Naiyas

Been listening with interest to Stephen’s new build project as I am about to embark on a pretty major renovation myself where 66% of my house will be stripped back to the bare walls. This obviously gives me the ability to consider some pretty major backhaul changes so thought I’d offer my thoughts to where I have got to. A few things:

• I’m UK based, so this limits my access to some products somewhat - availability and electrical wiring wise;
• Vendor hubs… I don’t like them generally and my goal is to minimise them as much as possible so I’m very interested in the future of Thread and Matter
• I follow the principle that if a network device is in a fixed location it will be wired in via Ethernet (POE if possible) - living in a highly populated city the WiFi spectrum is far too congested to be reliable (I can see and grab data from over 80 different networks not including my own) so interference is a big issue. Moving as many static devices to wired connections keeps their performance high - Apple TV’s, computers, cameras, etc.

LAN network
Like Stephen I’ve already opted for a UniFi based system, however I have added an additional POE switch to support the volume of cable connections I will need. I have chosen to run CAT8 throughout as it provides ample headroom for a future move to 10Gb despite the up front cost. I also plan to run at least 2 cable lines to each end point thereby giving me back up lines should any be impacted in the future and for multiple device connections. Device wise I have the following:

• UDM Pro
• USW Pro 24 POE
• UAP IW HD (1 for each “room”)
• U6 LR (for my ground floor)

The aim of the UAP IW HD is to provide a POE passthrough and 4 port switch in each room point plus a WiFi hot spot that will ensure each room has a powerful network connection point for WiFi connected devices. One or two will have their AP turned off as they won’t be needed, but the flexibility will be there. My internal walls are and will be heavily insulated for sound and heat and so WiFi signals don’t tend to move through my walls very well. this gives me good in room signal, and also means I have a tidy connection point to say a TV + Apple TV combo. WiFi 6 on the ground floor is because that floor is the main entertainment space, open plan, and extends out into the garden.

HomeKit Hubs
Each bedroom and the living room will have an Apple TV, thereby providing a Thread border router everywhere and all will be wired into the main network so they can utilise the full speed back haul as needed. I also have a couple of HomePod mini’s in a couple of areas but we find our main use of voice is in the main entertainment space (includes the kitchen and living room).

Speakers (non-HomePod)
Our primary sound/music in all rooms is delivered through Sonos - Arc, Beam, Sub(s), SLs, and an Amp (for outdoor speakers) - and the type of speaker in each location is dependent on that rooms use case. Unfortunately, you can only wire in a single Sonos device (it them creates its own WiFi network) which is kind of annoying as to my mind it would be far better to have this run on a low latency ethernet network. Why don’t I go fully HomePod? No auxiliary input means it doesn’t connect to our TV as we don’t watch everything through the Apple TV. If this changed, then maybe the decision would be different.

Cameras / Doorbell / Security
HomeKit integrated security systems is a major issue in the UK. Abode is here but many of its sensors, etc don’t seem to work well with HomeKit (or are not even supported) and you must have a subscription in the UK market. I tried it for about a year and then got rid of it. I won’t say which one I use now, but it does have a HomeBridge plug-in which provides adequate integration for the moment. This is one area that is a big weakness in the HomeKit realm IMO.

The best door / window contacts I’ve used are the Thread enabled Eve ones… they are excellent, rock solid, and very fast to notify. I would like many of their other products - window sensors, motion, etc - that I can acquire in France / Germany when I visit to be available directly in the UK but I suspect they have a manufacturing constraint due to supply issues… silence from them upon enquiry.

The Eve Smoke, which is again excellent (as it is Smoke/Heat/Combo capable and suitable for kitchens), is always out of stock but for the UK a mains powered version is a must due to the fire safety regulations my property falls into. There are really no other options with the same capabilities at this time.

After much trial and error, I have gone with the UniFi Protect camera system which includes their Doorbell. There are a number of reasons for this, but in essence it comes down to the cameras being POE and there is really good HomeBridge support where I can link the doorbell button to an automation which turns on the front lights (motion activated isn’t good when the door is effectively on the public street!). Getting cable to their locations is not an issue given the scale of renovation and so its a good fit for me as I can keep my WiFi reliance on camera connectivity to a minimum - the doorbell. I’ve tried Arlo cameras and whilst they have been pretty good (the doorbell is rick solid), long term they have proved to be unreliable with frequent drop outs and mis activations. I have also tried cameras from Eve and Logitech but the WiFi interference around me means they also suffer reliability issues.

Lighting
I have been a big user of Hue lights and I still really like them. This is one area where my consideration of a hub is very mixed, but given the number of lights / switches I would need to support I need multiple hubs… and there-in lies the biggest issue with Hue at the moment. I am really hoping Thread and Matter resolve this so that I can get the wide array of Hue bulb options without the need for the hub. I do have several Nanoleaf bulbs / strip lights under the essentials line and I do really like them. The main issue I’ve had is how they get updated… they are a pain in the backside on that front. But then I run into the main issue with Nanoleaf… they don’t have a broad enough selection of bulbs. No GU10’s for instance is glaring omission in the “essentials” category. If they just fixed this one omission I could drop my need for Hue almost completely and shift completely to Nanoleaf.

And then we get to Stephen’s switch problem. I agree, switches have been a big issue and they are one of the reasons I have stuck with Hue for so long. I quickly moved to bulb based control rather than switch based control because the UK doesn’t have neutral wires which have been a problem for much of the smart home lighting kit. I’m therefore a big proponent of smart bulbs. All my Hue lights run off Hue switches, usually dimmer switches at the moment. I managed to get a friend to bring me a Wemo Stage Scene Controller from the US with him recently and I’m sold completely. I will be fitting everything out with these because a single controller can replace up to 3 of my existing hue dimmers.

I personally retain my existing switch plates in the UK, because taking the smart kit with me will be easier if I chose to sell and move in the future (hopefully not soon!) and so I fit mounting plates over the top of my existing switches which I get from a small scale 3D printing business. These work great for my Hue dimmers and I can do the same with the Wemo Stage Scene Controllers. My 3/4-way switches are typically in 2/3 switch plates and so I have 2/3 hue switches for each one. With Wemo I can cut this down to 1 controller in each location as each button on the controller can be assigned to a given lighting circuit / bulb group / scene. The same applies for double switch fittings elsewhere in my house where a single Wemo will replace multiple Hue dimmers. Now all I need is Hue bulbs that don’t need a hub!

Heating
Regardless of the push for “green” here in the UK we’re still largely gas based for heating. We have no space for a heat pump and so it will be interesting to see how our government deals with that conundrum in the future - badly no doubt. What we do have is a Tado controlled system though and it has been a massive money saver - at least 40% a year from where we were before I fitted it. It integrates with HomeKit, but its real power is in its own App. I was an early adopter so I got in before the monthly subscription was brought in for the Geo-based features which make sit less appealing to me if I had to buy into it fresh.

But again this is an area that is poorly served in the UK market as it pertains to HomeKit. Ecobee is not really much of an option though I must say I would like to benefit from it given the Siri integration and how it would be an extremely effective way of putting Siri in every room without the need for a HomePod - given I already have Sonos - and every room needs its own thermostat control.

I did look at the other TRV options from Eve and several others but without proper on-demand boiler control I just don’t consider them effective options at this time.

Other Sensors/Devices
I do have several other sensors that I use to collect information which I use to help me make energy improvement decisions (or for basic monitoring). These are the Eve Weather, Eve Room, Eve Aqua, and Eve Energy. Sure the Eve Energy can be used to control things on/off and I do have one or two things where this is the case, but it’s main function to me is energy use monitoring for appliances and other items. It helped me spot my fridge/freezer was breaking before it actually did, and it helps me understand how much energy my network and server infrastructure uses so I can charge my business for it.

Eve Weather, Room and Aqua are used to help us understand air quality and its impact on when the heating is turned on, quantify savings from insulation measures, and assist with watering the garden and how much water we use for that. Eve has been a primary go to company because it allows you to get hold of the data history for all of its devices and this is a brilliant feature I wish more devices had and provided access to - I only wish it was easier to automate it!

Anyway… Andrew and Stephen were looking for listener stories of their HomeKit / Smart Home setups and thoughts, so here is mine. Keep up the good work guys.

JohnDinEU said:

I’m old school Apple and I’m Dutch. I remember Steve being pissed at Microsoft (re it’s market dominance) and we were able to download software from wherever we wanted. There were risks but so is driving a bicycle. I believe that customers should be free to choose from wherever you they want to to buy (paid or free). Apple changed their business model (or adjusted it as it saw fit) and me as a consumer had to adjust with. I sincerely hope Apple will be forced to open up and allow companies to offer downloads for free or paid (outside of the App Store directly onto your phone) and or allow companies to sell directly their software outside of the App Store. 

If you’re old school Apple you must know that iOS is not macOS. The two are vastly different serving very different markets. On macOS (old school) you can still download software from wherever you want unabated and the model hasn’t changed. Sure they are trying, but it’s not happening.

iOS is vastly different. Ever since it’s inception the only way to get an app onto the phone from anywhere is via the “web app” method. This was there from day one and remains to this day. The App Store came a few years after first release and was driven by developers wanting a native app capability which had to be BUILT from the ground up. The price was that the only way to use this IP was via the App Store and it’s fee system.

To the vast majority of consumers it is fantastic - a one stop shop for apps that keeps their apps updated with no hassle.

To legacy computer users that got used to the old school way it was alien and seen as taking away features. But we fail (and still do) that the reason for iOS success is the simplicity of a one stop shop.

The vast majority of consumers couldn’t care less about the 30% margin or only having one App Store. They just want their phone to work, not break, and want a single place to find what they want. It’s simple for them and a vast number pay for that.

If you don’t want that, go buy one of the many Android phones on offer.

Basically, you don’t understand that the iPhone as a product has never changed its business model when it comes to apps. The option for web apps still exists, but it provides developers no income to survive.

Some of the items mentioned in the article are very much pro-consumer, for instance:

AppleInsider said:

... easier for users to switch devices without losing data ...

Developers have made this much easier than it used to be without the need for regulatory intervention, and it's not as if Apple / Google are blocking this on their platforms. So whilst this is a good observation that needs more work, I'm not sure forcing it on Apple or Google will have any market effect.

AppleInsider said:

... the use of "web apps," ... and to offer more default app choices.

Again, nothing inherently wrong with this statement other than "web apps" already being supported - they were the pre-App Store choice if anyone remembers - and having the ability to change default apps is similar to the precedence set against Microsoft in the late 1990's.

The other items, IMO, are where the crux of the issue is. I already side load on iOS but that's because I'm a developer and I knowingly take on the risk of screwing up my iOS devices, but I don't believe it should be forced on everyone by default, which is exactly what would happen if multiple stores were allowed on iOS. You can argue all you want, but it is plainly obvious that many apps would be shifted from the "one stop shop" iOS App Store to developer only stores, meaning you end up with multiple App Stores depending on the app in question. It WILL fundamentally undermine the entire principle of simplicity for end users and is not in any way pro-consumer.

The other issue is the IAP model. Many of the big developers argue they are forced to pay that 30% "Apple Tax" but offer no meaningful solution to how access to the platform and the platform's development can be funded. The big developers will be in favour of paying huge sums for developer tools / platform access but this will price out the small developers. We can argue that 30% is too much, but what rate is fair? If it was 15% many would say that was also too high. At the end of the day the big developers pay more "monetary wise" to subsidise the little developers - no different to our national tax systems. If you don't like the model, come up with your own as a proposal, but the lack of alternative offerings is the real problem in my view. There is nothing in this report that will resolve that simple truth.

davidw said:

The logical question would be ....... Why would the dating service app developers want to submit more than one binary (with different payment system) of their app, in the App Store? 

What is being proposed by Apple here is that there is 1 app binary for the Dutch App Store (the Dutch market) and 1 for the rest of the world (provided there are no other requirements elsewhere that would hinder this - which there will be!) this is perfectly reasonable and is done today for many apps, as pointed out by Apple.

There are many reasons developers produce different binaries to the App Store for different regions (countries). I have had to deploy different binaries for a couple of apps because of different regulatory requirements in the financial services space to name one area - if you have bank accounts with the “same global” bank but in multiple countries you’d have experienced this.

It is absolutely a pain in the ass as a consumer IF you need multi-territory access to your global bank accounts because you need to download each country’s app from the different country app stores using different Apple IDs registered in the different territories. However, for most consumers who are not expats they will not even notice the difference as they will only have one Apple ID registered to a single country and therefore will only ever see the single app in the country App Store their Apple ID is registered in.

Basically, for the end user it is transparent to them in the case of the dating app mentioned in the article. In its simplest deployment there would be 2 binaries: 1 for those not mandating 3rd party IAP; and 1 for countries that do.

rorschachai said:
If you give information to a company, they can share what you’ve given them. No different than if I called up a friend and said “I’m at the parking lot on X Street.” If the police go ask my friend where I was, they are free to tell the police what I said.

If you don’t want your information shared, don’t share it. Fortunately, to the chagrin of less scrupulous companies that want to vacuum up your data, Apple makes it easy to prevent sharing information you don’t want to share. Like location data. When Facebook asks for permission to see your location, say No!

Unfortunately you are wrong from a global perspective. The ability of a company to freely share your information is dependent on your citizenship and the laws imposed on the handling of your date by that country on all companies that handle your data - similar to how US citizens financial interactions come under US regulations globally.

So a company that holds an EU (or UK) citizen’s data cannot share that data with anyone unless the company clearly defines the exact ways and means with which that data can be shared and with whom. A simple read of the T&Cs for iCloud (at least here) shows that information will only be shared with law enforcement upon production of a warrant or court order.