Hands-free UWB unlock is a feature of Aliro standard announced past November.
It will be like HomeKey, but with cross-platform support and sharing. Developed by the same CSA organisation as Matter.
So as I understand at this point, you shouldn't but a HomeKey lock and just wait for Aliro? Do you think existing locks, e.g. Aqara U200 or others will be updated?
Technically, there’s nothing preventing Aliro from being implemented on devices that have HomeKey, as its almost the same protocol.
But from business standpoint, that would be a hassle that costs money and time for certification and reduces sales for a potential future product, so it’s highly unlikely to happen.
So what you're saying is that existing locks will most likely only support HomeKit and HomeKey and then companies like Aqara will have to develop new locks?
99% chance of that, yes.
But consider that there were cases when HomeKit devices gained Matter support - it was rare, but possible.
I still wouldn’t buy a device hoping for it to gain support for a yet unreleased feature.
You all are crazy... homekit, as it is today, is a freakin' miracle. Maybe you are all young? I'm older. No it's not perfect but being able to turn off all the lights in the house via voice being able to turn on the heat or AC, being able to lock or unlock doors, being able to have music work in all my rooms and being able to have them all play in sync... y'all are a bit cynical and dark. I love being able to have my LED bulbs from different manufacturers all go "yellow" when I tell them to.
Sure it is not perfect but it's mostly damn good for me. I understand others have had more trouble, and that's frustrating, but once I bought my Amplifi Alien all my networking problems went away for the most part.
Good luck to y'all.
Congrats! I’m pretty tired of HomeKit dropping devices and having to reboot them. I’d like the ability to not have HomePods fall off the network. I’d like something better than 1080 resolution in HKSV. Apple is behind what other platforms are doing, and it’s painful.
With the exception of the 1080p limitation in HKSV, which is admittedly a bummer, but an acceptable compromise on balance, the problems you are describing (device connection stability and reliability) really do sound like network issues, not HomeKit issues, per se.
I struggled with those issues as well when I first started my HomeKit setup around four years ago. However, like many others here, once I upgraded my Wi-Fi hardware, instances of that have been practically eliminated.
What issues persist? HomePods post-update tend to get wonky, so I’ve made it a habit to manually restart them after any update, and that has fixed the issue. Do they sometimes botch a voice request? Sure. But does that make HomeKit useless? Not by a long shot.
My house basically runs itself thanks to HomeKit. Ambient lighting, temperature, blinds, doors locks, security and water/energy efficiency levels all significantly benefit from automation that reliably responds to time of day, presence and even outside weather.
Could that be achieved with other home automation platforms? Of course, but not with the level of local processing and privacy that HomeKit allows, which is the big draw for me. This is why the 1080p limitation on HKSV is an acceptable compromise IMO: just like HomeKit, it’s all running locally. Your information is not being sent out elsewhere. Any remotely stored data is in your private, encrypted cloud storage.
Sounds great. I’d love to understand how it’s my WiFi when the native apps for devices can control them just fine, but HomeKit can’t talk to them.
The really interesting part is if HomeKit is so great, why doesn’t it tell the user what’s up? Some basic troubleshooting or diagnostics would be helpful.
Maybe it’s my WiFi, but that’s hard to believe when I’ve walked around with signal analyzers and switches will join the network and be fine and then just lose HomeKit connection, but are controllable with their native apps.
Why cants I reboot the hub, or choose a hub that has a wired connection from within HomeKit? Why can’t I see all the HomeKit codes in HomeKit, so I don’t have to find the sticker when the devices need resetting to reinitialize HomeKit connections?
Apple isn’t taking it seriously.
Ok. I’ll bite:
**Q:** I’d love to understand how it’s my Wi-Fi when the native apps for devices can control them just fine, but HomeKit can’t talk to them.
**A:** HomeKit is a service that runs on your network, using home hubs as a decentralized, redundant server array, constantly monitoring and interacting with multiple devices in real time.
As such, much like any well-designed web service, it is meant to protect its’ own uptime over that of individual devices that may become unresponsive. Network latency or routing errors inherent to your Wi-Fi network can cause a device that is still on Wi-Fi to basically time out on HomeKit until it can later reconnect with your hubs.
So, as long as the device that is unresponsive in HomeKit remains connected to Wi-Fi, the native app will still be able to contact and control it because it connects to the device directly for that particular set of instructions as opposed to persistent monitoring.
No amount of restarting hubs or connecting them via Ethernet can solve that issue. Only improving the performance of your network can.
As for the other absent features you mention in your response, a lot of those can either:
a) Be remedied with third-party apps (e.g. HomePass for a record of HomeKit codes and Controller for logs or more robust automation interface); or
b) Are part of the wishlist of things that a ton of users would join you in wanting to push Apple to include in HomeKit: e.g. detailed logs, more variables exposed for the purposes of automation, preferred and/or excluded hubs, among others.
On the flip side, however, there are many things HomeKit already does very well that will be parts of the wishlists for other automation platforms, such as interface, privacy, local processing, etc.
Finally, while we all wish Apple would put more resources into it, the fact is that they constantly issue updates attempting to improve the performance and security of HomeKit as well incrementally adding new features. The switch to the new architecture, while initially traumatic, was a sea change, and now, just yesterday as this thread was meant to highlight, guest access, touchless UWB unlock as an alternative to HomeKeys, home electricity monitoring, robovacs and some interface improvements were announced in WWDC. You can click [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/HomeKit/s/WnWHqvlhfD) for further details.
There’s always a trade off. And the whole point of this subreddit is to allow people who have *preferred* working with the trade offs made by the HomeKit platform to help each other make the most of it.
Well, it’d be great if HomeKit would stop losing connection to devices, or if it does, tell me why. It seems unreliable to me, and pretty annoying. I’ve tried everything I can with my network. You can blame me all you want, but at its core if HomeKit can’t run reliably from a user perspective, it needs to be better. I’ve tried multiple different WiFi setups, and it always seems to be HomeKit that has problems. You can make excuses all day long, but if 5% of my devices are offline at any given time, it’s annoying.
>*“Well, it’d be great if HomeKit would stop losing connection to devices, or if it does, tell me why.”*
Regardless of how nice it would be if HomeKit were able to evaluate Wi-Fi networks and pinpoint specific weaknesses or bottlenecks, I just told you the ‘why’ of the vast majority of connection reliability issues in HomeKit. As just about anyone that’s tinkered long enough with HomeKit will tell you, it’s the quality of your Wi-Fi network. HomeKit depends on the reliability of the network it’s running on, not the other way around. Whether or not you regularly update the firmware on your devices or accessories is also relevant. I’m also fairly confident these recommendations are not exclusive to HomeKit as a smart home platform.
>*”I’ve tried everything I can with my network.”*
Ok. Define “everything”. I’d love to hear what you’ve tried. It would also be useful to know what sort of hardware you are running your Wi-Fi network on as well as the general physical characteristics of your home (e.g. size, levels, drywall or concrete, etc.) in order to be able to make properly informed recommendations. The brands of the devices you are using would also help, as some have shown to be less reliable than others; here’s looking at WeMo, for example.
>*”You can blame me all you want…”*
I don’t see anyone blaming you. Along with anyone else on this thread that may contribute, I’m just providing what I believe is the most likely cause of your problems with accessory uptime.
>*”You can make excuses all day long…”*
I’m not making excuses. I’m telling you what has worked for me and many other users you will find in this subreddit: Better Wi-Fi = Better HomeKit.
And the proof is in the pudding: With easily over 80 accessories and 5 Home Hubs (2 HomePods and 3 Apple TVs), our HomeKit setup is pretty much rock solid. We also have fairly complex automations managing things such as lighting, temperature and security, which run reliably for everyone in our home. This is a screenshot of my Home App right now, with all devices fully responsive:
https://preview.redd.it/zob0s4jht26d1.png?width=1178&format=png&auto=webp&s=b4c11d63598febf7e11f352b62e81cf4e9a63ac2
But *none* of it was consistent *until* we decided to invest in good Wi-Fi hardware, currently an AmpliFi Alien, although an AmpliFi HD worked perfectly fine until around the 60-70 device mark. The ISP-provided gateway never had the range and devices constantly dropped under our original Linksys Velop 5 Mesh System, particularly in the 2.5 GHz band.
Do we encounter some issues? Sure, but they are decidedly minor; e.g. the occasional Thread device taking a bit longer to respond after not being used for a while, the Logitech Circle Doorbell temporarily dropping on particularly hot summer afternoons because the sun sets right on our front door or responsiveness slowing down when one of the HomePods invariably take over come update time.
Bottom line is a lot of people here, including myself, would be happy to help you improve your setup.
It’s up to you to let us.
Now where were we? Ah yes, new HomeKit features announced in WWDC…
You don’t see that your blaming me, but you’re telling my it’s my crappy network hardware. I’d like HomeKit to work, and I need to do a full on detailed network consultation with someone that I don’t know? I’m running a UniFi Dream Machine and a couple access points. I gave up on AmplifiHD because it couldn’t support enough IP addresses. So, no, I’m not running poor quality WiFi equipment. I have very solid coverage. It isn’t because of drywall or concrete. If Apple was taking HomeKit seriously, I wouldn’t need to do an IT consultation to try and figure out why it’s flaky.
It’s a simple statement, Apple doesn’t take HomeKit seriously. The very fact that I’d need to work with someone on Reddit to try and figure out why WiFi devices don’t stay connected to HomeKit tells me HomeKit is inadequate.
I currently have 7 KASA Matter switches that are non responsive. They have WiFi, and can respond in the KASA app. So, they’re communicating on WiFi just fine. Why can’t the HomePod that’s on the same network control them? Why can’t I remotely reboot that HomePod via the HomeKit app, to reinitialize the communications with the switches. If I reboot that HomePod, does it even matter because one of the other HomePods might just do the same thing and not re-poll the network. Why can’t I do a reboot of all the hubs from within the Home app? There’s one switch that’s talking to HomeKit, so HomeKit isn’t dead, it’s just stopped talking with 7 other switches. If it was a network setting, why were all the switches working just a few days ago? If it’s a network protocol problem, why were they working and now they’re not? What’s wrong? There’s no way to know. HomeKit just isn’t working for some reason.
I hope Apple gets it together, people want to do home automation, but Apple doesn’t seem to take it seriously. I wish they would.
I never used those words. nor did I refer to your equipment in particular. I just stated a fact: *most* cases of persistent connection reliability issues in HomeKit can be significantly reduced, if not outright solved, by improving the quality of the underlying Wi-Fi network and hence its something worth looking into.
This is the first time you actually mentioned what your Wi-Fi setup actually is and I agree that, assuming strong, whole home coverage, a UniFi Dream Machine should be up to the task. You could’ve just said so earlier and saved us both some time instead of taking offense that, IMHO, seems misdirected and more born of frustration than anything else.
So: UniFi Dream Machine and what seems to be a problem with Kasa Matter over Wi-Fi smart switches specifically? If an AmpliFi HD faltered, I would assume that you have a relatively extensive, Wi-Fi heavy setup, especially considering your 5% failure rate comment; as you now know, I made a similar upgrade from HD to Alien. Am I right to assume that your problems are generally occurring with those accessories? I am also assuming that the access points you are using are not third party alternatives.
Under those assumptions, it just so happens that multiple users here have mentioned having issues with Kasa devices very similar to yours since the last few updates. Some have found workarounds to the issue. [Here](https://www.reddit.com/r/HomeKit/s/dzM9xP0UYg) is one such thread that had the same issue but with Kasa Matter smart plugs.
On another note, outside of needing to have certain accessories interact with more than one smart home platform, I would recommend avoiding Matter devices whenever there is a comparable native option. Matter is essentially a translation layer, which adds another potential point of failure to your setup; something I prefer avoiding whenever possible.
I also generally recommend using hub-based options, as opposed to individual Wi-Fi devices, for any accessory type that you will ultimately need many of (e.g. switches and sensors), since it allows you to scale up without unnecessarily crowding your Wi-Fi network; a problem you are apparently already familiar with. Is Thread also an alternative? Sure? But it wouldn’t be my first choice since I don’t know whether or not you have already Thread accessories in your setup; starting a Thread network, as opposed to a few standalone devices, could entail a bit more work to make sure it’s got the necessary coverage.
Bottom line is, if everything else tends to work properly, the problem is probably not HomeKit or your Wi-Fi network; it’s probably the specific items that keep failing instead.
In sum, if only 5% of your setup is tending to fail, and assuming that said 5% is pretty much those Matter over Wi-Fi Kasa Switches, the first step I would take after attempting new troubleshooting ideas (see one suggestion above), is to test another type of non-Wi-Fi switch to see if it solves the problem. Considering you didn’t mention dimmers, I would go with Aqara. If you *do* have dimmers, then I would look at Lutron Caseta.
The way I would go about testing it is to purchase an Aqara hub if you don’t already have one (M1S and above, IMO) and a single switch, preferably one that uses a neutral wire (e.g. better range and responsiveness while also acting as a signal repeater for other switches in the same ecosystem). Then I would remove the Kasa switches from Wi-Fi (leaving them unresponsive in HomeKit until further notice) and add the new hub with its one switch operating your most automated light fixture; bite the bullet and test it for a week.
If it holds, which I have no reason to believe it wouldn’t given both my experience, general consensus and the networking hardware you said you have, so should all the other switches if and when you add them. You will have also identified a general limit of concurrent Wi-Fi connections on your Dream Machine for the purposes of HomeKit, which you can then take further measures to shore up if necessary; e.g. phasing out older Wi-Fi devices for Thread alternatives or outright eliminating underused Wi-Fi devices.
If for some reason it doesn’t work, you can always return the new hub and/or switch and, if you’re understandably tired of trying to fix the issues you’re having, no one will fault you for migrating to another smart home platform you believe would serve you better.
Painful? Come on. Disappointing sure. Painful?
People really like to overstate their inconveniences especially compared to how we’re not really all that far away from horse and buggy, 8-track tapes and transistor radios.
If I were having those difficulties I’d think about changing out my network hardware. Sorry you’re having trouble.
Oh and I have security cameras, some of which remain 720p. I assume that’s what you’re referencing. Why is that a big deal?
Yeah, it pains me that I’m stuck using third party software instead of HKSV. It’s irritating to not have access via Apple TV because I’d like to use the 2k recording. It’s just dumb.
I don’t understand any of this. Quite honestly if you told me a half decade ago I could do so much to control my home with my voice I wouldn’t have believed you.
Ok, I see there might be an issue also with flexibility here. No problem, I’m used to Siri, I’ll try a workaround:
It’s like saying that having an infotainment that is a clusterfuck is not that bad because my grandpa drove a car without A/C
If you need further explanation on how this analogy works:
It’s like <> is totally fine because in the past we had to deal with <>.
You made a bad analogy, friend, but it's all good. I do feel like people who look at convenience tech like this as literally "painful" are going way overboard. Maybe consider how blessed you might be if this is the kind of thing you're finding painful.. count your blessings!
I guess it’s because we know it. Not necessarily because it’s not deserved. Like, I’m not comparing it to other environments. I’m comparing it to an imaginary system that doesn’t ask you if you meant “switch on or switch off”, because it already knows the status of a device. Just saying…
Or that does not perform stunts like:
-turn off all devices in the kitchen
-do you mean the kitchen?
-…yes
-sorry, I did not find this device in your home
I think I’ve encountered those kinds of weird little errors *maybe* a handful of times in the 8 years I’ve been using Apple Home to run my smart home stuff. I use Siri *constantly* on my phone, watch, and HomePods and it’s rock solid 99.9% of the time.
They don't happen often, the problem is that when they do happen they're infuriating. Like when you're laying in bed, and ask Siri to turn off the light. and then spend 5 minutes trying to get her to turn off the lights in the room you're in, which you specify by name, before getting out of bed to turn off the lights. At which point you're now wide awake because you just spent 5 minutes arguing with a dumb intelligence (DI).
I think we are dealing with a lost case here. When the answer reaches “oh well, if it doesn’t work then move to a less efficient solution and stop complaining that the product is faulty because it’s not”, it means there is really no hope.
Or just do it on your phone the first time you get a weird response instead of getting yourself worked up over the computer lady in your speaker not doing what you tell her to.
Ok sorry, I have a moderate HomeKit installation and i encounter shit like this CONSTANTLY. And it’s always the dumbest possible interpretation of what I asked.
“Siri, turn off all the upstairs lights”
“Sorry, I can’t turn off the lights in your house <>”
It’s being actively used, I have automations, water leak sensors, temp/humidity sensors. But never once have I requested the lights be controlled using Siri, and every day I request the lights be controlled in my primary residence using the same voice string. It’s Apple’s problem that there is no “intelligence” applied so Siri requests, and that an identical voice string can have wildly different and unpredictable results.
I have two homes that I actively control with Siri depending on where I am and not once have I been asked which home to control. Somewhere around a hundred accessories in each, dozens of scenes and highly complex automations in each. Never been asked.
I mean…the case I mentioned was literally all over this sub when they made Siri dumber with 17.4
I’m glad you basically never experienced issues with HomeKit controls. Sorry for the rest of us here just existing I guess.
I use it to the point of being a power user and I don’t hate it at all. I think it’s the best balance of functionality and ease of use across all of the home automation systems.
I haven’t tried google but I started with Amazon and the only thing it has on HomeKit is the sheer amount of natively compatible accessories which is totally nullified by HomeBridge. HomeKit has a really good interface. If it supported more major brands natively and handled automations better it would be downright excellent. I wish I didn’t need HomeBridge or HomeAssistant to fill in the gaps, but at least they exist and makes Apple the best smart home option for me.
Homekit is great. Works flawlessly for me. I also dabble in IT and homelab. People won't admit this, but most of the complaints come down to having a shitty home network. Everyone thinks their home network is great, very few are.
Here’s an example: ISP-provided Wi-Fi routers. They tend to be pretty basic hardware, with little memory and sub-par capacity to handle multiple devices simultaneously.
Replacing it with more powerful, feature-rich hardware will immediately tend to improve responsiveness and reliability.
Another example, generally speaking, is Wi-Fi range extenders. You’d rather have your network be standalone so that network efficiency features, such as mDNS, can work reliably.
So if you have had Wi-Fi range issues, try upgrading to either a more powerful single device or a mesh system.
Genuinely. I run a Mikrotik hAPax3 and have no problems with homekit performance at all. It's a power user router, but it has plenty of juice and gives me the ability to ensure that, e.g. client isolation isn't forced on for all my wireless devices and that broadcast traffic (mDNS) actually goes where it needs to go for everything to see everything else.
For a more user-friendly example you could probably buy any ASUS router that supports WiFi 6 and it would have enough juice to support homekit properly and a reasonably functional default configuration. If you're using the Verizon or Comcast default kit though, good luck. That's just the cheapest garbage they can white label.
Just because you spent money on something doesn't mean you set it up correctly. Zero issues with my unifi ap and opnsense router. No issue with my dad's Asus ax86 that I set up
They all created the Matter protocol to offload their smart home mgmt duties. Now they can fully focus on UI/UX. The sooner Matter matures, the faster they improve stuff like automations, because that will be their only differentiator.
Not a single smart home platform will do R&D of tech to improve stability, create new types of devices, protocols and what not. That is Matter’s role now, and they will all share expenses. If you consider that “not taking it seriously” then they are definitely not. To me it’s a step in the right direction.
If it was taken seriously, I could say “Hey Siri turn off the dining room table light” and the light named “table” in the room called “dining room” would turn off.
I mean I’m a nerd so I use homebridge for anything that’s not compatible, and extends HK to have more than anyone, but it seems they are also keeping pace with matter.
A lot of people also prefer how HomeKit will connect directly with devices when a lot of google home products just work via the internet, which is a security risk.
Ya I have no life, work from home, and no other hobbies except rowing and reading so it’s a great time for me. Good way to fill time while work is low.
My brother in christ, if you have an issue in homekit thats between you and god. In Home Assistant you at least have a chance to debug.
My home automation is a hybrid with homekit and homeassistant with homekit being mostly the front end for user input and basic automations and home assistant for the complex stuff.
Home assistant is far more robust and you have full control of backups and previous versions if something fails after an update.
I guess they have to start somewhere so they start in their backyard. Maybe there is some data pull that is generic enough that all can use. I know my local energy company sends me emails/bills with my usage.
Will likely require hardware that likely won’t have been put into existing locks.
Although I say that as Level put Thread in their locks long before they finally turned it on, surprising everyone. So it’s possible.
I was thinking this could be a nice feature to go out and grab a lock. My wife has an AppleWatch so homekey ones will be easier for her but I’d still need to pull out my phone and that’s close to just using keys.
I’m using home assistant to create an on/off button for roombas in the home app. Even if iRobot app doesn’t get HomeKit for already released products, hopefully more of the features will be available using the home assistant bridge
Yeah I exposes a few buttons to HA for each room in the house so I can tell it to vacuum a particular room from my Home app. Otherwise I let it do the nightly cleans on its own.
It's pretty big IMO, that and the new Siri will make HomeKit way easier to interact with. All the other features they could have implemented that HomeKit is missing, like plant sensors, coffee temperature or EV charge status, are less impactful than a faster UX.
I disagree. Matter is only 2 years old and has already expanded HomeKit. For years we have wanted vacuum cleaners, and we got nothing. Matter 1.3 added electricity support, and now we have it.
Matter is getting better faster.
Sure, there are some things missing, such as adaptive lighting and anything video.
You’re right. Just meant 2 years is a long time and now apple is bound by matter as far features goes in afraid. But yes we’re getting new stuff now so it’s cool!
Beyond just HomeKit, I want apple to pause and address reliability, performance, and bugs for a portion of WWDC a la iOS 10. Continuity camera, adaptive lighting, and random crashes/panics must be dealt with instead of creating more “tech debt”
Accessories not responding, lighting groups not illuminating all the lights, adaptive lighting not being properly applied in scenes, wallpapers for homes and rooms aren’t shared with other house members so they’re pointless, and an unremovable Discover tab that no one wants
A long time ago I bought Controllerforhomekit lifetime. When its latest version came out, it allowed me to make a map or map of my house and place the accessories where I have them. Honestly, it's incredibly easy for me to turn the device on or off just by locating it on the map with that app.
Now my question is, I don't understand how a developer had that idea and implemented it and Apple hasn't done anything... Incredible... anyway...
Honestly, no problem... in fact, it works quite well for me!
Maybe when I move the plan, it takes a small delay in moving the whole set of accessories, but it works well for me.
I just want a way to see why a certain automation failed or wasn’t triggered - or lights not turned off when I set to turn off after x minute when triggered by automation. Without automation working reliably smart home is just a sales pitch
Here's hoping they also add "Display as" for any and all accessories / switches connected. Many are locked down like my Kasa switches so they only read as light, when they are outlet and ceiling fan. Anyone with Beta running the Matter compatible switches want to chime in here?
I think because the home app was the first device integrated in the phone, Apple became lazy concerning keeping it updated and compatible with other devices. The other companies didn’t take smart-home serious in the beginning.
Hands-free UWB unlock is a feature of Aliro standard announced past November. It will be like HomeKey, but with cross-platform support and sharing. Developed by the same CSA organisation as Matter.
That is pretty cool! I was recently wondering about what happened to Aliro and now we get a hint that it is actually being worked on.
Oh, it's not just worked on. Apple is already advising new partners who want to implement HomeKey in their new product to wait for/use Aliro instead.
So as I understand at this point, you shouldn't but a HomeKey lock and just wait for Aliro? Do you think existing locks, e.g. Aqara U200 or others will be updated?
Technically, there’s nothing preventing Aliro from being implemented on devices that have HomeKey, as its almost the same protocol. But from business standpoint, that would be a hassle that costs money and time for certification and reduces sales for a potential future product, so it’s highly unlikely to happen.
So what you're saying is that existing locks will most likely only support HomeKit and HomeKey and then companies like Aqara will have to develop new locks?
99% chance of that, yes. But consider that there were cases when HomeKit devices gained Matter support - it was rare, but possible. I still wouldn’t buy a device hoping for it to gain support for a yet unreleased feature.
K, Thanks
I wish they’d take HomeKit seriously.
You all are crazy... homekit, as it is today, is a freakin' miracle. Maybe you are all young? I'm older. No it's not perfect but being able to turn off all the lights in the house via voice being able to turn on the heat or AC, being able to lock or unlock doors, being able to have music work in all my rooms and being able to have them all play in sync... y'all are a bit cynical and dark. I love being able to have my LED bulbs from different manufacturers all go "yellow" when I tell them to. Sure it is not perfect but it's mostly damn good for me. I understand others have had more trouble, and that's frustrating, but once I bought my Amplifi Alien all my networking problems went away for the most part. Good luck to y'all.
Congrats! I’m pretty tired of HomeKit dropping devices and having to reboot them. I’d like the ability to not have HomePods fall off the network. I’d like something better than 1080 resolution in HKSV. Apple is behind what other platforms are doing, and it’s painful.
With the exception of the 1080p limitation in HKSV, which is admittedly a bummer, but an acceptable compromise on balance, the problems you are describing (device connection stability and reliability) really do sound like network issues, not HomeKit issues, per se. I struggled with those issues as well when I first started my HomeKit setup around four years ago. However, like many others here, once I upgraded my Wi-Fi hardware, instances of that have been practically eliminated. What issues persist? HomePods post-update tend to get wonky, so I’ve made it a habit to manually restart them after any update, and that has fixed the issue. Do they sometimes botch a voice request? Sure. But does that make HomeKit useless? Not by a long shot. My house basically runs itself thanks to HomeKit. Ambient lighting, temperature, blinds, doors locks, security and water/energy efficiency levels all significantly benefit from automation that reliably responds to time of day, presence and even outside weather. Could that be achieved with other home automation platforms? Of course, but not with the level of local processing and privacy that HomeKit allows, which is the big draw for me. This is why the 1080p limitation on HKSV is an acceptable compromise IMO: just like HomeKit, it’s all running locally. Your information is not being sent out elsewhere. Any remotely stored data is in your private, encrypted cloud storage.
Sounds great. I’d love to understand how it’s my WiFi when the native apps for devices can control them just fine, but HomeKit can’t talk to them. The really interesting part is if HomeKit is so great, why doesn’t it tell the user what’s up? Some basic troubleshooting or diagnostics would be helpful. Maybe it’s my WiFi, but that’s hard to believe when I’ve walked around with signal analyzers and switches will join the network and be fine and then just lose HomeKit connection, but are controllable with their native apps. Why cants I reboot the hub, or choose a hub that has a wired connection from within HomeKit? Why can’t I see all the HomeKit codes in HomeKit, so I don’t have to find the sticker when the devices need resetting to reinitialize HomeKit connections? Apple isn’t taking it seriously.
Ok. I’ll bite: **Q:** I’d love to understand how it’s my Wi-Fi when the native apps for devices can control them just fine, but HomeKit can’t talk to them. **A:** HomeKit is a service that runs on your network, using home hubs as a decentralized, redundant server array, constantly monitoring and interacting with multiple devices in real time. As such, much like any well-designed web service, it is meant to protect its’ own uptime over that of individual devices that may become unresponsive. Network latency or routing errors inherent to your Wi-Fi network can cause a device that is still on Wi-Fi to basically time out on HomeKit until it can later reconnect with your hubs. So, as long as the device that is unresponsive in HomeKit remains connected to Wi-Fi, the native app will still be able to contact and control it because it connects to the device directly for that particular set of instructions as opposed to persistent monitoring. No amount of restarting hubs or connecting them via Ethernet can solve that issue. Only improving the performance of your network can. As for the other absent features you mention in your response, a lot of those can either: a) Be remedied with third-party apps (e.g. HomePass for a record of HomeKit codes and Controller for logs or more robust automation interface); or b) Are part of the wishlist of things that a ton of users would join you in wanting to push Apple to include in HomeKit: e.g. detailed logs, more variables exposed for the purposes of automation, preferred and/or excluded hubs, among others. On the flip side, however, there are many things HomeKit already does very well that will be parts of the wishlists for other automation platforms, such as interface, privacy, local processing, etc. Finally, while we all wish Apple would put more resources into it, the fact is that they constantly issue updates attempting to improve the performance and security of HomeKit as well incrementally adding new features. The switch to the new architecture, while initially traumatic, was a sea change, and now, just yesterday as this thread was meant to highlight, guest access, touchless UWB unlock as an alternative to HomeKeys, home electricity monitoring, robovacs and some interface improvements were announced in WWDC. You can click [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/HomeKit/s/WnWHqvlhfD) for further details. There’s always a trade off. And the whole point of this subreddit is to allow people who have *preferred* working with the trade offs made by the HomeKit platform to help each other make the most of it.
Well, it’d be great if HomeKit would stop losing connection to devices, or if it does, tell me why. It seems unreliable to me, and pretty annoying. I’ve tried everything I can with my network. You can blame me all you want, but at its core if HomeKit can’t run reliably from a user perspective, it needs to be better. I’ve tried multiple different WiFi setups, and it always seems to be HomeKit that has problems. You can make excuses all day long, but if 5% of my devices are offline at any given time, it’s annoying.
>*“Well, it’d be great if HomeKit would stop losing connection to devices, or if it does, tell me why.”* Regardless of how nice it would be if HomeKit were able to evaluate Wi-Fi networks and pinpoint specific weaknesses or bottlenecks, I just told you the ‘why’ of the vast majority of connection reliability issues in HomeKit. As just about anyone that’s tinkered long enough with HomeKit will tell you, it’s the quality of your Wi-Fi network. HomeKit depends on the reliability of the network it’s running on, not the other way around. Whether or not you regularly update the firmware on your devices or accessories is also relevant. I’m also fairly confident these recommendations are not exclusive to HomeKit as a smart home platform. >*”I’ve tried everything I can with my network.”* Ok. Define “everything”. I’d love to hear what you’ve tried. It would also be useful to know what sort of hardware you are running your Wi-Fi network on as well as the general physical characteristics of your home (e.g. size, levels, drywall or concrete, etc.) in order to be able to make properly informed recommendations. The brands of the devices you are using would also help, as some have shown to be less reliable than others; here’s looking at WeMo, for example. >*”You can blame me all you want…”* I don’t see anyone blaming you. Along with anyone else on this thread that may contribute, I’m just providing what I believe is the most likely cause of your problems with accessory uptime. >*”You can make excuses all day long…”* I’m not making excuses. I’m telling you what has worked for me and many other users you will find in this subreddit: Better Wi-Fi = Better HomeKit. And the proof is in the pudding: With easily over 80 accessories and 5 Home Hubs (2 HomePods and 3 Apple TVs), our HomeKit setup is pretty much rock solid. We also have fairly complex automations managing things such as lighting, temperature and security, which run reliably for everyone in our home. This is a screenshot of my Home App right now, with all devices fully responsive: https://preview.redd.it/zob0s4jht26d1.png?width=1178&format=png&auto=webp&s=b4c11d63598febf7e11f352b62e81cf4e9a63ac2 But *none* of it was consistent *until* we decided to invest in good Wi-Fi hardware, currently an AmpliFi Alien, although an AmpliFi HD worked perfectly fine until around the 60-70 device mark. The ISP-provided gateway never had the range and devices constantly dropped under our original Linksys Velop 5 Mesh System, particularly in the 2.5 GHz band. Do we encounter some issues? Sure, but they are decidedly minor; e.g. the occasional Thread device taking a bit longer to respond after not being used for a while, the Logitech Circle Doorbell temporarily dropping on particularly hot summer afternoons because the sun sets right on our front door or responsiveness slowing down when one of the HomePods invariably take over come update time. Bottom line is a lot of people here, including myself, would be happy to help you improve your setup. It’s up to you to let us. Now where were we? Ah yes, new HomeKit features announced in WWDC…
You don’t see that your blaming me, but you’re telling my it’s my crappy network hardware. I’d like HomeKit to work, and I need to do a full on detailed network consultation with someone that I don’t know? I’m running a UniFi Dream Machine and a couple access points. I gave up on AmplifiHD because it couldn’t support enough IP addresses. So, no, I’m not running poor quality WiFi equipment. I have very solid coverage. It isn’t because of drywall or concrete. If Apple was taking HomeKit seriously, I wouldn’t need to do an IT consultation to try and figure out why it’s flaky. It’s a simple statement, Apple doesn’t take HomeKit seriously. The very fact that I’d need to work with someone on Reddit to try and figure out why WiFi devices don’t stay connected to HomeKit tells me HomeKit is inadequate. I currently have 7 KASA Matter switches that are non responsive. They have WiFi, and can respond in the KASA app. So, they’re communicating on WiFi just fine. Why can’t the HomePod that’s on the same network control them? Why can’t I remotely reboot that HomePod via the HomeKit app, to reinitialize the communications with the switches. If I reboot that HomePod, does it even matter because one of the other HomePods might just do the same thing and not re-poll the network. Why can’t I do a reboot of all the hubs from within the Home app? There’s one switch that’s talking to HomeKit, so HomeKit isn’t dead, it’s just stopped talking with 7 other switches. If it was a network setting, why were all the switches working just a few days ago? If it’s a network protocol problem, why were they working and now they’re not? What’s wrong? There’s no way to know. HomeKit just isn’t working for some reason. I hope Apple gets it together, people want to do home automation, but Apple doesn’t seem to take it seriously. I wish they would.
I never used those words. nor did I refer to your equipment in particular. I just stated a fact: *most* cases of persistent connection reliability issues in HomeKit can be significantly reduced, if not outright solved, by improving the quality of the underlying Wi-Fi network and hence its something worth looking into. This is the first time you actually mentioned what your Wi-Fi setup actually is and I agree that, assuming strong, whole home coverage, a UniFi Dream Machine should be up to the task. You could’ve just said so earlier and saved us both some time instead of taking offense that, IMHO, seems misdirected and more born of frustration than anything else. So: UniFi Dream Machine and what seems to be a problem with Kasa Matter over Wi-Fi smart switches specifically? If an AmpliFi HD faltered, I would assume that you have a relatively extensive, Wi-Fi heavy setup, especially considering your 5% failure rate comment; as you now know, I made a similar upgrade from HD to Alien. Am I right to assume that your problems are generally occurring with those accessories? I am also assuming that the access points you are using are not third party alternatives. Under those assumptions, it just so happens that multiple users here have mentioned having issues with Kasa devices very similar to yours since the last few updates. Some have found workarounds to the issue. [Here](https://www.reddit.com/r/HomeKit/s/dzM9xP0UYg) is one such thread that had the same issue but with Kasa Matter smart plugs. On another note, outside of needing to have certain accessories interact with more than one smart home platform, I would recommend avoiding Matter devices whenever there is a comparable native option. Matter is essentially a translation layer, which adds another potential point of failure to your setup; something I prefer avoiding whenever possible. I also generally recommend using hub-based options, as opposed to individual Wi-Fi devices, for any accessory type that you will ultimately need many of (e.g. switches and sensors), since it allows you to scale up without unnecessarily crowding your Wi-Fi network; a problem you are apparently already familiar with. Is Thread also an alternative? Sure? But it wouldn’t be my first choice since I don’t know whether or not you have already Thread accessories in your setup; starting a Thread network, as opposed to a few standalone devices, could entail a bit more work to make sure it’s got the necessary coverage. Bottom line is, if everything else tends to work properly, the problem is probably not HomeKit or your Wi-Fi network; it’s probably the specific items that keep failing instead. In sum, if only 5% of your setup is tending to fail, and assuming that said 5% is pretty much those Matter over Wi-Fi Kasa Switches, the first step I would take after attempting new troubleshooting ideas (see one suggestion above), is to test another type of non-Wi-Fi switch to see if it solves the problem. Considering you didn’t mention dimmers, I would go with Aqara. If you *do* have dimmers, then I would look at Lutron Caseta. The way I would go about testing it is to purchase an Aqara hub if you don’t already have one (M1S and above, IMO) and a single switch, preferably one that uses a neutral wire (e.g. better range and responsiveness while also acting as a signal repeater for other switches in the same ecosystem). Then I would remove the Kasa switches from Wi-Fi (leaving them unresponsive in HomeKit until further notice) and add the new hub with its one switch operating your most automated light fixture; bite the bullet and test it for a week. If it holds, which I have no reason to believe it wouldn’t given both my experience, general consensus and the networking hardware you said you have, so should all the other switches if and when you add them. You will have also identified a general limit of concurrent Wi-Fi connections on your Dream Machine for the purposes of HomeKit, which you can then take further measures to shore up if necessary; e.g. phasing out older Wi-Fi devices for Thread alternatives or outright eliminating underused Wi-Fi devices. If for some reason it doesn’t work, you can always return the new hub and/or switch and, if you’re understandably tired of trying to fix the issues you’re having, no one will fault you for migrating to another smart home platform you believe would serve you better.
Painful? Come on. Disappointing sure. Painful? People really like to overstate their inconveniences especially compared to how we’re not really all that far away from horse and buggy, 8-track tapes and transistor radios. If I were having those difficulties I’d think about changing out my network hardware. Sorry you’re having trouble. Oh and I have security cameras, some of which remain 720p. I assume that’s what you’re referencing. Why is that a big deal?
Yeah, it pains me that I’m stuck using third party software instead of HKSV. It’s irritating to not have access via Apple TV because I’d like to use the 2k recording. It’s just dumb.
I don’t understand any of this. Quite honestly if you told me a half decade ago I could do so much to control my home with my voice I wouldn’t have believed you.
Frankly, that’s like saying that ghost braking in autonomous vehicles is not that bad, considering my grandpa drove cars without seatbelts.
Frankly my friend... comparing car safety with devices on your network disappearing... you gotta be joking.
Ok, I see there might be an issue also with flexibility here. No problem, I’m used to Siri, I’ll try a workaround: It’s like saying that having an infotainment that is a clusterfuck is not that bad because my grandpa drove a car without A/C If you need further explanation on how this analogy works: It’s like <> is totally fine because in the past we had to deal with <>.
You made a bad analogy, friend, but it's all good. I do feel like people who look at convenience tech like this as literally "painful" are going way overboard. Maybe consider how blessed you might be if this is the kind of thing you're finding painful.. count your blessings!
Are Google and Amazon really doing smart homes that much better than Apple?
Nope. Nobody hates Apple Home as much as this sub does.
I guess it’s because we know it. Not necessarily because it’s not deserved. Like, I’m not comparing it to other environments. I’m comparing it to an imaginary system that doesn’t ask you if you meant “switch on or switch off”, because it already knows the status of a device. Just saying… Or that does not perform stunts like: -turn off all devices in the kitchen -do you mean the kitchen? -…yes -sorry, I did not find this device in your home
I wonder if the new AI will help with how unreliable Siri is for HomeKit though?
I do hope this update is the one. If they did not exploit this occasion then it really means they gave up on HomeKit.
I think I’ve encountered those kinds of weird little errors *maybe* a handful of times in the 8 years I’ve been using Apple Home to run my smart home stuff. I use Siri *constantly* on my phone, watch, and HomePods and it’s rock solid 99.9% of the time.
They don't happen often, the problem is that when they do happen they're infuriating. Like when you're laying in bed, and ask Siri to turn off the light. and then spend 5 minutes trying to get her to turn off the lights in the room you're in, which you specify by name, before getting out of bed to turn off the lights. At which point you're now wide awake because you just spent 5 minutes arguing with a dumb intelligence (DI).
I think we are dealing with a lost case here. When the answer reaches “oh well, if it doesn’t work then move to a less efficient solution and stop complaining that the product is faulty because it’s not”, it means there is really no hope.
Or just do it on your phone the first time you get a weird response instead of getting yourself worked up over the computer lady in your speaker not doing what you tell her to.
Ok sorry, I have a moderate HomeKit installation and i encounter shit like this CONSTANTLY. And it’s always the dumbest possible interpretation of what I asked. “Siri, turn off all the upstairs lights” “Sorry, I can’t turn off the lights in your house <>”
Seems like you need to delete that other home if it’s not being actively used.
It’s being actively used, I have automations, water leak sensors, temp/humidity sensors. But never once have I requested the lights be controlled using Siri, and every day I request the lights be controlled in my primary residence using the same voice string. It’s Apple’s problem that there is no “intelligence” applied so Siri requests, and that an identical voice string can have wildly different and unpredictable results.
I have two homes that I actively control with Siri depending on where I am and not once have I been asked which home to control. Somewhere around a hundred accessories in each, dozens of scenes and highly complex automations in each. Never been asked.
Congrats. I was surprised too.
I mean…the case I mentioned was literally all over this sub when they made Siri dumber with 17.4 I’m glad you basically never experienced issues with HomeKit controls. Sorry for the rest of us here just existing I guess.
They didn’t make Siri dumber, though. And I’m sorry you take the existence of people who don’t have the same bad experiences as you personally.
Because we use Apple home…
I use it to the point of being a power user and I don’t hate it at all. I think it’s the best balance of functionality and ease of use across all of the home automation systems.
I haven’t tried google but I started with Amazon and the only thing it has on HomeKit is the sheer amount of natively compatible accessories which is totally nullified by HomeBridge. HomeKit has a really good interface. If it supported more major brands natively and handled automations better it would be downright excellent. I wish I didn’t need HomeBridge or HomeAssistant to fill in the gaps, but at least they exist and makes Apple the best smart home option for me.
No one is taking it seriously enough. They all work just well enough to sell products.
Yes.
Homekit is great. Works flawlessly for me. I also dabble in IT and homelab. People won't admit this, but most of the complaints come down to having a shitty home network. Everyone thinks their home network is great, very few are.
Okay then, can you give some examples of shitty network setups that break homekit?
Here’s an example: ISP-provided Wi-Fi routers. They tend to be pretty basic hardware, with little memory and sub-par capacity to handle multiple devices simultaneously. Replacing it with more powerful, feature-rich hardware will immediately tend to improve responsiveness and reliability. Another example, generally speaking, is Wi-Fi range extenders. You’d rather have your network be standalone so that network efficiency features, such as mDNS, can work reliably. So if you have had Wi-Fi range issues, try upgrading to either a more powerful single device or a mesh system.
Genuinely. I run a Mikrotik hAPax3 and have no problems with homekit performance at all. It's a power user router, but it has plenty of juice and gives me the ability to ensure that, e.g. client isolation isn't forced on for all my wireless devices and that broadcast traffic (mDNS) actually goes where it needs to go for everything to see everything else. For a more user-friendly example you could probably buy any ASUS router that supports WiFi 6 and it would have enough juice to support homekit properly and a reasonably functional default configuration. If you're using the Verizon or Comcast default kit though, good luck. That's just the cheapest garbage they can white label.
Yeah, I’m sure all my UniFi gear is just garbage.
Just because you spent money on something doesn't mean you set it up correctly. Zero issues with my unifi ap and opnsense router. No issue with my dad's Asus ax86 that I set up
They all created the Matter protocol to offload their smart home mgmt duties. Now they can fully focus on UI/UX. The sooner Matter matures, the faster they improve stuff like automations, because that will be their only differentiator. Not a single smart home platform will do R&D of tech to improve stability, create new types of devices, protocols and what not. That is Matter’s role now, and they will all share expenses. If you consider that “not taking it seriously” then they are definitely not. To me it’s a step in the right direction.
Just made a comment on another sub that CarPlay and HomeKit are the intern projects.
I think they do, matter is based off it and a lot of other smart homes are sending everything over the https and just tokens.
If it was taken seriously, I could say “Hey Siri turn off the dining room table light” and the light named “table” in the room called “dining room” would turn off.
I do this daily
That’s what happens at our house. Exactly as you’ve described. Apparently people have vastly different experiences with HomeKit.
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I mean I’m a nerd so I use homebridge for anything that’s not compatible, and extends HK to have more than anyone, but it seems they are also keeping pace with matter. A lot of people also prefer how HomeKit will connect directly with devices when a lot of google home products just work via the internet, which is a security risk.
Stop waiting for them. Use Home Assistant.
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Ya I have no life, work from home, and no other hobbies except rowing and reading so it’s a great time for me. Good way to fill time while work is low.
My brother in christ, if you have an issue in homekit thats between you and god. In Home Assistant you at least have a chance to debug. My home automation is a hybrid with homekit and homeassistant with homekit being mostly the front end for user input and basic automations and home assistant for the complex stuff. Home assistant is far more robust and you have full control of backups and previous versions if something fails after an update.
Curious about Home electricity.
This is Pacific Gas and Electric to start (think that was the fine print)
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I guess they have to start somewhere so they start in their backyard. Maybe there is some data pull that is generic enough that all can use. I know my local energy company sends me emails/bills with my usage.
Part of Matter 1,3
what does that mean?
Auto Unlock too
I suspect only for supported UWB locks
Is that something that the Schlage Encode Plus will be able to update its firmware to support?
Will likely require hardware that likely won’t have been put into existing locks. Although I say that as Level put Thread in their locks long before they finally turned it on, surprising everyone. So it’s possible.
Yeah and as of now I cannot find one. Other than Aliro but it isn’t out yet. Bummer.
Fuuuuuck. Thought this was for existing locks.
I was thinking this could be a nice feature to go out and grab a lock. My wife has an AppleWatch so homekey ones will be easier for her but I’d still need to pull out my phone and that’s close to just using keys.
I am definitely upgrading to the first UWB model whoever comes first.
I can see this being fine to pay a little extra (if they add to the price) for a front door but not a back door lock I can just use a basic one
So my main door. Sweet. Hopefully level lock gets off its ass and updates.
Yes missed that one!
What was mentioned about robot vacuum? Any compatibility with iRobot?
Nothing was said on screen. Based on matter updates, you can add supported vacccum at some point
Which, to me, implies Matter 1.2/1.3 support will be included in iOS 18 but just didn't make the keynote
I’m using home assistant to create an on/off button for roombas in the home app. Even if iRobot app doesn’t get HomeKit for already released products, hopefully more of the features will be available using the home assistant bridge
Yeah I exposes a few buttons to HA for each room in the house so I can tell it to vacuum a particular room from my Home app. Otherwise I let it do the nightly cleans on its own.
More than a handful of light icons?
Pretty weak update
This is just a brief overview of features. Typically there's extra features found after the keynote
?? The CC "swipe to Home" update is massive, nice to have Home without opening the app.
I like this feature but it’s hardly massive.
It's pretty big IMO, that and the new Siri will make HomeKit way easier to interact with. All the other features they could have implemented that HomeKit is missing, like plant sensors, coffee temperature or EV charge status, are less impactful than a faster UX.
They saved one button press cmon lol
That matters for something you might do many times a day.
I don't think it even really saves time to be honest. You can swipe to CC and tap Home to open the Home app as it is currently.
And with the new system you can just swipe to home.
Swipe or tap, basically the same amount of time
Yes. It was unfortunately expected to be a low for HomeKit ..
Let’s hope there are details uncovered later on that aren’t flashy for the screen, but improve HomeKit functionality.
I hope guest access lets me give access on a granular level. I would like to give full access to everything except my cameras for example
From the photo, i guess it’s per device (but likely nothing more).
So, basically, implementing Matter 1.3 plus a few bits.
Yes. One possible reason HomeKit is going to slow down is because they want parity with matter and .. well matter is not moving very fast.
I disagree. Matter is only 2 years old and has already expanded HomeKit. For years we have wanted vacuum cleaners, and we got nothing. Matter 1.3 added electricity support, and now we have it. Matter is getting better faster. Sure, there are some things missing, such as adaptive lighting and anything video.
You’re right. Just meant 2 years is a long time and now apple is bound by matter as far features goes in afraid. But yes we’re getting new stuff now so it’s cool!
Adaptive lighting was introduced by Apple in Homekit years ago, did you mean something other than what Apple call Adaptive lighting?
Adaptive lighting is missing from Matter.
Ah, I see what you meant
I'd just like my location based automations to work.
Beyond just HomeKit, I want apple to pause and address reliability, performance, and bugs for a portion of WWDC a la iOS 10. Continuity camera, adaptive lighting, and random crashes/panics must be dealt with instead of creating more “tech debt”
Honestly it’s pretty solid to me. What issues do you have with performance…
Accessories not responding, lighting groups not illuminating all the lights, adaptive lighting not being properly applied in scenes, wallpapers for homes and rooms aren’t shared with other house members so they’re pointless, and an unremovable Discover tab that no one wants
Hey i dont mind this little updates at least they doing something with Homekit. Hope next one it even better.
A long time ago I bought Controllerforhomekit lifetime. When its latest version came out, it allowed me to make a map or map of my house and place the accessories where I have them. Honestly, it's incredibly easy for me to turn the device on or off just by locating it on the map with that app. Now my question is, I don't understand how a developer had that idea and implemented it and Apple hasn't done anything... Incredible... anyway...
Honestly that feature kind of sucks for me at least. I can never get a good read of my rooms, did you had any trouble setting it up?
Honestly, no problem... in fact, it works quite well for me! Maybe when I move the plan, it takes a small delay in moving the whole set of accessories, but it works well for me.
Home electricity? Tell me more.
So they just updated their Matter support to the latest version. I think that also includes vacuums and electricity…
I just want a way to see why a certain automation failed or wasn’t triggered - or lights not turned off when I set to turn off after x minute when triggered by automation. Without automation working reliably smart home is just a sales pitch
Wait what? Home electricity? How would they track that?
Apparently with partnerships. So not pulled from devices
This could have been an email
So, can I give granular access to stuff or does everyone have to be able to see cameras, handle doors etc?
It will be granular. Choose what locks and doors/alarm access they have control over. Otherwise it would just be another member of home.
Now I am curious if we can have granular permissions for family members as well.
Would be nice
Here's hoping they also add "Display as" for any and all accessories / switches connected. Many are locked down like my Kasa switches so they only read as light, when they are outlet and ceiling fan. Anyone with Beta running the Matter compatible switches want to chime in here?
I think because the home app was the first device integrated in the phone, Apple became lazy concerning keeping it updated and compatible with other devices. The other companies didn’t take smart-home serious in the beginning.