WWDC21 And The Updates to Apple Homekit
It’s that time of year where Apple announces a slew of updates and improvements to everything in its ecosystem, with HomeKit also part of that list. Whilst some of the things we’d hoped to see haven’t yet materialised, there were some welcome surprises, however;
What many would consider the biggest update in iOS 15 is the announcement of iCloud+, which will push access to HomeKit Secure Video (HSV) to more users essentially. At present, the minimum iCloud account to get just one camera working with HSV is the 200GB plan, so the free and 50GB plans available don’t support HSV, with the top-tier 2TB plan allowing up to 5 cameras with HSV. With iCloud+, everything has been shifted over in favour of the user, with a50GB plan now getting access to 1 HSV camera, the 200GB plan offering 5 HSV cameras, and the 2TB plan offering UNLIMITED HSV cameras! Pretty neat, and at no extra cost to the user, as the pricing remains the same for each tier.
HomeKit cameras and Video Doorbells will also get an upgrade, with parcel detection, being added to the list of smart detection types, which currently includes people, pet, and vehicle detection. Parcel detection is something many non-HomeKit video doorbells have had for a while, so it’s good to see Apple finally catching up in this respect.
HomeKit has improved via Apple TV also, so now you also get the option to see multiple feeds on one screen, as well as gaining the ability to control nearby accessories directly from the live feed from your cameras, which was something added to HomeKit in iOS14.
Apple will finally also opened up Siri functionality to select third party manufacturers and their devices. This will enable devices like the Ecobee 4 Thermostat to listen and respond using Siri, although this will still require a HomePod or HomePod Mini in the home, as Siri within these devices is merely a relay, with Siri technology not fully built into these devices. This is something that Amazon’s Alexa has been way ahead on, so this is a step up for wider access to Siri.
Support for smart locks has taken a step forward, with the possibility to add a ‘key’ for your door to your Apple Wallet. This is also a feature rolling out to select Hyatt Hotels worldwide. Although the U1 chip isn’t specifically mentioned in relation to this functionality for smart locks, the same basic update for the digital car keys will make use of the U1 chip, so it’s fair to assume this could be the case with locks, considering the iPhone 11 and later includes the U1 chip. A variety of manufacturers have signed onto this initiative, including Schlage and Aqara.
The supposed unifying protocol – known as Matter – also got a brief mention, stating that both HomeKit and Matter certified devices would appear in the Home app, although little more was elaborated on this subject.
As iOS15 gets refined, with the help of beta testers and developers, expect more news and updates on iOS15 as it relates to HomeKit.
The changes on HomeKit Secure Video and in particular the change of the top tier to ‘unlimited’ cameras is long overdue. I have been giving Apple a well deserved kicking over this and I am glad they have finally seen sense. What Apple forgot originally is that HomeKit was designed from the start to support multiple homes and the pathetic original limit of five cameras could easily be exceeded for a single house let alone two or more homes.
I have already five HSV compatible cameras for my single house and as soon as Netatmo release updated firmware for their smart video doorbell this will become six. I can finally justify buying an iCloud storage subscription and use HSV.
What still remains silly on Apple’s part is the fact that the AppleTV itself is not a HomeKit device. Remember TVs from LG, Sony and others are controllable via HomeKit and also feature AirPlay2 and AppleTV+ but the AppleTV itself lacks HomeKit.
An example HomeKit scenario would be to – via HomeKit turn your Sony TV on, switch it to the AppleTV connection and tell the AppleTV to display the HomeKit Secure Video feeds, either triggering this via Siri or on detecting motion via one of the cameras, or someone ringing the HomeKit compatible doorbell.
There may be good news on this front. I’ve seen images of the Apple TV being used in automations within the iOS15 beta (I don’t do betas myself), so if what I saw is accurate, you’ll be quite pleased. Edit: the options to control Apple TV would still be in the Home app, but will involve converting the automation into a Shortcut (not a Siri Shortcut).
Can you post a link to anything like that? I haven’t seen any comments anywhere about it.
There’s no link as such, as these were screengrabs shown to me on a private Slack group, not on social media as such. I’ll see if I can post the images here.
That’d be great!
Well, I guess it was fake news, then.
https://imgur.com/a/PGXbX6y
This, as the person commented, was on the Beta for iOS14, but was removed early on.
Siri Shortcuts are of course better than nothing but arguably a cheat as it is not ‘real’ HomeKit support.
Hi John, I’m not sure if you’re referring to the image uploaded, but this is an example of a Shortcut within a Home app automation, not a Siri Shortcut, so it would be a proper automation, and thus real HomeKit support.
This is clearly a personal Shortcut – the app on the screenshot is the Shortcuts app using a personal shortcut, not the Home app. Verified with someone who has the beta.
So no luck this year, maybe next year (lol).
Sorry Bart, but you’re not correct. I’ve confirmed this with the person who posted this image, and it’s not a Personal Shortcut, and is in fact part of an automation within the Home app, after the automation uses ‘convert to Shortcut’ like I previously stated.