A Smart Ice Maker in Apple Home? Govee Thinks So

Govee is one of those brands that, since the introduction of Matter, has garnered a lot more attention from Apple Home users. Rightly so in many ways, as they’ve released a ton of lighting products in the last year or so, all with Matter support, albeit with WiFi, not Thread. They don’t just produce smart lighting, however, and their latest product, the GoveeLife Smart Countertop Ice Maker 1S attempts to push the boundaries of what we expect in a smart home.

To be clear, even though this is a device with smart features, it’s currently not compatible with Matter, although the company say an OTA update is coming to give it Matter compliant. It’s always advisable to not take a company’s word when it comes to future updates, although Govee does have a lot of existing Matter devices, so it’s unlikely to not deliver.

As the name of the product makes abundantly clear, this Ice Maker produces nine bullet-shaped ice cubes in 6 minutes. With a 2l/4.2pt water tank, it can make up to 11.8kg/26lb of ice per day. to store the ‘cubes’ It has a 0.68kg/1.5lb ice basket so you always have ice on hand. The unit is also able to offer three adjustable ice sizes: small, medium, and large. Small ice cubes chill drinks quickly without diluting them, medium cubes suit sodas and iced coffees, while large cubes are ideal for keeping bottles cold for longer periods.

The GoveeLife Smart Countertop Ice Maker 1s has a metal exterior, available in black or silver. It also includes a front-facing ice basket capacity indicator and a magnetic ice scoop that attaches to the side. The RGB ice basket light allows for adjustable colour settings, ice-making status indicators, and lighting effects, which makes sense, given the company’s penchant for multicolour lighting.

You can currently operate the ice maker remotely with the Govee Home App or use voice commands via Alexa, Google Assistant or Siri Shortcuts. The Govee Home App also allows users to customize scheduling for automated daily or weekly schedules and will send smart reminders.  Additionally, the ice maker features RGB lights and integrated sensors to monitor ice and water levels, both on the appliance and via the app, automatically detecting when the ice bin is full.

For further integrations with smart home ecosystems such as Google Home, Amazon Alexa, and Apple HomeKit, the Smart Countertop Ice Maker 1s will support Matter, with functionality available via an OTA update after launch. What sort of options you’ll get in Apple Home isn’t exactly clear, but at a minimum would probably offer on/off control, access to turning the LED lighting on/off, as well as setting the temperature, but we’ll have to see where this goes. It is strange they’ve released this when for many the summer is coming to and end, but it goes without saying the company is going for gold when it comes to Matter support!

You can pick up the Smart Countertop Ice Maker 1S today on Amazon.com for US$179.99, but you can save 20% using the code 97DXK39S at checkout.