My Experience With Apple Home
A smart home by Apple after one year of using
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Firstly, I want to emphasize that this is my experience with Apple Home, which I would like to share with you. I’m writing this article because I’m pretty disappointed with the smart home solution. But probably you can have a different experience.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy all Apple products, but nothing is perfect, and there will always be some downsides. But the number of issues I have had in the last year is just too many for me.
One more thing… before we start talking about Apple Home itself, I should clarify one important detail. When I moved to my current home, my goal was to build a fast, stable, and reliable network with excellent WiFi coverage.
I decided to buy all the network hardware from Ubiquiti, used ethernet cables everywhere when it was possible, and the rest connected with WiFi. And I think I can say that I met the goal just fine. So none of the problems I had was from a poor connection.
In future articles, we could also look at my network setup and my experience with Unifi technology.
If you want to create a smart home with HomeKit accessories, you need an Apple home hub. You have two options, you can use HomePod (mini) or Apple TV. If you set up HomePod it automatically becomes a home bridge. In the case of Apple TV, you have to add to Home to become a bridge.
(I didn’t mention the iPad since it is no longer supported)
I own 3 HomePods mini and two of them are stereo paired. The Home’s basic setup is straightforward, and adding new accessories is simple. Apple did an excellent job here. But…
Disadvantages
Let's start with some disadvantages that Apple Home has. Compared with Google Home or Amazon Alexa, the number of compatible devices is the lowest. The frequency of updates or new features is also really low. Basically, Apple's major updates come once a year.
Some devices are not supported at all, like vacuum cleaners. And what I really miss is some kind of display, which can be mounted on the wall to control the home.
There is also another thing I don’t like about the smart home. Every manufacturer has its own application, and it’s mostly required. Apple Home has only basic control of the devices and if you want more settings or even firmware updates, you have to use the application of the manufacturer.
Limitations
The home application itself is very limited. There is not much customization, you can’t hide devices or features if you don’t want them. For example, Aqara Hub has a security system, and you can set it up if you are home or away. Still, it’s useless for you if you don’t have any other devices to support this feature.
You can turn on/off the alarm settings, but it’s pointless. And of course, a security widget is visible in the app that cannot be hidden. Another thing that is not well resolved. You can put temperature sensors in every room and the Home application shows the temperatures in your house in the Climate widget.
But what if you want to put the sensor outside, you will see the temperature included in the home Climate widget. There is no way to distinguish or ignore it and you will see a temperature e.g. 8–24°, on the dashboard.
Issues
The most significant issue I had is “Not Responding” devices. Sometimes I see that some device is not responding, and I can’t control it. Also, I don’t have many options to fix that. I can try to restart it or add it again, but It’s really annoying to try to fix it all the time. If I had at least some logs or messages from the application, but there is nothing.
I have an LG television that is HomeKit compatible, and when I turn off the tv, it’s not responding in the Home app — this is really sad. I’m not saying that all the issues are with Apple HomeKit, but as a user, I don’t care where the problem is. I want a working and reliable solution.
Share your experiences with Apple Home in the comments.
