be required. Those wall mounted iPads will still be great controllers, they’ll just need one of those other devices if they don’t already have one.
You know what else doesn’t move? An iMac. Why can’t we use that as a home hub?
Exactly. This should definitely be an option. Not only does an iPad move and leave home, it also runs out of battery
I find restarting our cable modem & wireless router once a month to help with all that. Should I have to do that? No. However it’s worth it for me personally for the added relatability it brings.