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Apple Homekit certification is a good, easy label to recommend. It requires offline/LAN-only basic operation.

by tencentshill 1y ago

mentalgear 1y ago
It's the right approach, but if only it was an open and cross-platform protocol.
- hn_acc1 1y ago
  This. Not buying an Apple device just to set something up.
  - macintux 1y ago
    HomeKit certification doesn't mean that it can only be configured via Apple devices.
    - hsbauauvhabzb 1y ago
      But it’s certified to support apple for lan mode and not necessarily something else, right?
      - macintux 1y ago
        I wouldn't recommend picking one that doesn't tell you what tools you can use to configure it, but that's a wise precaution regardless of HomeKit.
- ncallaway 1y ago
  Isn't that basically what the Matter protocol is?
  - section_me 1y ago
    Matter turned into a cluster fuck of devices. Use you're android phone to provision a device and connect it to your setup, most people use Google Home or homeassistant, smartthings is also an option, maybe others. But it's only to onboard the device for the most part. It'll still connect to your WiFi, give you next to no visibility as to what's going on in a failure and no interface to control it should your controller go down. It's also not very well supported in things like homeassistant, despite what they say.
    - Marsymars 1y ago
      I’ve only got a handful of Matter devices, but haven’t experienced any problems with them. Have had them connected to HomeKit for a year or more, and got around to connecting them to Home Assistant last week - I was actually very impressed at how seamless it was to connect them to Home Assistant (generate pairing code in Apple Home, copy/paste into HA, done) - they’re now all directly connected to both HA and HomeKit and seem entirely functional on both.
  - AlexandrB 1y ago
    I hoped so, I was wildly disappointed. In my experience so far Matter sucks just as much as what came before - unreliable connections, slow transfer, odd compatibility issues. The best IoT devices in my mind are still WiFi with HomeKit support - I can trivially block them at the router to keep them from phoning home.
- 0x457 1y ago
  Matter is that. However, version support varies by controller: some type of devices supported in one, but not in another. Multi-admin is supported, so that's good.
baq 1y ago
And it works very well with Home Assistant after the initial setup via an Apple device (needed so the device can connect to the desired wifi).
reaperducer 1y ago
Apple Homekit certification is a good, easy label to recommend. It requires offline/LAN-only basic operation. One of the overlooked features of the Apple Home app is its ability to firewall your IoT devices. If you have a compatible router: Home Settings → Wi-Fi Network & Routers → HomeKit Accessory Security The options are: Restrict to Home Automatic No Restriction The Automatic setting only allows devices to talk to a manufacturer whitelist of connections for things like firmware updates. The other two options are self-evident. I've found that "Restrict to Home" occasionally causes problems with older devices.
- Marsymars 1y ago
  It’s rightfully overlooked now because HomeKit Secure Routers are basically dead. I actually have a router that supports it, but I don’t dare turn it on because I have no confidence on it continuing to exist and the migration path back off it looks like a pain.
  - macintux 1y ago
    That's a shame. News article covering the apparent abandonment: https://appleinsider.com/articles/24/03/22/apple-has-abandoned-homekit-secure-routers-claim-vendors https://appleinsider.com/articles/24/03/22/apple-has-abandon...
    - reaperducer 1y ago
      I wonder if things have changed since that article was published a year-and-half ago, because my eero, with the firmware from a few days ago, still supports it.
      - Marsymars 1y ago
        I assume it’s in some kind of maintenance support mode. Actually removing support from routers would be a nightmare for anyone who’s set up their home by pairing devices through a HomeKit router - all their HomeKit devices would become unpaired.

Apple Homekit certification is a good, easy label to recommend. It requires offline/LAN-only basic operation.

mentalgear 1y ago

It's the right approach, but if only it was an open and cross-platform protocol.

hn_acc1 1y ago
This. Not buying an Apple device just to set something up.
- macintux 1y ago
  HomeKit certification doesn't mean that it can only be configured via Apple devices.
  - hsbauauvhabzb 1y ago
    But it’s certified to support apple for lan mode and not necessarily something else, right?
    - macintux 1y ago
      I wouldn't recommend picking one that doesn't tell you what tools you can use to configure it, but that's a wise precaution regardless of HomeKit.
ncallaway 1y ago
Isn't that basically what the Matter protocol is?
- section_me 1y ago
  Matter turned into a cluster fuck of devices. Use you're android phone to provision a device and connect it to your setup, most people use Google Home or homeassistant, smartthings is also an option, maybe others. But it's only to onboard the device for the most part. It'll still connect to your WiFi, give you next to no visibility as to what's going on in a failure and no interface to control it should your controller go down. It's also not very well supported in things like homeassistant, despite what they say.
  - Marsymars 1y ago
    I’ve only got a handful of Matter devices, but haven’t experienced any problems with them. Have had them connected to HomeKit for a year or more, and got around to connecting them to Home Assistant last week - I was actually very impressed at how seamless it was to connect them to Home Assistant (generate pairing code in Apple Home, copy/paste into HA, done) - they’re now all directly connected to both HA and HomeKit and seem entirely functional on both.
- AlexandrB 1y ago
  I hoped so, I was wildly disappointed. In my experience so far Matter sucks just as much as what came before - unreliable connections, slow transfer, odd compatibility issues. The best IoT devices in my mind are still WiFi with HomeKit support - I can trivially block them at the router to keep them from phoning home.
0x457 1y ago
Matter is that. However, version support varies by controller: some type of devices supported in one, but not in another. Multi-admin is supported, so that's good.

baq 1y ago

And it works very well with Home Assistant after the initial setup via an Apple device (needed so the device can connect to the desired wifi).

reaperducer 1y ago

Apple Homekit certification is a good, easy label to recommend. It requires offline/LAN-only basic operation. One of the overlooked features of the Apple Home app is its ability to firewall your IoT devices. If you have a compatible router: Home Settings → Wi-Fi Network & Routers → HomeKit Accessory Security The options are: Restrict to Home Automatic No Restriction The Automatic setting only allows devices to talk to a manufacturer whitelist of connections for things like firmware updates. The other two options are self-evident. I've found that "Restrict to Home" occasionally causes problems with older devices.

Marsymars 1y ago
It’s rightfully overlooked now because HomeKit Secure Routers are basically dead. I actually have a router that supports it, but I don’t dare turn it on because I have no confidence on it continuing to exist and the migration path back off it looks like a pain.
- macintux 1y ago
  That's a shame. News article covering the apparent abandonment: https://appleinsider.com/articles/24/03/22/apple-has-abandoned-homekit-secure-routers-claim-vendors https://appleinsider.com/articles/24/03/22/apple-has-abandon...
  - reaperducer 1y ago
    I wonder if things have changed since that article was published a year-and-half ago, because my eero, with the firmware from a few days ago, still supports it.
    - Marsymars 1y ago
      I assume it’s in some kind of maintenance support mode. Actually removing support from routers would be a nightmare for anyone who’s set up their home by pairing devices through a HomeKit router - all their HomeKit devices would become unpaired.