Home Automation Using Apple Devices

Read Time:2 Minute, 42 Second

By Jane Blanchard, Special for  USDR

 

“Oh, no. It’s her.”

 

She’s loud, she smells like garlic, and the only thing higher in the air than her beehive haircut is her nose – and she’s coming down your driveway. “Siri,” you whisper, “Away  mode!”

 

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The front door locks. All lights wink out. The radio turns off, and as you tiptoe into the bathroom, you hear her rasping at the front door, “Hello? Anyone there? I brought  zucchini!”

 

“Thank you, HomeKit,” you whisper as you duck and cover beside the  toilet.

 

Home Automation is taking off quickly and Apple devices, as usual, are heavily implemented in this Jetson’s-like  revolution.

 

Via Dream  Kitchens

 

A Man’s Home Is His Remotely Operated  Network

 

Humans are forgetful and busy. We aren’t programmed to perform everyday tasks perfectly. That’s why toast burns, garage doors are left abandoned and you accidentally record over your favorite television  show.

 

Enter the “smart” home, a house where every appliance and electronic is part of the Internet of Things, a network of automated home devices that you can autonomously and remotely control – or better yet, devices that control themselves: ovens that preheat themselves to accommodate your dinner schedule, weather-sensitive mood lighting, and whatever else third-party geniuses can conjure  up.

 

Apple HomeKit: Developer API for Smart  Homes

 

That’s where HomeKit comes in. HomeKit, announced by Apple at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June 2014, is a home automation platform, software that allows appliances and electronics to network with each other. Developers like iDevices, Insteon and Honeywell can manufacture products compatible with the platform. You, the consumer, can control everything via your iPhone. Each network, device and function has a name. For instance: Home – Oven – Pizza  Preheat.

 

Technically, HomeKit debuted along with iOS 8, but it hasn’t been activated. Apple is still dotting its i’s and crossing its t’s when it comes to secure encryption, platform interoperability and user-friendly interfaces. However, many companies have already pledged their partnership, and a few brave ones launched their products at the Consumer Electronics Show 2015 in Las Vegas,  Nevada.

 

Via Wikipedia.org Pictured: Apple I NOT released at CES  2015.

 

A Sampling of To-Be HomeKit Consumer  Devices

 

Most products follow simple If-This-Then-That  programming.

 

  • If a burglar breaks a door or window, then the Elgato Eve Door & Window Sensor will text you an alert  message.

 

  • If you approach your front door handcuffed by groceries, then the Schlage Sense Bluetooth-connected door lock will politely unlock the door for  you.

 

  • Products like the iDevices Switch and the iHome iSP5 SmartPlug allow you to remotely turn off and on light bulbs, lamps, heaters and other  electronics.

 

  • Using HomeKit technology will, theoretically, enable you to create what Apple calls “groups” or “scenes.” Instructing Siri to engage “child-safety mode” will deactivate the stovetop, censor television programs, lock the basement door and so  forth.

 

Via Model Remodel “Siri: Super Bowl Mode,  please.”

 

For more home automation ideas, head to  Modernize.com.

 

Jane Blanchard is a blogger, home design geek, and graphic designer from Savannah, GA.  She currently writes for  Modernize.com.

 

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