galfridus

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galfridus
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  • Apple open-sources HomeKit Accessory Development Kit to spur adoption, grow new standard

    galfridusgalfridus
    gtj333 said:
    Sadly, Apple is so far behind in this category. I'm not sure why Google, Amazon or others would want to work on Project Connected Home. The unstable iOS 13 update for HomeKit this fall has made me re-think HomeKit. 

    As a long-time HomeKit user (who has also deployed Nest, Echo, Harmony, and even X10 setups, too), I'm not sure where you get the idea Apple is "so far behind" in this. The reality is Apple set a very high security bar for accessory makers—and, in doing so, they were embraced by the more reliable and responsible IoT manufacturers for their devices, but not the cheap devices from fly-by-night Chinese manufacturers. Sure, for a few hundred dollars, you can drop some Echo Dots in your house and set up some basic switches and the like... and then watch as support drops, exploits are discovered and never patched, and as your data is used to construct a profile of you for advertising purposes.

    I'm also sure Amazon and Google are seeing metrics on their end, and through their customer support, showing that people don't get how to use and set up the devices. Personally, I wouldn't understand it if they didn't want to work in the project—the possibilities are far greater for everyone involved than what the current reality holds.

    HomeKit needs work, no doubt, but none of the home automation solutions work seamlessly OOTB. Further, I'm curious as to why you say iOS 13's HomeKit update is "unstable"—I haven't seen that at all (my system utilizes devices from Lutron, iDevices, Eve, iHome, August, D-Link, Chamberlain, and Apple). What's been unstable?
    StrangeDayslolliverwatto_cobrawilliamlondon

  • Apple TV+ launches with original series and movies

    galfridusgalfridus
    lkrupp said:
    I don’t know why so many people have multiple Apple IDs because all it does is muck things up in terms of subscriptions and purchases.
    It's not that uncommon. For me, it goes back to the iTools days. I have an old mac.com ID that's tied to iTunes purchases, but I let .Mac lapse because I wasn't using it and couldn't justify the expense. Eventually, I re-upped under MobileMe when it was clear the service was more useful, and got a me.com address, but I couldn't merge the two accounts. Thus, I have two Apple ID accounts now (the old mac.com one has become a fifth "family member" so it can share its purchases with my wife and kids) and I highly doubt I'm in the minority when it comes to long-time Mac users.

    That being said, my MBA was bought under the me.com account, and is signed into iCloud and the TV app using the same me.com account, so (for me) the issue is simply that Apple's not extending this back a full 90 days (despite support telling me it would).
    watto_cobra

  • Apple TV+ launches with original series and movies

    galfridusgalfridus
    JosephAU said:
    galfridus said:
    Interesting—Apple's support told me my August purchase of a MacBook Air was covered (it's been less than 90 days). But the date in the article (and my own going into the TV app) confirms they were wrong and I'm only eligible for the seven-day trial. Oh, well—there's nothing compelling enough for me to bug them about that. I hope everyone else enjoys it.
    Are you in Australia or USA? You might need to wait one more day. I’m hoping it clicks over to one year on November 2nd 
    I'm in the US. I'll look again tomorrow, but I suspect the support agent I was talking with was misinformed (and she'll find out for herself, because she mentioned she had just bought a new iPad and was looking forward to getting a free year, too).
    watto_cobra

  • Apple TV+ launches with original series and movies

    galfridusgalfridus
    Interesting—Apple's support told me my August purchase of a MacBook Air was covered (it's been less than 90 days). But the date in the article (and my own going into the TV app) confirms they were wrong and I'm only eligible for the seven-day trial. Oh, well—there's nothing compelling enough for me to bug them about that. I hope everyone else enjoys it.
    watto_cobra

  • Eve Systems announces new HomeKit devices & Eve Extend availability

    galfridusgalfridus
    Still looks as though there is no US version of the Thermo. Bah.

    I've been happy with my Eve stuff (though I tend to prefer Lutron above all), but I really want the Thermo to be released here. We live in a house from 1927 with cast iron raditors in each room. An ecobee4 controls the boiler, and it does a decent job utilizing averaging between the senors, but the Thermo would be ideal to zone each room so I'm not heating up a radiator unless the room is occupied (or the temp drops to a certain level). Maybe one day...
    watto_cobra