Once users have hooked up the HomeKit gadget to their Apple device, they can command them using Siri. Here's what the commands look like:
- "Turn on the lights" or "Turn off the lights."
- "Dim the lights" or "Set the brightness to 50%."
- "Set the temperature to 68 degrees."
- "Turn on the coffee maker."
With HomeKit, Apple also allows users to group HomeKit devices together into rooms, scenes, homes or zones. Here's what those commands look like:
- "Turn on the upstairs lights."
- "Turn off Chloe's light."
- "Turn down the kitchen lights"
- "Dim the lights in the dining room to 50%."
- "Make the living room lights the brightest."
- "Set the Tahoe house to 72 degrees."
- "Set the thermostat downstairs to 70."
- "Turn on the printer in the office."
- "Set up for a party, Siri."
- "Set the dinner scene."
- "Set my bedtime scene."
Users won't be able to control these devices through Siri while they're away from home, unless they have a 3rd generation Apple TV or later. When they're away from home, the Siri instructions will come in through iCloud and onto the Apple TV. The Apple TV, which is equipped with both WiFi and Bluetooth radios, can then work as central hub for interacting with these devices.
The first HomeKit-approved devices have started coming out earlier this month. There are only five devices announced, and so far there's nothing special. They're mostly modifications of existing products -- a hub, a thermostat, a smart plug. Each of these device makers have to go through Apple’s MFi (“Made for iPhone/iPod/iPad”) program to achieve certification. Apple requires device makers to install an authentication chip in their product as well as go through extensive usability testing to make sure the products live up to Apple’s standards.
HomeKit was first announced at Apple’s June 2014 developers conference, and things have been slowly coming together since then. The HomeKit protocol has been embedded in the iOS software since the iOS 8 launch last year.
Apple’s HomeKit protocol determines how devices are identified in iOS based on clearly defined device categories and what sorts of actions can be taken with them — turning on or off a light, for example. Ideally, this will allow the interactions between devices to be more consistent and reliable than with previous wireless protocols in home automation technology like ZigBee and Z-Wave. HomeKit also uses end-to-end encryption for securely connecting smart home gadgets and an Apple device. Another nice privacy feature of HomeKit is that people control their own home data. Going into the settings privacy section of settings, users can bring up HomeKit and select "Reset HomeKit Configuration," which wipes the data from the Apple device and iCloud.
Reports have surfaced claiming that Apple has been having trouble nailing down the HomeKit protocol. According to a report in Fortune, Apple has been having trouble stabilizing the software.
The one review of HomeKit devices so far has been lackluster, with the Wall Street Journal's Geoffrey Fowler stating, "this first public showing is uncharacteristically crude." Fowler found using Siri inconsistent in understanding his basic instructions for controlling the devices. "My bet is that simplifying the smart home is so complicated, it’s still years away," writes Fowler.
