Homekit and SmartThings: The Latest Discussion

This is what @zpriddy has working right now with ASK. You’re right, it may be all you really need. Adding Hello Home phrases makes it a home run!

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And to get a little defensive, our lack of support for Homekit initially has little to do with desire and everything to do with Apple’s pretty strict requirements for inclusion (adding a physical chip to our devices, being deterministic on what types of devices and actions connected devices can take/trigger, fragmented user experiences based upon which OS you are using, what data can be used for, etc). Some companies are desperate to be included in such an offering even with these shortcomings. We are not.

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I once was a vocal supporter of Homekit support. I understand their strict rules with regard to security because I wouldn’t want my home’s automation to be compromised (and I have some serious worries about certain aspects of Smartthings in this regard, especially third party apps like the Dashboard which can be accessed if someone simply has your URL). But for the time being, I believe Apple needs to further develop Homekit before it would be totally functional and not just a novel trick. To me, the inclusion of Siri support is not worth all the trouble thus far. And who knows, they might open up the Siri API to 3rd parties in the future.

In the meantime, I love the Apple Watch support! I use it all the time and I even created modes specifically so I can activate them on my watch. I set movie mode, and night mode, and outdoor light mode. So convenient and I don’t have to interrupt the start of my movie by saying “Siri, activate movie mode!” I just tap a button.

I hope version 2 of the hub and app add to these conveniences. I’m excited to see what you guys have cooking!

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I’d like to hear more of your thoughts on this (though this thread is now sufficiently hijacked - maybe @april can fix) - the 3rd party app you are referring to I think is SmartTiles and I would agree with you. SmartTiles - however great and cool it may be - is not written in such a way that it could pass our submission process and be published in the (nascent) SmartApps marketplace.

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hi :smile:
i read on the web that smartthings will support homekit appliances does that mean that i will be able to control my homekit appliances with the smartthings app/hub??

Short answer: nothing anybody said or wrote before February 2015 turned out to be the way HomeKit actually works, and as yet there are no official announcements regarding future HomeKit/SmartThings compatibility one way or the other.

For additional HomeKIt discussion, see:

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While I can’t vouch for its sources and accuracy, I find this recent article to be creative and informative. (Aside: Why is it so hard to find the publication date on a lot of blogs???).

http://and-bmod.com/apple-homekit-vs-google-microsoft-everyone-else/


As a second “aside”, I think this paragraph stands as a testament to the value of SmartTiles.click by @625alex. SmartTiles focuses on addressing the basic desire for a simple, yet flexible, UI for ST, particularly valuable as a dedicated tablet in a home. Similarly, Oomi is launching with a custom tablet and a particularly rich but specific (?) UI.

Fantem: So Who Needs a Smartphone Anyway?
For its part, a startup named Fantem doesn’t believe that integration with smartphone apps is necessary at all. Colin Marshall, Fantem’s VP for business development USA, said that consumers don’t want to control their home systems with smartphones because smartphone apps are too “clunky.”

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There are several scene apps around. Tying a scene to a “movie” momentary or mode could be a command on the Amazon Echo. May not be an elegant solution but it may be possible.

I put no credence in that article, @tgauchat because the author fails to mention SmartThings :slight_smile: J/K

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It’s more than possible! :wink:

The Echo can easily trigger a Hello Home Action (which is ST’s “native” macro to set a scene…), and, yup, it can definitely trigger Momentary’s or Virtual Switches or similar events which are watched by the Community’s custom Scene related SmartApps.

Yeah… It is rather humbling to be thrown in a pile called “and Everyone Else”.

(SmartThings generally does get frequent explicit mention… It would be an interesting research exercise to compare notoriety measures of smart home vendors, regardless of the breadth of their products and market penetration.)

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I’d throw in a big +1 for HomeKit support, but obviously that hope went away after the Samsung acquisition.

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I wouldn’t say “obviously”–Samsung is a huge company, and although they compete head to head in the watch and cellphone markets, they have many other business arrangements. Samsung is one of Apple’s largest parts suppliers,for example. And SmartThings came out with an official Apple Watch app almost as soon as the watch was released (and still hasn’t done an official Android Wear version).

HomeKit integration will be a tricky business calculation for many companies, some deciding for, some against. With no one obvious answer for anyone until we get more of a feel for the HomeKit market size.

I don’t expect ST to be an early adopter, but they might get in on the second wave if HK looks like it’s taking off. That would likely be ST gen 3, late 2016 or mid 2017, if it does happen, though. And no guarantees–if thread takes off instead, that’s likely an easier Samsung decision.

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I am new on the smart home ecosystem speaking as a client looking for solution for the best options for one smart home and I ended up here because SmartThings It seems to have the ability to include more products than any other company. Then that means that the main concept of SmartThings is to include as much as possible in the smart HUB.

I started my smart home buying Wemo then I realized that this company product did not have the full capacity for a smart home so then I also include Wink now I have many products with different applications then I have a house that is smart but silly at the same time Then I discovered that
(BUT VERY LATE) Z-Wave have more solutions and SmartThings put all this different products together.

But the company SmartThings do not sell much this great quality in advertisements and I find out by the comments that people leave on the reviews from all this different products for smart homes.

And that is exactly the decline of new technologies that they can not communicate with each other and consequently good ideas die.

Then I think If you (SmartThings) based on this concept of include more and more you guys have a good future ahead so HomeKit and echo is very necessary.

And to tgauchat COSMICPUPPY (TERRY) GITHUB: @COSMICPUPPY ; TWITTER: @COSMICPUPPYSF
SmartApp Code Slinger

Do not act like you don’t have a Apple product or any person that you know have one.

And to people who work for the company They have to be careful in the type of comment you do to customers or to the SmartThings community

Social networks are very fast That’s why I’m here in the first place making comments

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To be fair, the requirement that Apple has about hardware design (requiring certain silicon in the hardware) seems ridiculous to me too, Ben. It seems like Insteon, (which does have a Homekit-enabled hub), ran into issues both with that hardware requirement, and with the software limitations that Apple demands. The list of devices and actions that work with their HomeKit hub is pathetically short. I’m not sure that the limitations from Apple are getting enough press.

I remain optimistic that some day we’ll be able to talk to SmartThings through our iPhones, but I’m not holding my breath for an Apple-sanctioned solution at this point.

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Well thanks for clarifying that. I’ll certainly be skipping the v2 hub in favor of something (and I’m sure there will be plenty) that works within my ecosystem of choice.

It’s been a rough ride with every update you do managing to make my home dumber.

It was a great dream, but good riddance.

I really hope that the decision to not bring HomeKit compatibility has nothing to do with the acquisition by Samsung. SmartThings seems to be best thing going in home automation right now and it would suck to have it go one sided.

That said, I just bought the V1 SmartThings hub and will buy the V2 when it comes out. I just hope the whole HomeKit thing settles out and they eventually add compatibility.

I’m now kicking myself for not buying another Echo on Prime Day.

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From what we have found out, Amazon does not want people to own multiple Echo’s at this point.

Nothing to do with Samsung. See this (above):

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Ben - Understoood; thank you. Any reason for them not wanting someone to have multiple Echos? My has 3 floors so having multiples would be nice. While I can yell down the stairs to the main level I’d prefer not to :smile:

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I have an Echo and just put one in a cart on Amazon, so I don’t think they are restricting purchase to just one. :grinning: