Andrew_OSU

tonkinite said:

Until Bluetooth can form mesh networks like some of the other protocols, I can’t see HomeKit making a lot of headway against Z-Wave or Zigbee devices. SmartThings, Wink, Vera all support these, but not Apple. Surely it can’t cost much to add transceivers for these to TV, HomePod, etc (which are defacto hubs, folks).

I have several dozen devices connected, most of which are Z-Wave. Based on my shopping, it looks like Z-Wave will be the dominant standard going forward, unless or until something better comes along.

dkhaley said:

Here are some of my additional suggestions:

1) Fix Geofencing for secure devices
I understand why HomeKit doesn't allow you to unlock a door when you come into range. But I think I should be able to have it lock my doors, turn on the alarm etc, if I leave home.

2) Better Lighting Transitions
Right now I can turn lights on or off at certain times. What I want it to be able to do is tell a light to fade in from its current setting to its new setting over 15 minutes. Similar functionality would also work with sound, such as fading in a playlist when my morning alarm sounds.

3) Use the alarm as a trigger
If I wake up at the same time, I can set a scene to start at the time. However, it would be useful to be able to program in "turn on the switch to my coffee maker 5 minutes before I wake up"

4) Make it easier to group devices
One of my light fixtures has four Hue bulbs. I was able to group these in Homekit using the iDevices app. Why can't I do this easily in the Home app?

5) Choose which devices trigger the "first person arrives", "last person leaves" automations.
I have a school-age child that doesn't take his phone to school. I want the kid to be able to control things at home. However, I find that when I leave home, the "last person leaves" automation doesn't trigger, because the child's phone is still there.

6) Randomness
I like turning on my lights at sunset or 8:00pm. However, it would be even better (when I'm way) if I could have home kit do something at 7:00 +/- 10 minutes.

eightzero said:

While you rightly place the burden on the car/audio unit manufacturers to allow wireless connectivity, I'm not sure how hard this is to do. My Ford Connect system wirelessly connects to my iPhone via bluetooth, but of course does so without enabling CarPlay. Can Carplay run over BT? If so, it seems to be solvable by software changes, not specific hardware.

One thing I'd like in CarPlay is for it to also handle car maintenance records. There are ODB dongles with apps. Maybe all that in CarPlay.

For the next outlandish idea, how cool would it be for CarPlay to have the option to pay for parking via ApplePay? Or a road toll? 

Nameo_ said:

There are two things that came to my mind when I heard the news about this budget iPad:

1. I know Sammy’s Galaxy tablets are already dead, but I just want to recognize them: RIP Galxy tabs. 
2. At this point, when the budget iPad packs all these features and performance while maintaining the price tag of $329, iPP pricing seems unreasonable and even a little ridiculous.

At $649, it’s roughly 2x the price of the iPad 6th gen, and I just can’t justify that price gap. I hope this year’s iPP would bring enough enhancements to make me feel I was actually wrong.

tealio said:

I already have homebridge running at home, can you tell me what plugin you added for the pi camera? Also any configuration instructions or link to the guide would be sweet! I'm assuming you wouldn't or can't have two homebridge's running simultaneously.