ihatescreennames

GeorgeBMac said:

Thanks!   That was a good article -- and needed.  

I especially appreciate the caution on storing the Homekit pairing codes.  The LifX bulbs I bought for my grandson only had a little sticker stuck on the back of a tiny user's guide.  Ya just know that will be the cause of a lot of frustration down the road for many people when they have to re-pair the lights but the user's guide is long gone.  (Although, in the case of LifX bulbs I understand you can retrieve those codes using the LifX app on an iPhone.)

Also, the information on using Apple hubs is helpful.   When I first set them up, I used my phone then had trouble adding my grandson's phone.   Had I known you could use an iPad as a hub I would have done so.

But mostly, I just appreciate the information on using Homekit by itself without third party hubs -- which I will not use.

I understand the desire to stay away from third-party hubs (I’m assuming you mean, for example, Hue). I have a bunch of Lutron dimmers, remotes and fan controllers (currently about 15).

Last year for unknown reasons I had to reset the Home app, which means all of my devices, scenes, automations, etc had to be added as if everything was new. For Lutron I added 1 HomeKit code and all of my Lutron devices were immediately available in Home. For iDevices gear (for example) I had to add each device individually. That’s a real pain. 

It also means there is no code required when I add a new Lutron device to my house. So for Lutron and Hue I only have to store 2 codes for over 30 HomeKit devices and adding them all takes less than 2 minutes. Good luck doing that with devices that each have their own individual code. 

asdasd said:

Siri shortcuts needs to be replaced on iOS and the Mac with proper 3rd party systems. 

asdasd said:

kruegdude said:

asdasd said:

Siri shortcuts needs to be replaced on iOS and the Mac with proper 3rd party systems. 

You mean something like “Workflows”?

No. I mean that on Alexa you can download 3rd party skills. It’s easy - just ask Alexa for the skill. So if you want a new weather skill you ask and download. (Discoverabilty is a problem but can be found in the app). 

On ios the shortcuts thing is limited in its capacity. 

I don't follow. Your first comment says Siri Shortcuts need to be replaced with proper 3rd party systems. Your followup to the question about Workflows mentioned that Alexa can download skills. 

What do you mean that Siri Shortcuts need to be replaced by proper 3rd party systems?

Keep in mind, this article and many others seems to conflate the Shortcuts app and Siri Shortcuts, which are similar and work together but are different things. Siri Shortcuts allows third parties to add Siri capability to their app. The Shortcuts app allows people to string together a bunch of actions that can then be accomplished with a single tap or by asking Siri.

I'm also curious why you think Shortcuts (the app) is limited in its capacity. Are there things that Alexa Skills can accomplish similar to what can be done in the Shortcuts app? For instance, I have a Shortcut that sets my disarms my alarm system, turns on several lights in my house (to different brightnesses) and adjusts my thermostat which I use when I wake up in the morning. It can be activated by asking Siri or by tapping a button on the home screen of my phone.

gutengel said:

Also, this means you AW is the wear link on password protection since you only need 4 digit password to access your computer.

You can set a longer passcode than 4 digits for your Watch. 

cgWerks said:

But, you still have to reach up and touch that screen to do things, right? I have my phone mounted in front of my stereo anyway, so I can reach up and touch it, too. It's just that reaching up to touch screens isn't nearly as safe as using knobs. It's quite distracting to try and look at a screen, decide where you need to touch, and then try to do so while driving. I think this trend is bad, actually.

I disagree. As I stated earlier my wife’s car doesn’t have a touch screen so everything in CarPlay is controlled by a knob on the console. It can be a real pain trying to switch between apps (although I should try having Siri do it).

Using the knob is simple but it’s also very easy to overshoot the target I wanted to land on, correct and overshoot in the opposite direction and so forth.  To be clear, the on screen buttons are highlighted in blue if selected. Rotating the knob counter clockwise moves the selection to the left until it reaches the end of that “line” at which point it goes to the next line up and starts on the right side. So, if I’m on the Music screen and the Repeat button is highlighted I have to rotate counter clockwise a few clicks to get to the play button. Two more clicks gets me to the album name, one more gets me to Up Next, then Back and then to the apps listed on the left side. Turning clockwise moves the selection to the right.

Last month we were on vacation. Our rental was a 2019 Jeep Grand Cherokee that had CarPlay and a touch screen. It was the first chance I’ve had to use CarPlay with a touch screen and I found much nicer and less distracting to use than the knob in the car.

I haven’t seen if Disney+ will be offering movies in 4K. Can anyone confirm they will or won’t?