brianjo

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brianjo
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  • Apple enables direct Thread control for smart home devices with iOS 18

    brianjobrianjo
    A crappy thing about homekit is Apple doesn't give you an easy way to see where data is going. You just have to trust it.  I get it from the 'make it easy to use' side of things, but it really sucks from a troubleshooting standpoint.

    It would be awesome if they had log files available with things like protocols devices used, hops the signal went, etc.  It would make it much much easier to troubleshoot and determine why things aren't working as they should.
    forgot usernamewatto_cobranetrox

  • Apple all-in on struggling Matter, to the detriment of HomeKit Accessory Protocol

    brianjobrianjo
    My last house I had pretty much fully automated using Insteon on a Mac. It was awesome.  I could program every light switch and thermostat to do what I wanted.  I could control groups of lights at a time, set dimming curves, and anything you could imagine. Mind you, this was pre-iPhone days, so I didn't have access to GPS proximity yet, but I certainly wanted that.  I even had cameras set up with rudimentary OCR that could see my license plate and open the garage door.  It was super awesome.

    Bring on home kit.  New house doesn't have insteon lights, but now you can get light bulbs that can be controlled by Homekit.  Talk about a HORRID experience.  Lights sometimes don't respond, or take seconds or minutes to respond.  Groups of lights all turn on and off with different delays.  Zero ability to set ramp speed.  When it first came out, you had to do all of this on your stupid phone screen and not on the computer. (at least this has been fixed)  Ugh.  Often times it'll simply forget that I have lights programmed and say I don't have anything set up in homekit. Try again a few minutes later and it's happy again.

    Overall, it's been a horrid experience. The only somewhat decent functionality is the integration with SIRI and the GPS coordination that turns on the  lights (maybe) when I get home.

    I was really hoping that homekit would improve over time, but it's still just way too simplistic and problematic compared to solutions that were available 20 years ago.
    williamlondon

  • Apple all-in on struggling Matter, to the detriment of HomeKit Accessory Protocol

    brianjobrianjo
    They only need to slap the Matter version number under the Matter logo.

    Basically every other spec has multiple versions, like Thunderbolt. USB, WiFi, Bluetooth, HDMI, etc.
    For example, Apple doesn't yet support Matter version 1.2 which was announced in October of 2023. This update brought many new device types, including robotic vacuum cleaners, refrigerators, fans, and air purifiers.

    This fall with iOS 18, Apple will be adding support for robotic vacuums but not the rest of the spec. That makes it very confusing because there are existing Matter air purifiers on the market.

    So, no, just using the version number supported isn't enough.  You'd think that it should be, and if you're going to support part of the spec, you support ALL of that spec.  There lies the problem.
    williamlondonwatto_cobra

  • M4 Mac mini rumored to get a redesign making it smaller than ever before

    brianjobrianjo
    PLEASE! No external power supply required.  It suck on the iMac, and would suck way more on the mini.  The old mini had a stupid external brick, and they made it awesome with the current design.  The size is great because you can put a pair of them in a single rack space easily.  Make it smaller so you can put 3 might be interesting, but too small and you can't have enough ports to be useful.  A smaller computer that needs dongles and adaptors is NOT an improvement!

    Now, if they offered a DC power supply jack alongside an internal power supply, THAT would be appealing.  Probably not likely though.
    sphericmattinozdewmeVictorMortimerwilliamlondonwatto_cobrabaconstang

  • UK newspapers tell Apple its 'web eraser' will put journalism at risk

    brianjobrianjo
    gatorguy said:
    They may have to do what Google has done with a similar effort: simplifying a search result pointing to a media article by removing adverts is (supposedly) only done with a website owner's permission. An original content provider has the right to monetize their content, and I doubt Apple would disagree. 
    Apple only agrees if they get a 30% cut of the profits.
    appleinsideruserVictorMortimer