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I’ve got a bunch of smart home devices, but unfortunately, they’re all from different manufacturers and incompatible with each other.
I’ve got security cameras from at least five different manufacturers — each requiring a different app to open and monitor.
Oh, wait a second! I forgot the camera in the garage that’s attached to the garage door opener — so six! Six different incompatible platforms!
(And that doesn’t include the two perfectly good SmartThings cameras I just chucked out because they are no longer supported in software, despite working just fine.)
TBH, I don’t use any of these cameras very much. Three sets of cameras are just set up as rat cams in the basement. I’m monitoring for any invasion of our furry friends. Another is a security cam pointed at the exterior of the garage.
So it’s with great interest that I just discovered the Homebridge project — an open source effort to make smart devices compatible with the Apple Home platform.
Capable of running on a bunch of hardware, including an inexpensive Raspberry Pi, Homebridge allows you to control hundreds of popular devices from Ring, Nest, TP-Link and many more.
The project just reached a major milestone — which should expand the number of devices that are now (or soon will be) compatible with Apple.
It’s great timing, with Apple planning a major push into the smart home with the rumored HomePad, which might launch pretty soon.
I’ve yet to dig in to see if Homebridge can connect all my different cameras to HomeKit. Perhaps various older smart plugs I’ve got lying around can be, too. I’m kinda excited by the prospect of controlling everything via Siri.
Just kidding: We all know Siri is hopeless. Plus, I can’t wait to spend hours troubleshooting some old smart deadbolt!
Also in today’s newsletter:
Look at this chart of the top-selling smartphones. One manufacturer’s flagship phones are very conspicuously absent. The tables have really turned.
I’m using the Wallet app more and more, and this new addition sounds very handy.
🔥 DEAL OF THE DAY: I’m a big fan of plug-in CarPlay screens, and this one includes a 4K dashcam, plus a backup camera. It’s 35% off for Prime members.
Onshoring is getting a boost with a pair of developments: The Apple Manufacturing Academy is promoting AI use in factories, and Apple’s looking to U.S.-based chip plants to supplement overbooked fabs in Taiwan.
This is a handy thing to know if you go to the gym and wear an Apple Watch.
— Leander Kahney, EIC.
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One more thing ...
If Apple just becomes a place where computers are a commodity item and where the romance is gone, and where people forget that computers are the most incredible invention that man has ever invented, then I'll feel I have lost Apple. But if I'm a million miles away and all those people still feel those things and they're still working to make the next great personal computer, then I will feel that my genes are still in there.
Today’s poll
What smart home devices do you use?
Results from yesterday’s poll:
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