WWDC: Apple’s virtual Worldwide Developers Conference June 7-11, 2021

General Discussion Groups & Events
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mark your calendar for the WWDC June 7-11, 2021

Coming to a screen near you. Join the worldwide developer community for an all-online program with announcements, sessions, and labs, where you’ll get a first look at Apple’s latest platforms and technologies.

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Hmmmm…could this be Thread/Matter stuff? That would be exciting. :sunglasses:

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Woo hoo!

iCloud+ also includes unlimited HomeKit Secure Video cameras. Currently, iCloud users are limited to five cameras per account, but this limit has been removed for iCloud+.

Also,

Apple Watch Will now be able to handle multiple timers for the first time.

:sunglasses:

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9to5 Mac suggests this is likely to have something to do with MFi licensing, but my guess would be this is Matter-related. :thinking:

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More good stuff:

Support for Matter will be built in to iOS 15 and will be a part of the Home app, allowing users to control both HomeKit and Matter devices in one place.

Integration between HomePod and Apple TV will also be enhanced, as users will be able to ask Siri on HomePod to play something on Apple TV completely handsfree.

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Interesting. I wonder if it’s a different model from the model that includes Alexa?

Also, this…

Later this year, customers with a new or existing ecobee SmartThermostat with voice control and an Apple HomePod or HomePod mini can enable Siri and activate its help with a simple “Hey Siri”.

So I wonder how this is different from HomeKit control…

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Isn’t the difference you gain the ability to use “hey Siri” with the actual ecobee thermostat

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Yeah, ok, but it sounds like it’s just the wake word and maybe the actual request is being passed over to the HomePod. Which is not how it works with Alexa and ecobee. You can use Alexa commands with ecobee without having a physical Alexa device as well.

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Adaptive UI: The information that the watch presents will be different depending on either other home automation events or time of day.

Also, the new “camera room“ in HomeKit will include two way audio controls for cameras that support it.

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Good roundup of upcoming changes to HomeKit.

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Good article. Several sources are confirming that there won’t be an additional HomeKit certification beyond Matter, which would be huge if they have the full capabilities as current HomeKit devices.

I’m trying really hard to temper my expectations, but the more good news I hear about Matter the more my optimism spirals out of control :joy: It would be awesome if SmartThings exposes hub connected z-wave and zigbee devices to Matter and I can ditch HomeBridge to get them into HomeKit. :crossed_fingers: