#Gone home platforms pro
#Gone home platforms mac

This red light is my best effort to create a 'Now Recording' light to let my family know I'm on a call so as not to come into my office. When pressed, it turns on my Key Light Airs, pauses any music in my office, opens Zoom, Krisp, and Audacity, as well as turns a Hue light red inside the house. I have several different buttons on my Streamdeck Mini, one of which I use before recording my weekly Jason Squared podcast and video series.

#Gone home platforms pro

By the time I get situated in my chair, my MacBook Pro is unlocked (thanks to my Apple Watch), and I'm ready to start working.ДЄnother automation I have involves mostly Homebridge connected devices.

#Gone home platforms mac

When it's turned on, the rest of the lights in my office also turn on, my HomePod Mini begins playing music, and a command is sent to my Mac over SSH that wakes it before I even get to my desk. With the Home app and Shortcuts, it's possible to create impressive routines that completely automate a task.ДЇor example, right now I have a home automation setup that is triggered by the light switch in my office. The real power of Apple's HomeKit platform isn't its ease of use, but its the ability to easily automate certain interactions and combine those automations with the iPhone's Shortcuts app. Screenshot by Jason Cipriani/ZDNet Automation and Shortcuts are the key To do that, I need either some motion sensors or door/window sensors to use as triggers. It should help cut back on electricity use if nothing else.

One of my automation goals is to only have lights on around the house when they're actually needed, as opposed to turning lights on and off based on the time of day. My current approach is to automate as much as possible. Just look at the list Apple has curatedВ across all the different categories that HomeKit supports, complete with links for each product.

The list of devices that work with HomeKit keeps growing. Nest thermostats (lacks HomeKit support)В - Amazon.PiHole ad-blocker - Amazon (also available from Pi-Hole).

Elgato Stream Deck (as a button to trigger HomeKit automation) - Amazon.

Elgato Key Light Air (lacks HomeKit support) - Amazon.

Ambient Weather Station (via WeatherUndergound)В - Amazon.

Chamberlain MyQ Garage Door Opener (requires standalone hub) - Amazon.

Ring cameras and alarm system (lacks HomeKit support) - Amazon.

Right now, I'm using several different plugins to add the following devices to HomeKit: There are over 2,000 different plug-ins for almost every product or service. I can also control my WeMo devices without having to buy the official WeMo HomeKit adapter. For example, through Homebridge, I can view my Ring security cameras despite Ring's lack of HomeKit support. I have HomebridgeВ running on a Raspberry Pi 4, acting as a hub that can talk to devices that either require a dedicated hub to integrate with HomeKit or don't offer HomeKit support at all.

Eufy Indoor Cam 2K (HomeKit Secure Video)В - AmazonДevices I can control thanks to Homebridge.

Circle View Security Camera (HomeKit Secure Video)В - Amazon.

Nanoleaf ShapesВ - Nanoleaf (also available at Best BuyВ and Walmart).

Nanoleaf Essentials light stripsand bulbs - Apple.

Philips Hue lights (via a Hue Bridge)В - Amazon.

Circle View Doorbell (HomeKit Secure Video)В - Logitech (also available at Apple).

The recorded clips don't count against your iCloud Drive data allotment, but you'll need to be on the 200GB plan or 2TB plan in order to access the service - the latter of which will let you add up to five cameras to your account. That is, any camera that supports the protocol will store recorded video clips on Apple's servers, completely encrypted and only accessible by you. With the rollout of HomeKit integration for more devices, including televisions and the release of the HomePod Mini, a smaller and more affordable smart speaker that doubles as a HomeKit Hub (complete with Thread connectivity), I was optimistic that Apple and its partners had overcome the initial growing pains.ДЄnother aspect of HomeKit that I found intriguing is the HomeKit Secure Video platform. The last time I truly gave HomeKit a chance was a few years ago, and while it showed promise, I had issues with devices staying connected and struggled to get Siri to understand commands. But instead of picking Google Home or Amazon Alexa as my central service, I opted to go with Apple's HomeKit platform. Toward the end of the year, however, I decided it was time to begin my smart home conversion. Greg Nichols: Living and working on the high seas (with kids!)Дavid Gewirtz: 20 years of refinement and evolution Charlie Osborne: Millennial's small spaceДЄdrian Kingsley-Hughes: The secret lives of gadgets