The Latest HomeKit Advances Set to Hit in iOS11
Apple’s HomeKit home automation app which was introduced 3 yeas ago in iOS8 has undergone some major upgrades and is getting some cool new features in the coming release of iOS11, Watch OS4 and TV OS11.
HomeKit now supports new types devices, even easier set-up and even opens up further to developers.
Some of the new device types include tapware, sprinklers and speakers.
Some of the new features besides a redesigned UI include QR pairing, NFC pairing, time based event triggers, HomeKit rules, timers, location as well as time based notifications, sunset/sunrise (before and after sunset by x minutes), auto off timers, location triggers by more than one person, build your own accessories and huge improvements in Bluetooth latency.
All of these new features require iOS11, Siri and the Home App for watch OS4, however HomeKit is still unsupported on macOS.
I love the new device setup where all you do is scan a small QR code on the back of the device and with the new use of NFC tags tap and pair is also super simple.
Lag times have on controlling devices has dropped from a few seconds to under a second, so you feel so much more in control of everything.
Date based events are really smooth and you now have far more customisation between events and thresholds ie when temperatures rise or fall above or beyond the threshold.
Thanks to multi person support and presence information you can trigger scenes when you are the first home or the last to leave.
Air play 2 also allows for multi room playback so if you plan on moving room to room you’ll love this feature.
Last but not least, all of this gets ramped up when you add in a Home Pod in December and you introduce Siri speaker to your world.
