I'd skip all smart switches and go straight for the Philips Hue bulbs. No wiring required.
I'd skip all "smart bulbs" on principle - bulbs are disposable items. And while they might make some limited sense in cases where there's a single ceiling light, it would be utterly ridiculous to do so in common scenarios where you have multiple lights driven by a single switch. E.g. I have 9 recessed lights in my living room - how much would Philips Hue bulbs cost me? On amazon, a 4-pack runs $50 - so more than $100. The Lutron Caseta is $50 and won't burn out.
Sorry, nowhere on the product page does it say it is HomeKit compatible. Might want to double check and correct this article.
And I don't believe it is, no HomeKit control of it AFAIK, but whatever...
I'm confused. Why would these remote switches specifically have to have HomeKit if they are only meant to easily and conveniently control their already HomeKit compatible devices?
I'd skip all smart switches and go straight for the Philips Hue bulbs. No wiring required.
I'd skip all "smart bulbs" on principle - bulbs are disposable items. And while they might make some limited sense in cases where there's a single ceiling light, it would be utterly ridiculous to do so in common scenarios where you have multiple lights driven by a single switch. E.g. I have 9 recessed lights in my living room - how much would Philips Hue bulbs cost me? On amazon, a 4-pack runs $50 - so more than $100. The Lutron Caseta is $50 and won't burn out.
Yeah I agree. I've tried to convince myself that it's a worthwhile expenditure, and still keep an eye on prices. But since as you point out they there are a disposable item it really doesn't make sense. Switches on the other hand...
Sorry, nowhere on the product page does it say it is HomeKit compatible. Might want to double check and correct this article.
This is a duplicate post that I mistakenly replied to another user. Why would these remote switches specifically have to have HomeKit if they are only meant to easily and conveniently control their already HomeKit compatible devices? It uses Bluetooth to pair with other iDevices for easy remote control.
I'd skip all smart switches and go straight for the Philips Hue bulbs. No wiring required.
I'd skip all "smart bulbs" on principle - bulbs are disposable items. And while they might make some limited sense in cases where there's a single ceiling light, it would be utterly ridiculous to do so in common scenarios where you have multiple lights driven by a single switch. E.g. I have 9 recessed lights in my living room - how much would Philips Hue bulbs cost me? On amazon, a 4-pack runs $50 - so more than $100. The Lutron Caseta is $50 and won't burn out.
Lutron Caseta switches require a bridge tho. I don’t have much room or desire for a bulky, hot bridge from every manufacturer...a switch with native HK support has more value to me.
I'd skip all smart switches and go straight for the Philips Hue bulbs. No wiring required.
I'd skip all "smart bulbs" on principle - bulbs are disposable items. And while they might make some limited sense in cases where there's a single ceiling light, it would be utterly ridiculous to do so in common scenarios where you have multiple lights driven by a single switch. E.g. I have 9 recessed lights in my living room - how much would Philips Hue bulbs cost me? On amazon, a 4-pack runs $50 - so more than $100. The Lutron Caseta is $50 and won't burn out.
Lutron Caseta switches require a bridge tho. I don’t have much room or desire for a bulky, hot bridge from every manufacturer...a switch with native HK support has more value to me.
I'll guess you already looked at the Wemo switches and didn't see anything you want. Those don't require a bridge, works directly with "assistants" like Home and Alexa, and Siri support was recently added. Those are what I've been using.
I'd skip all smart switches and go straight for the Philips Hue bulbs. No wiring required.
I'd skip all "smart bulbs" on principle - bulbs are disposable items. And while they might make some limited sense in cases where there's a single ceiling light, it would be utterly ridiculous to do so in common scenarios where you have multiple lights driven by a single switch. E.g. I have 9 recessed lights in my living room - how much would Philips Hue bulbs cost me? On amazon, a 4-pack runs $50 - so more than $100. The Lutron Caseta is $50 and won't burn out.
Lutron Caseta switches require a bridge tho. I don’t have much room or desire for a bulky, hot bridge from every manufacturer...a switch with native HK support has more value to me.
Yeah, proliferation of bridges/hubs are definitely a drag. But they're pretty small and don't generate much heat, so I hide them in the cabinet beneath the TV where my router is also located. I have one with which I couldn't do that - my Blink cameras - because of range issues, since some of them are outside the house.
Sorry, nowhere on the product page does it say it is HomeKit compatible. Might want to double check and correct this article.
And I don't believe it is, no HomeKit control of it AFAIK, but whatever...
I'm confused. Why would these remote switches specifically have to have HomeKit if they are only meant to easily and conveniently control their already HomeKit compatible devices?
If the switches are truly Homekit compatible then they'll appear in Apple's Home app and you can use them to control any Homekit devices regardless of brand, not limited to devices from the same brand. I've barely scratched the surface of Homekit automation in my home and yet I already have devices from three different brands.
If the switches can only control devices of the same brand that happen to be Homekit compatible, then that doesn't make the switches Homekit compatible by association.
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If you put switches on the wall, how they look/integrate with existing switches is a consideration.
EDIT: Nevermind. For whatever reason using Wemo switches with HomeKit requires the Belkin Bridge.
https://www.cnet.com/news/belkin-wemo-apple-homekit-bridge-arrives-at-ces-2018/
If the switches are truly Homekit compatible then they'll appear in Apple's Home app and you can use them to control any Homekit devices regardless of brand, not limited to devices from the same brand. I've barely scratched the surface of Homekit automation in my home and yet I already have devices from three different brands.
If the switches can only control devices of the same brand that happen to be Homekit compatible, then that doesn't make the switches Homekit compatible by association.