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For a nice change this year, several IOT manufactures are announcing new HomeKit-compatible accessories timed with WWDC. We’re used to seeing this with CES, but not so much for apple’s event. Here are a few:
Hue will offer a new pocketsocket and both the US and the UK as well as new filament style smart bulbs for the EU. Conflicting early reports on these, some saying that some models are Bluetooth. But all are expected to work with HomeKit. Any Bulb models that work through the hue bridge should be able to eventually use that integration to work with SmartThings, but custom code may be required at first. Not sure about the pocket socket yet. Release is expected in the fall.
No surprise here, Ecobee’s new model is now ready to ship. But some of the feature details are new, including dual band Wi-Fi support and significantly improved speaker quality. This should work with smartthings for the basic thermostat features.
Ecobee also touts improved performance with the SmartThermostat, claiming it is three times faster and improved reliability with 2.4GHz and 5GHz support for dual-band WiFi.
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Much like its predecessor, the SmartThermostat with voice control fits the smart home trifecta, integrating Alexa, Google Assistant, and HomeKit. This allows you to control the thermostat via all three voice assistants and their respective applications on iOS.
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It also features a powerful new speaker, which Ecobee says can be used to stream music from Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, Pandora, TuneIn, and Spotify. Unfortunately, there’s no support for Apple Music yet – or AirPlay 2. The SmartThermostat does feature Bluetooth, so you can stream from it to a separate speaker.
Belkin WeMo Is ready to ship its new “three-way” switch which offers some grouping and three-way capabilities. It looks like it will be the master on a three-way and can be connected to dumb auxiliaries, but I’m waiting to see more of the specs to be sure on that. It probably won’t integrate directly with SmartThings, but it does have an IFTTT channel that exposes some features.
Speaking of aiming at the premium market, Kwikset is ready to start shipping its HomeKit – only Premis model. Weirdly to me, the black model lists at almost twice the cost of the silver, and is more expensive than the comparable Schlage model.
That’s a big change for Kwikset, which is normally less expensive (and more cheaply engineered) then comparable Yale or Schlage devices. If this thing sells, it will underscore the main attraction of HomeKit compatibility for device manufacturers: the ability to charge a premium price for aspirational models. Smartthings users now need to be extra careful when ordering Kwikset models to make sure you are getting one that works with SmartThings, as the HomeKit models will not.
https://9to5mac.com/2019/05/28/kwikset-homekit-smart-lock/
Xioami Aqara is releasing a ton of HomeKit-compatible devices, but note that HomeKit compatibility requires Using their gateway so you can’t simultaneously use them with SmartThings. These will give IKEA and TP Link a run for their money in the budget category for HomeKit, though. Again, smartthings users will need to start reading product descriptions much more carefully to determine which features will be available when you are not using the Xioami gateway.
Xioami Aqara did also issue yet another warning (in Chinese) that many devices sold on Alibaba may be counterfeit, and they will not guarantee that those will work with HomeKit. Here’s the previous release that was in English:
Savant put out four separate HomeKit - related press releases last week, Mostly about audio equipment. You might be able to get to some of these from SmartThings by using Siri shortcuts, but set up will be a little awkward.
https://www.dealerscope.com/article/savant-drops-lots-of-homekit-news/
They are also offering a new product to their pro-installed line for control of individual circuit breakers. You would have to have a full savant lighting system for that, though, and then any smartthings integration would be through Siri shortcuts.
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- All-new Apple Maps rolling out to the entire United States by the end of 2019
- All-new Reminders app, rewritten from the ground up. Just type what you want and Reminders will know when and where to notify you, attach photos, Smart Lists , Tasks
- Safari has per website preferences, Mail supports rich fonts
- Dark Mode in Music app, live lyrics support as well
- Redesigned share sheet with suggestions, easier to share things with one tap
- New swipe keyboard built-in to iOS
- Dark Mode is officially here, News, Home screen, Calendar, and more themed with new dark appearance
- Major focus on performance with iOS 13: 30 percent faster Face ID unlock
- App downloads are 50 percent smaller, app updates 60 percent smaller
- 2x faster app launch speed
Forget what it looks like, get to the good stuff. 
- 2x faster app launch speed
- App downloads are 50 percent smaller, app updates 60 percent smaller
Also, you will be able to have multiple windows with the same app open at one time. That could be useful if you are using the iPad as a IOT control panel.
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AirPlay 2 speaker control added to HomeKit automations is pretty cool
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I want one of these…
For people who are not part of the Developer Program, there are the public betas, which will be released in July.
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