Wink vs Homekit -- opinions?

[Chupa Chupa]

A couple of Black Fridays ago I picked up a Wink hub and 60w bulb on the cheap but never took it out of the box. I'd like to dabble in home automation now b/c I have a few lamps that are inconvenient to turn on. I was getting ready to set it up when the app asked me to set up an account. I immediately became nauseous. One more damn account... to turn on a lamp no less.

So here is my question - I'm already heavily invested in Apple products. Would I be better off selling the Wink and buying into a home kit compatible system? Normally it wouldn't be an issue since I already have an Apple account and lots of iOS devices + ATV4 for Siri commands but home kit product development seems slow going and not an Apple priority. Wink OTOH already has a nice group of device manufacturers backing the system with actual product.

Opinions?

 

[ericgtr12]

Homekit doesn't support nearly as many devices as Wink, in fact they're way behind most smart home hubs at the moment, that includes Wink, Smart Things, Amazon Echo, etc. For example, here's what Homekit currently supports http://www.digitaltrends.com/home/a-list-of-apple-homekit-compatible-devices/ and here's what Wink currently supports http://www.wink.com/products/

Any device that allows you to operate it outside of your network, including Homekit which utilizes your iCloud account through the Apple TV, requires some sort of account on their side to run remote commands to your home when outside of your network.

Home automation is booming and a lot of products are trying to find their niche which has been great for consumers, however Apple is forcing vendors to conform to a stringent standard and from what I can see, most are doing their best to add compatibility but it's been a slow go so far, it also leaves a vacuum for vendors like Wink and others to capitalize because they support so many more products.

Fair warning though, home automation is a slippery slope, once you start it's hard to stop.

 

[amjustice]

Wink went bankrupt last year so its hard to see it as a platform that is going to live a long life. It seems they are still selling it and supporting it but are they going to continue to add new devices? Time will tell...

 

[DJLC]

I'm kind of using both and now I'm in the same boat trying to decide what to do...

I entered the HomeKit world with a few iHome plugs. I realize that particular product is both HomeKit and Wink compatible. I don't remember my exact thought process, but I ended up setting up geofencing and light schedules thru the Wink app. So now I get the advantage of geofencing and sunrise / sunset timing without losing the ability to control it with Siri. Plus I can have triggers and actions involving both my iHome plugs and my 1st gen Nest thermostat. Seems to work well! But now I'm not sure if I should invest more in Wink stuff, or in stuff that's compatible with both, or if I should've bought the Home app instead of using the Wink app (and if I should replace the Nest with something non-Google).

That being said, I know I had to make an iHome account to set up the plugs with HomeKit (and Wink). Not sure about other platforms, but I would expect the same for those. So even with HomeKit you don't escape having to make accounts.

Re: Wink going bankrupt. I'm not surprised. Here I am using their server resources for scheduling and I haven't paid them a dime!