I’d like to know if anything is still in the works or if the Samsung purchase has killed any hope of HomeKit integration…
Any update now that iOS 8 is out
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This topic is still pinned to the top of our forums 
…with no new information since it was pinned 3 months ago.
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I have feeling that we won’t be hearing about homekit from ST anytime soon, because I don’t know if HK is bringing much benefit to ST centric home automation system. It would bring quite a lot to a ‘iOS centric’ HA system (if homekit starts to take off), but I don’t think that is necessarily a positive thing for ST platform and for now my guess is that ST would rather wait and see to gauge HK’s long term benefit (or downside).
HomeKit was briefly discussed in the Developer Discussion Wednesday night
Still a lot more questions than answers
Any news on at least this part of iOS 8? This is the killer feature for me.
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Ditto times 100. I had purchased smart things and some items over winter and spring and wanted to do more going into summer but upon iOS 8 announcement I put on hold so I wouldnt be too invested. Then the Samsung bought it and I am worried.
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Aside from the quick notification replies and “widgets” on the lock screen, I have yet to hear much on this thread about what people actually want from HomeKit. I suspect that is because no one really knows very much about HomeKit. It doesn’t offer a lot. Further, if we incorporate a lot of features into the “cloud part of SmartThings” that are specific for iOS that is more work and testing we need to do for other platforms. When we diverge in features we would like it to be at the device level and not at the platform/cloud level whenever possible.
Whatever HomeKit eventually ends up allowing us to do that makes the experience better for SmartThings customers, we will utilize. There is nothing mandated from Samsung and frankly that line of thinking is getting old.
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Siri access is top on my mind. "Hey Siri, "
But, you are right, we don’t really know what HomeKit is capable of…so we don’t know what to ask for. Chicken <> Egg
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You can already ask Siri to do the home automation stuff “turn off the kitchen lights”. You’ll get back a “no home kit apps installed” or some such.
For me it would be full Siri support for getting the status of a device or commanding a device.
Also widgets that would tell me the dashboard stats like “everyone is home” “everything is ok” “all lights are off”, “mode is away” etc.
I would also really like HomeKit to be that link between smart apps. Rather than having to use IFTTT or an ST integration that isn’t fully qualified yet (nest).
Along the lines of app integration:
- If my sleep cycle alarm clock notified ST that the wake cycle was beginning and it would turn on the heater, turn on my radiant flooring, turn on my coffee maker, etc.
- When I finish a run on RunKeeper then it sets my home to a soothing mood on the Hues and turns on my AC so I can relax and cool down.
- If ST detects motion, Synology Surviellance app starts recording that camera.
- When I start AirPlaying a movie to my AppleTV, It dims the lights.
- When the MCycles app tells me my girlfriend is on her period, it plays soothing music ALL WEEK! haha just kidding
- When a UPS or Fedex package is delivered, it chimes a bell or turns something on to notify me (they dont knock anymore)
- When I win an ebay auction, it plays a congratulatory tune from my Sonos
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It seems that ST has little motivation to incorporate Homekit. The tone that diminishes Homekit’s potential, or asking users to come up with ideas hints that.
I cannot say I know much about Homekit, not being a developer and all, but my impression is that HK overlaps a lot with what smartthing cloud service does - setting rules, controlling devices and what not.
My biggest wish was to replace smartthings app’s usage with whatever homekit interface would offer - Siri command, notification widget, an independent app, who knows - and smartthings hub would be willing to be one of the homekit agents - controlling zigbee/zwave gadgets mostly. I also wish HK’s rule building would be more comprehensive and extensive, allowing more sophisticated rules without relying on coding.
Problem is not just iOS - Android feature discrepancy that Homekit dependency would bring. But more fundamentally this is far from the Smartthings-centered picture of home automation, so it’s understandable that ST is hesitant to get onboard.
This may sound incredibly Apple-arrogant, but but for home automation is to become more mainstream I think it’s important to be part of Apple’s initiative. Considering how much new technology they’ve made mainstream.
I agree that Apple getting into the market will make it more mainstream (I think NFC payments are going to explode).
One thing I don’t get about Homekit is that it seems to be 100% cloud-based. Given that people complain endlessly about the internet dependency of SmartThing (even some of the people that seem to championing Homekit integration), Homekit is even worse. Z-wave integration, forget about it unless you have something like SmartThings in your house. Even general Zigbee or Thread integration is out of the question without an additional hub. Things like Hue will work because Homekit can interact with their cloud services. Now you are dependent not only on your home internet but the ability of two cloud services to communicate. Local control may be possible from your iPhone and iPad but I have this nasty habit of taking them with me when leave the house, but I still expect all of schedules to run…
I was going to say it was obvious, but maybe it’s not. The couple of slides we got about Homekit in the WWDC keynote highlighted Siri integration. That is what I’m expecting from ST support in Homekit. I want to be able to tell Siri to turn off my bedroom lights when I go to sleep.
You honestly can’t get upset with people suggesting Samsung might have an affect on iOS features.
To finish my thought, Homekit doesn’t get me anything I don’t already have with the other controllers (SmartThings, Revolv, Vera, etc…), provides less opportunity to integrate (no Z-wave, Zigbee, Thread), and more dependency on Internet connectivity.
It provides Siri integration and may (haven’t seen a good example) provide a better UI.
Short of Apple releasing it’s own bridge, you are still going to need SmartThings or another similar device.
I think people are missing the main purpose of HomeKit. Just like HealthKit it is a centralized database of metrics. In this case its devices and capabilities versus heart rate, blood pressure and steps from a pedometer.
In the HealthKit realm, apps like Runkeeper can log your steps to the HealthKit DB. Device makers like OMRON can log blood pressure to the DB. WiThings can log weight & sleep, etc. Mayo Clinic can read this database and give you recommendations on your activity and health status.
In the HomeKit realm, hardware wise you will still need hubs like smartthings, and hue, etc. These devices will then log to HomeKit and share their capabilities. This just gives developers a way to interact with each other by sharing data amongst a common datastore, thats it.
There isn’t a single mention about Apple HA hardware.
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How about the stuff you said you had working in the prototypes the day of the announcement? Notification center shortcuts and “Hey, Siri” integration.
Those would be good for starters. =)
I made a home screen widget for my Android phone, just like you described.
I control my devices with voice.
I’m able to tie in alarm clock with whatever actions.
I didn’t try all the things on your list, but does this mean that my Android is supporting Home Kit?
P.S. This is meant to be a joke! But seriously, what does HK has to offer?