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Mixtile Hub Smart Home Bridge Won't Support HomeKit After All
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IMO, nothing consumer-grade is 100% safe. What's important to me is how the system was designed to react when something security related happens.
Take your link above, for example. Someone's exploiting a valid developer certificate to do something they shouldn't be doing.
What's important to me is that Apple designed macOS (and iOS) with this situation in mind. Apple will invalidate this developer's certificate, and this exploit will be rendered null and void.
I'm quite sure that HomeKit isn't 100% safe. But the fact that Apple built a framework and infrastructure that allows you to access/manage these devices remotely without having to punch a hole through your firewall in order to do so (like the vast majority of IoT devices require) makes me feel a lot better about HomeKit's safety.
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I get that, but too late if that already happened to you...
The point is IF you stick with official sources even Android is "safe", it stops being "safe" when you use exploit or unsafe sources.
Buy from the Play Store and you are pretty much as safe as you are on the iOS store, I used Androif for years alongside iOS, they are both great, but I personally have yet to find 1 instance on both OSes where I felt unsafe.
This Homekit is just a way to make more money from manufacturer, nothing more.....it works and it is Great for Apple, but is far too limiting for me.
You said you moved away from iOS because it was too closed.
Someone replied, saying they like that it's closed, because it's more safe.
You then reply with an example of a macOS security issue that is only possible because macOS isn't closed like iOS (that you don't like because of that reason).
That's a confusing point. Are you saying that you think macOS should be closed like iOS to protect against that security issue happening again (i.e. your comment "it's too late if it already happened to you")?
My only point is that I was happy that Apple designed macOS and iOS in a manner that makes it easy for them to respond to stuff like what you linked to. I'd imagine HomeKit was designed in a similar manner.
Nothing more?
How about HomeKit allows device manufacturers to focus on just that (designing/manufacturing of devices) without having to also design/build/maintain the infrastructure required to allow owners to automate or remotely interact/monitor with their devices in a safe manner?!
IMO, HomeKit <even if it generates Apple some revenue> seems to remove a huge barrier for smaller companies looking to enter the home automation market, IMO.
My home automation was setup before HomeKit was really a thing.
Because Apple designed HomeKit open enough to support end devices that aren't directly HomeKit compatible, I'm able to use HomeKit to control/monitor about 40 devices (and sensors) in my house that Apple made no money from (because they're not HomeKit compatible).
I'm not sure what you use to automate your house (mine's an ISY994i hub with a bunch of Insteon and generic zwave devices, plus my garage door and security system), but personally speaking, bolting HomeKit on top of it has been a great experience for me. Being able to swipe up on my iPhone/iPad and use native tools to control/monitor devices that Apple had nothing to do with wasn't something I ever thought I'd be able to do.
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NAo orne seems to support the HomeKit. I've got ten odd devices, some work with Echo Dot and none work with the HomeKit. What is going on??
I certainly wouldn't say "no one". There are lots of HomeKit devices out there. But a lot of companies don't want to jump through the extra hoops to get HomeKit certified. I've got a bunch of lights and switches and they all work with HomeKit.
Closed system incompatible with anyone else's product is why I chose not to use Homekit.
My home is fairly well automated, from Lifx lights to Ecobee, to Rachio, to August locks, to Keen's smart vents.
I find Amazon's Alexa to be the most widely compatible control device and don't even give HomeKit another thought. Amazon is compatible with Samsung's SmartThings and pretty much everyone else.
In fact, with Amazon's new Fire TV UI, which is much improved and cleaner than the old mess of a UI, I am considering dumping all of my Apple TVs is getting a few Amazon Fire sticks or Amazon TVs -- the voice control will give me even more Alexa options.
Apple has lost me as a home automation customer.
My home is fairly well automated, from Lifx lights to Ecobee, to Rachio, to August locks, to Keen's smart vents.
I find Amazon's Alexa to be the most widely compatible control device and don't even give HomeKit another thought. Amazon is compatible with Samsung's SmartThings and pretty much everyone else.
In fact, with Amazon's new Fire TV UI, which is much improved and cleaner than the old mess of a UI, I am considering dumping all of my Apple TVs is getting a few Amazon Fire sticks or Amazon TVs -- the voice control will give me even more Alexa options.
Apple has lost me as a home automation customer.
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Huh?
All of the products below are "someone else's", but they work just fine in HomeKit for me.
The devices below are from Insteon, GE, ELK and Bosch, and not a single one them is natively HomeKit compatible.
The only reason I can use them in HomeKit is because Apple made HomeKit support the concept of bridges, which translate HomeKit commands into specific commands needed for other companies devices. So for Insteon, it uses a bridge that speaks whatever their power line protocol is. Or for the GE fan controller below, it speaks z-wave. For WeMo, it uses TCP to control that device. Same for the MyQ garage door (not shown).
That means HomeKit can control ANYBODY ELSE'S NON-HOMEKIT PRODUCT that there is a bridge for. No bridge required for native HomeKit devices.
How on earth can I control the devices below in Homekit if it's a closed system that doesn't support other people's products?!?!?!?
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Huh is kind of right. Despite the almost full page of screenshots, you are missing the point that Apple requires manufacturers to integrate a chip in their devices to make them compatible with its system, which is closed.
Amazon's Alexa has fairly robust APIs and it's open source, allowing anyone to integrate their products without jumping through the hoops Apple requires.
I am glad that you find Homekit useful, but something like Amazon Alexa is a whole different beast, it's considerably more robust, it has much wider compatibility and of course, it has always on voice control.
Here is something The Verge posted from CES 2017, which may help explain it better:
Apple’s HomeKit is still working on the basics
What HomeKit continues to miss is the kind of excitement that’s popped up around Amazon’s Alexa — a voice assistant, but also a tool for controlling and automating the home. There’s an argument to be made that Apple’s slow and steady approach, and eye toward security, is valuable. The smart home remains a niche market is still in very early stages when it comes to functionality.
But there’s an argument that, right now, Alexa is inside of a refrigerator and is capable of controlling ovens, washing machines, and vacuums, while HomeKit is still adding new power outlets.
Thank you for clarifying your abbreviated "Closed system incompatible with anyone else's product" comment from the day before.
To be clear (for folks not as familiar with HomeKit), HomeKit does NOT require that every device has the secure authentication and encryption chip integrated before the device will work with HomeKit.
For example, if someone has a house of 100+ Insteon devices (switches, outlets, motion detectors, etc) that were installed 5 years ago, obviously none of those devices will have the chip integrated <because HomeKit didn't exist then>. To add monitor/control those 100+ devices in HomeKit, they simply need to add one HomeKit-compatible Insteon bridge <that has the secure chip installed> to their house.
I don't have any experience with Alexa, but it sounds like a good system.
My home automation consists of mostly Insteon and z-wave devices, so it's pretty platform agnostic. The rules run on a ISY994i box (which integrates with my ELK alarm, so I can automate things like turning on the front porch light when the front door opens and it's dark outside, etc). The ISY integrates with either Alexa or HomeKit. Cool to hear you have a Rachio. I love mine.
I went with HomeKit because of its native integration with iOS. I like being able to swipe up into Control Center on iOS devices to see/control my favorite devices without having to leave whatever app I'm in. I also like that "Hey Siri" gives it always-on voice commands from pretty much anywhere ... home, work, car, grocery store, wherever...
Like I said, I don't have any experience with Alexa, but for the "always-on voice commands", you have to be within earshot of a Dot or Echo, no? Does that mean you have a to put a Dot or Echo in each bedroom if you want folks to be able to do commands from there? And if you're out of the house and want to do a voice command, how does that work? One of my most commonly used HomeKit voice commands is (to my watch) "Hey Siri, open the garage door." as I'm a few houses away from home. No unlocking or having to launch anything, just speak at the watch and off it goes.
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This is great. Thank you for posting details about your setup. I've about had it with my Gen 1 Kevo locks and want to move to something that will work 100%, which means an outside keypad that doesn't require running a flakey smartphone app or Bluetooth on a crowded 2.4 GHz frequency band. I've been bouncing back and forth between the two available Schlage locks: Sense and Connect. The former is HomeKit, the latter is Z-Wave. It seems there isn't one that does both (yet).
Looks like I'll go with the Z-Wave version. Between HomeBridge running an a Raspberry pi or one of these hardware bridges, I should be able to get the locks onto HomeKit if I so desire, yet still keep my options open for finer grain control and scripting with a real home automation hub (like an OmniPro). I do like that Z-Wave forms a mesh network, and it is in the 908 MHz band to avoid the ubiquitous 2.4 GHz interference.