Either way, the Home app is a step in the right direction. It's almost as if Apple is finally ready to admit that yes, it does indeed want to compete in the emerging smart home market.Įven with the Home app, HomeKit still has some catching up to do - where's your Siri-enabled smart-home speaker to compete with Amazon's wildly successful Echo product line? Maybe we'll see that later this year. Whereas before you had to use third-party apps to configure and control your HomeKit-compatible smart home products, the Home app brings them all under one, Apple-controlled roof. Instead, Home brings to the smart home what it has brought to other product categories - a clean, easy-to-understand interface. That's because it doesn't actually add a ton of new features. This cost starts from £1.99/$2.99 per month for one camera, but gets more expensive as you purchase more cameras.If you're already familiar with HomeKit, Apple's software platform that relies on its Siri virtual voice assistant to control lights, locks and other smart home devices, the Home app may not seem like a big deal. ![]() You can store video recordings for free for up to one week, but if you’d like to keep anything for longer than that you’ll need to upgrade to a monthly subscription. You can also view live video on the app, and turn on notifications on your phone in case any motion is detected on the camera. You can either connect it to a power supply or run off of a battery pack, depending on where you’d like to place it. The camera comes with 1920×1080 resolution, motion detection and night-vision. It’s a tad more pricey than other standard security cameras, mainly because of its compatibility with a hub that connects directly to your router, with the ability to control your cameras, as well as other smart home features such as the Arlo doorbell. Plus, it’s not difficult to install and there’s no subscription to pay.įor more product recommendations of this type, take a look at our roundup of theĪrlo offers a number of different home security cameras, but if you’re looking for something that ticks all the boxes, the Arlo Pro 2 is one to look at. ![]() It doesn’t look like a security camera and the LEDs do a good job of replacing an existing outdoor light. It isn’t perfect, it isn’t cheap and it lacks a few features we’d like to see added to the app, but overall we really like the Netatmo Presence. You can also set the Presence up to save video to Dropbox, or your own FTP server. Also, and more importantly, there’s no monthly subscription charge: an SD card is built-into the camera and stores the footage. It’s relatively expensive compared to some outdoor security cameras, but bear in mind that dimmable LED floodlights aren’t cheap. It will detect people, animals and cars up to 65 feet away, sending alerts to your phone – and even your Apple Watch. It’s easy to install and it works well, too. ![]() The Netatmo Presence is a security camera that doubles as a floodlight. If you’re up for the challenge, however, this is a handy way to make your lights smarter and easier to control. And be warned that replacing a light switch (particularly since this one is quite chunky and may be difficult to squeeze into the existing cavity) can be a bit intimidating for beginners. Multi-location switch points (ie when a light is controlled by more than one switch) cannot be upgraded with this device, and it requires dimmer-compatible bulbs too. Nothing is ever completely easy in smart-home tech, unfortunately, and smart switches do have some compatibility issues. Siri (“set dimmer to 20 percent”) and automation (lights on at 20% when you have to wake up, for example, then 70% 10 minutes later) are handy options. But if you’re willing to do a small amount of electrical DIY, smart switches can be more powerful and versatile, able to control multiple lights and not troubled by bayonet/screw fitting worries.ĭouble dimmer switch from Koogeek lets you turn a pair of lights on or off, or adjust their respective brightness settings, from the switch itself or via an iPhone, iPad, Apple TV or HomePod. Light bulbs are among the most popular smart-home devices, because they are easy to fit and offer obvious benefits.
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