Should you upgrade to Matter, security system discussion, & Tonie Box review on HomeKit In...

AppleInsider

On this episode of the HomeKit Insider Podcast, we step through the week's news, revisit the question whether to upgrade to Matter, and go hands-on with a kids smart speaker.

HomeKit Insider Podcast

It was a busy week in the world of smart home, with a lot of news to catch up on. We started by revisiting the Schlage Sense Pro that has since confirmed it will support Aliro later this year.

Another report has emerged on the timeline for Apple's smart home display. Bloomberg is saying it will be released late this year, which lines up with Kuo's prediction based on supply chain analysis.

Signify has updated its app, this time adding new features for its security cameras. They can now be scheduled to arm and disarm, instead of solely be based on location or manual control.

SmartWings has released the world's first Ethernet powered smart shades. They also work with Matter in what's been dubbed Matter-over-Ethernet, or MoE.

Since they connect with Ethernet, that handles the power and the data. They don't rely on a wireless network of any kind and will never need charged or have the batteries replaced.

Aqara has a whole slew of new devices designed for the EU market being released. Many of these were already released in China and will be coming to the US market soon.

They include new E26/E27 and GU10 bulbs in both full-color and tunable white versions, one and two channel versions of its H2 smart switch, the Display Switch V1, the Touchscreen Dial V1 EU, and the Aqara Panel Hub S1 Plus.

Finally in the news, Apple's digital assistant Siri woefully underperformed in a new Super Bowl test. it managed to only answer correctly 20 times when asked who won the last 58 Super Bowl games.

As we move past the news, we go hands on with the Tonie Box. This padded, screen-free speaker has tons of fun characters that are placed on top to trigger music and story playback.

We then pivot to talking about security systems, and which ones make the most sense. Whether it is something that works natively in Apple Home or something like ADT or SimplySafe that have more features and professional monitoring, but no Apple Home support.

Lastly to wrap the episode, we talk about the important question of whether or not to upgrade your existing devices to Matter. Then go further, and whether it is time to start upgrading some devices to Matter-enabled ones.

Links from the HomeKit Insider podcast

• SnazzyLabs Matter explainer


• Apple smart display coming


• Hue app gets updated with security schedules


• SmartWings MoE shades


• Schlage Sense Pro with UWB


• Siri's failed test

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Read on AppleInsider

xed

With the Apple HomeHub rumors looking pretty solid is AI planning on doing an in-depth review of various options for the home that will likely work with it on day one? Or, have they already covered security cameras and other home devices that use Matter and Thread?

mike1

Regarding that stupid blog post, Siri correctly answered all the super bowl questions, including winners, locations and dates, that I threw at her.

holycow

For example, it looks like the Schlage Sense Pro is getting an upgrade with Aliro support later this year. Plus, Apple’s smart home display is expected to drop by the end of the year, which is exciting. If you're thinking about upgrading to Matter, it might be worth considering if it aligns with your devices.