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For those with some health issues and interests, continuous monitoring of, for example, body temperature is desirable. Ranging from thyroid disorders through monthly cycle tracking.

And the ear represents a good option for the sensor(s).

But I'm not convinced any form of airpod is the right basis for this. For several reasons:

Many would want the monitoring to include through the night, but wearing airpods all the time simply doesn't seem a good idea.

The battery life of airpods is questionable for continuous monitoring (or nearly continuous, I don't think taking them out to recharge is a problem regarding the continuous-ness of the monitoring). We'd probably want to know they could last all through the night to pick up temperature changes such as occur deep in the night and in the morning as we wake. Perhaps they'd last sufficiently for monitoring even if they couldn't play all that time.
 
Fix HomeKit first. Got a new lifx bulb with HomeKit. Control center widget is buggy. Light goes offline (no response). Wall Light switch control takes a couple toggles.
Homekit seems super unreliable.
Was having similar issues.... I ended up deleting my home completely from homekit and starting over.... added all of my devices, which includes 2 power plugs, 2 light switches, the new Nest thermostat and my homepod serving as bridge..... I did this about a month ago and all has been working flawlessly so far. I have a few automations going and I am able to control all items remotely without them ever going offline, or getting that unresponsive message.
 
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Apple really dropped the ball with this. It had everything set up to implement a connected home, with HomeKit/Apple Home, Apple TV, HomePod, etc. All it needed to do was make a few things that people wanted, like cameras, mesh network, and proper, easy connectivity with other makers. Instead, it wasted time, effort and money in trying to make a car as well as other useless endeavors (I'm not including Apple Vision in this, though, as if the price was right it would sell a lot).

Now Apple wants to get back into the game where Amazon and Google has taken a massive lead. This is Siri all over again

The common dominator is Tim Cook. The man has zero vision unfortunately
 
I think the biggest help here would be if Apple would bring back their AirPort line of Wi-Fi routers. Oftentimes, complaints about HomeKit are really complaints about flaky Wi-Fi.
Tired of hearing this. My network is enterprise grade, rock solid! HomeKit is the trash product here. Time and time again it's an issue. Especially after major iOS updates. Siri is a steaming pile of **** with each new year. Apple's new "Apple Intelligence" is nothing more than a visual overhaul with some ChatGPT built in. That's about it. Siri is no smarter than previously. Honestly, Siris is dumber than when it was first introduced and getting worse and worse. I already have cameras. I don't need deeeeeep integration with a service that barely works as is.

Since the past 4 updates to iOS, I have to SHOUT and YELL to get Siri to hear or respond to me while playing music. I used to be able to whisper and it would hear me across the room. Ever since they removed the "hey" requirement, it also has made things worse. Activating to anything that sounds like siri, it's annoying. She won't shut up. She doesn't actually tell you anything anymore because "you need to unlock your iPhone". Or "you can ask me from your iPhone".

Simple items when searching for movies on Apple TV are interpreted by siri as commands so a "i can't do that here" or "that's not possible" results. It's not smart, it's the dumbest thing ever.

HomeKit is plagued with problem after problem. My Schlage encode plus lock stopped sending lock/unlock notifications consistently after iOS 18. It became useless to see lock/unlock. Nothing fixes it. The delays of those notifications when it works is also dumb. 20 seconds after the door is unlocked, I get the notification sometimes.

I have a ghost hub I cannot remove. It showed up one day.

It's not my network. Stuff just doesn't stop working randomly unless it's crap software. Ironic that after every update people complain and lots of people go "it's your network". It's not, it worked perfectly fine before the update.
 
I just wish they would up HomeKit camera quality to 4K, as my outdoor cameras have been on 4K for a few years and so do my indoor ones now.

Eufy now supports HomeKit integration once again, but because Apple still only supports 1080p, if I connect my cameras to it, they will be limited to 1080p.

Apple is falling behind once again.
 
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Will probably be grossly overpriced and dumbed down with basic minimalist features. I am happy with my Ring system, I have the doorbell, backyard floodlights, and an outdoor camera on the side of the house..... System works perfectly and for $99/year I have all footage stored in the cloud. that's a bargain imo..... Also the app's neighbor feature is great to keep up with whatever may be going on around you. I would much rather Ring be integrated in to homekit with matter eventually, than buying something from Apple in this space.
 
I wonder if this would trigger some sort of anti-trust investigation if Apple started competing with other smart home device manufacturers.

I've had good luck with my TP-Link smart outlets and Meross smart bulbs. All the lights in my home office turn on when I arrive and turn off when I leave. Homekit automation is nice!

It's much better than the Samsung SmartThings devices I had before.

I like a first-party solution. If Apple wanted to get serious about the smart home... I've heard people say Apple should start offering their own smart bulbs, smart outlets, smart door locks, and smart cameras. The basics of the smart home.

But again... I worry that it could invite investigation.
Good to read that.

I've just acquired some Tapo T110M smart outlets. Chosen because I have had generally good experience with TP-Link products and the price was quite good (less that £11 each). First one set up and switching just fine. Will see what happens when I try to do something a bit fancier.
 
It would be great if Apple release smart home camera. I am not having much luck with them at moment. Netatmo was good at beginning but after 4 years it all started to die off. I had 3 replacement from them brand new one for between £30-£50 range and they all died in 6 months to year. No idea why so I have given up and one of replacement died so not bothered replace it same one, just got basic Yale one instead. Last replacement still going at moment, when that one dies then I will need start thinking which brand I go for and I have looked around but none give any good options and all have issues etc.

Apple do make reliable products so if they do release one then it be great and I will be getting one for sure!
 
I’m using Eufy cameras and love them. I too wish Apple would bring back the Airport base stations. I’m currently using a Asus WiFi router running Merlin.
 
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If they are making cameras please bring back the Airport for local storage!!!
 
Good news! Apple Home is awesome, and Apple making some of these things makes a whole lot of sense (and will help goose the entire venture). Apple should never have abandoned Time Capsule btw.
 
I hope I am wrong, but I suspect their smart home camera won't be what most of us wants -- doorbell camera and floodlight camera. Instead, I suspect it will likely be an indoor camera, perhaps with wheels.

I don't think Apple wants to deal with anything that requires that requires or demands a professional installation.

There may be wheels, but they'll definitely cost extra.
 
This is big news. Nobody has clearly won the camera market IMO and most are charging way too much for Cloud storage.

Apple is already way ahead of them in the charging too much for cloud storage department. And they make "the world's most popular camera."

But they also make "the world's most disappointing smart speaker" so we'll see.
 
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Thread is just as bad if not worse
I think Thread is more resilient, but it's basically Zigbee (Philips Hue), which is also prone to failure now and then.

For my own lighting needs, I use Lutron Caseta all around, with an Expansion Kit to expand the range. Never had a single failure in the entire 8 years using it.
 
I think Thread is more resilient, but it's basically Zigbee (Philips Hue), which is also prone to failure now and then.

For my own lighting needs, I use Lutron Caseta all around, with an Expansion Kit to expand the range. Never had a single failure in the entire 8 years using it.
lutron is perfect. if their clear connect wasn't proprietary I think that should be industry standard. I don't find threat resilient at all. My Schlage lock, nano leaf bulbs and nano leaf strips are all threat and they're some of the most likely devices to fall off of HomeKit into no response and the hardest to get back. the whole "self healing" network feels like nonsense. I have many HomePods minis. things should be seamless
 
I can't wait to ditch my Ring cameras for smarter Apple cameras that will integrate well with HomeKit without requiring HomeBridge with my Raspberry Pi which can be unreliable at times and requires additional maintenance.

Fix HomeKit first. Got a new lifx bulb with HomeKit. Control center widget is buggy. Light goes offline (no response). Wall Light switch control takes a couple toggles.
Homekit seems super unreliable.

I've noticed that with HomeKit devices, it really depends on the quality. Like I have Eve switches now, along with their water hose controller, and even though the house is outside it turns on within a second or two of me asking Siri. The indoor lights are very snappy and responsive at all times, a fraction of the lag of WeMo and it is a very rare day when they disconnect. It has only happened once since I bought them in spring, and I think it was something going on with my wifi network because a quick reboot of that resolved it. I think it helps that I have my router set on a schedule that reboots it weekly at like 5am on Sunday. In general my HomeKit network is rather stable nowadays, aside from the occasional issue with HomeBridge that I mentioned above. Other great HomeKit devices for me have been my Ecobee thermostat and my Schlage Sense door lock (after the first year of constant bug fix updates to the firmware lol). Been using both since 2016 with hardly an issue, especially the Ecobee which has been rock solid.

I think the biggest help here would be if Apple would bring back their AirPort line of Wi-Fi routers. Oftentimes, complaints about HomeKit are really complaints about flaky Wi-Fi.

YES PLEASE APPLE I will pay them so much money to have a good pair of mesh AirPort Extreme with WiFi 7, although they would probably call it AirPort Pro or AirPort Max nowadays, lol. But honestly what helped the most with my WiFi issues was buying a 2.5Gbps MoCa to connect a wired backhaul between my ASUS ZenMax WiFi 6 routers, and then that freed up a lot of bandwidth for other wireless devices around the house and sped up my connection upstairs. Combine that with a scheduled weekly reboot in the middle of the night and it has been fairly solid.
 
Just please for the love of everything fix the horrible video browser. Trying to find a clip in the recordings is a horrible and infuriating experience. Can’t seem to export anything either.
 
HomeKit so far works really well for me for Philips Hue lighting. I know some complain about glitchy controls over lights etc. It probably do with brand you go for. Cheaper ones far I can see (read lot of reviews online) usually more glitchy and any smart lights without hub also more glitchy too. Philips Hue cost more than most brands and have hub and it is most reliable lights.

My lights not yet moved to Matter since when Matter released and lot people was having issues so at moment I am keeping it on current system.
 
weird. mine always works
I just want the ability to search by type, day and time. For instance, find all clips showing packages and pets on Friday, from 11 AM to 3 PM. Right now you can only select a day and scroll on a tiny thumbnail strip crossing your fingers that it won't reset to live view by its own.

With all the Apple Intelligence push, the one app that truly benefits from it is Home, and it's been neglected for so long.
 
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