itinj24

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itinj24
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  • BMW temporarily ships cars without Apple CarPlay

    itinj24itinj24
    BMW has gimped its cars of a few features in the past year or so. Stripping CarPlay is an absolute deal breaker and I’d never buy anything based on a future promise again (ahem Ring and HomeKit)

    My wife just got a 2022 X5 about five months ago and it came with Apple CarKey. I fell in love with the feature so much that I started shopping a BMW myself. Turns out that all the cars I was interested in had that feature deleted on the spec sheet (5 Series), presumably because of the chip shortage. 

    Another feature on BMWs that I remember I loved was soft close doors and it appears that’s also been removed from builds. My wife’s X5 didn’t even come with fog lights. Funny thing is, prices didn’t go down, they went up. 

    These are a few of the top of my head but there’s more. 

    I’ll wait…
    hackintoisierwatto_cobra

  • Apple warns developers it will pull apps without recent updates from the App Store

    itinj24itinj24
    Ridiculous... I have an app that’s pretty much one of a kind and works really well. Hasn’t been updated in a while but why should it if it works?  

    Funny thing is, Apple always breaks a lot of things with their software updates .  iOS 15 has been a nightmare for HomeKit and especially Siri on the HomePod. That’s just one example. 

     No need to update for the sake of updating.  
    jeffharriswilliamlondonunbeliever2anantksundaram

  • Wemo Stage with Thread review: Finally a reliable HomeKit button

    itinj24itinj24
    Apple_Bar said:
    itinj24 said:
    I must have a faulty unit. I have an extensive amount of HomePod Minis in my house scattered around. Eight of them to be exact. I’m not sure if I need more Thread devices but the response time for mine has been just a little better if not the same as when it was running in Bluetooth. That’s only with one of the configured buttons using single tap.  Double tap or long press doesn’t work at all for me. 

    The worst part is the battery drain. After the update, I replaced two batteries within a week. Not even exaggerating. I saw the battery drop to 94% inside of 10 minutes and kept going from there. Then the Home app stopped showing the battery percentage altogether after two days. I already reached out to Wemo regarding these issues but I’ve never had a Wemo HomeKit device that I was happy with. Shame because that new doorbell looks really good but I’m skeptical.  
    You can have 20 HP mini but only 1 will be the border router. All others will be routers only. Have you check that the unit is actually using Thread? Download the Eve app and check your Thread network it tells you if the unit is already on Thread or still using Bluetooth. 

    How to change it from Bluetooth to Thread? That’s just the same as AirPods firmware update: MAGIC. There is no way to force it just let it sit there and it will switch. That happened to me with 1 of the A19 essential bulbs from Nanoleaf. It was using Bluetooth with the slowest response. I didn’t pay attention to it and eventually switch itself to Thread. 
    I have the Eve app and the Thread network has been stuck on “Checking Network Status” for a long time.  My HomePod Minis or ATV 4K (2021) don’t show up there.  Do you need at least one Eve device for it to show anything because I don’t currently.  So what you’re saying is the rest of my HomePod Minis that aren’t acting as a border router are irrelevant within the Thread network?  I thought they still play a part in strengthening it. Maybe I’m just misunderstanding you. 

    I got the firmware update for the Wemo Stage and the current firmware with thread support is showing in the Home app.  So it’s not automatically connecting to Thread after the update?  Makes sense then if it was still Bluetooth slow after the update.  This still doesn’t explain why the battery is draining from 100-0 in just a few days.  Two brand new Energizer CR 2032  batteries did that.  I really don’t know what’s going on.  Thanks for the reply and info. 
    williamlondon

  • Google Nest will soon be on HomeKit thanks to Matter support

    itinj24itinj24
    MplsP said:
    StrangeDays said:
    Well that’s interesting. Sounds like Matter will put to bed the issue some people have with not being able to find HK accessories.
    I hope it will. The home automation market is somewhat fragmented with several competing and incompatible standards (Z-wave, zigbee, HomeKit.) I have a Z-wave network at home and a HomeKit network at my cabin. Even for basic items like a door and window sensor, the selection of HomeKit devices is pretty thin. This isn't necessarily Apple's fault but it makes HomeKit a less attractive choice.



    It is on Apple to a certain extent. A lot of manufacturers were turned off by Apple’s HomeKit certification process that they just gave up. They made it difficult to get products with HomeKit support to the market by third parties. I believe the process was eased up by not requiring the iM1 chip anymore but by that time, third party accessory manufacturers were looking elsewhere to integrate their devices. Sometimes Apple’s privacy policies are frustrating and a bit much. Tech and privacy don’t mix well. You have to assume a certain amount of privacy will be lost when using tech products. 
    williamlondonwatto_cobra

  • Inside all the new HomeKit products coming out in 2020

    itinj24itinj24
    I don’t believe anything Netatmo says will be released.  Been waiting over a year for a video doorbell that was supposed to be launched in the last quarter of 2019.  Waited patiently since it was announced at CES last year and then checked the website every day since Oct 1. Zilch...
    Bet the ADT video doorbell is released before the Netatmo, which is the new one I’m looking forward to.  Gave up hope on the Netatmo and I wouldn’t think about the Robin which is way overpriced for a 720p camera. 
    caladaniandbolanderwatto_cobra