Apple HomeKit and Home app: What are they and how do they work?

Apple wants to streamline home automation.

In other words: it wants to make it easier for smart accessories to communicate, and for you to connect and manage all the smart accessories in your home from various manufacturers (such as Philips Hue lights, Wink lights, and other speakers, thermostats, detectors, plugs, blinds, locks, sensors, etc). HomeKit is basically Apple’s framework for home automation.

Manufacturers can implement HomeKit into their smart accessories. It was first announced at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in 2014. The name is a combination of “home” for home automation and “kit” for software developer kit. HomeKit-enabled accessories are secure, easy to use, and work with several Apple devices (including iPhone and Apple TV).

You’ll use the new Home app for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch, for instance, to set up and ultimately control all your HomeKit-enabled accessories. If you’d like to know more about HomeKit and the new Home app in iOS 10, Pocket-lint has explained everything you need to know, including what they are and how they work together.

HomeKit: What’s the point of HomeKit?

Apple

So, you’re probably wondering to yourself: I’ve longed own smart lights and controlled them with their own easy-to-use iOS app – why is HomeKit necessary now? Well, imagine that you also own smart blinds.

Without HomeKit, your smart lights can’t communicate with your smart blinds, meaning you can’t hook them up together, control them with a single interface, nor set them to perform actions together at certain times. (Like, make your lights automatically to turn off and window blinds simultaneously close at 9 pm EST every night.) Instead, you must manually control each accessory with their individual, third-party apps and set every one to do a specific task at a certain time. That’s all rather tedious, to be honest.

HomeKit-enabled smart accessories however can speak to each other, and best of all, you can control them using voice commands through Siri. You can use Siri on your iPhone/iPad by saying things like “turn on the lights in the garage” – or even “good morning” to unleash a bunch of commands that’ll cause many smart accessories to turn on and do their thing (maybe your coffee will brew while your blinds open).

Every HomeKit-enabled accessory automatically works with Siri once you set it up via its HomeKit-compatible app. Siri is just the unified interface you use to issue voice commands to those smart accessories. You still need the individual apps that come with those smart accessories to gain full access to touch controls and whatnot. So, it’s not completely streamlined just yet.

Now, the last thing you need to know about HomeKit is that it can enforce end-to-end encryption between all smart accessories and iOS devices. That means third parties can’t steal your data, hack their way into your communications, or take control of your home automation.

HomeKit: Is it available yet?

Yep. Manufacturers can add support for it now, then get approved by Apple, and their devices will work with Siri after pairing. We’re just waiting on more HomeKit-enabled accessories to hit store shelves.

HomeKit: Which Apple devices work with HomeKit?

Apple

HomeKit works with any iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch running run iOS 8.1 or later. Also, with watchOS 2, you can now control all your HomeKit accessories with the Apple Watch (more on that later). And if you have an Apple TV (third generation or later), you can control your accessories with Siri commands when you’re away from home (more on that later).

HomeKit: Which smart accessories are out now?

Apple

Any manufacturer that wants to develop HomeKit-enabled accessories has to not only add support for HomeKit into their accessories and companion apps but also join Apple’s Made for iPhone (MFI) certification program and submit its plans, prototypes, etc.

Apple will check the application programming interfaces (APIs), then ensure the third-party app meets the App Store’s requirements, and finally, approve or deny the accessory for production. Apple provides MFI logos on any certified device’s packaging, which tells you the accessory is an official MFI-certified product. These products are secure and compatible with iPhone and iPad.

When Apple showed off HomeKit in 2014, it announced HomeKit partnerships with many manufacturers, including as iHome, Haier, Withings, Philips, iDevices, Belkin, Honeywell, and Kwikset. The first batch of HomeKit-enabled, MFI-certified accessories include:

• Elgato: Elgato and it’s Eve sensors went on sale in the Apple Online Store in July 2015. The first four sensors are the Eve Room (£69.95), Eve Weather (£44.95), Eve Door & Window (£34.95), and Eve Energy (£44.95). Additional Eve products are coming. The Eve app is now out as a free download from the App Store.
• Ecobee: Ecobee in the US is offering an intelligent thermostat with HomeKit integration. It launched in June 2015 and costs $249 (£163).
• Lutron: If you’re looking to control your lights Lutron will be releasing the Caseta Wireless system that allows you to bark orders like “lights off”. The Caséta Wireless Lighting Starter Kit, with HomeKit-enabled Smart Bridge, is available for $229.95 at Apple Stores. The kit includes one Caséta Wireless Smart Bridge, two Caséta Wireless dimmers (compatible with dimmable LED, halogen, and incandescent bulbs), two remotes and two pedestals. To add more lights, you can purchase the Caséta Wireless dimmer/remote kits, also available at Apple Stores, for $59.95.
• iHome: The iHome iSP5 Smartplug fits into your standard wall sockets and will mean you can turn off connected devices via Siri.
• Insteon: The Insteon Hub will let you control a whole manner of things like cameras, switches, sensors and more either via an app, Siri, or schedules like configuring a single device to turn on and off at dusk and dawn or create customized groups of devices that turn on and off at various times throughout the day.

Go here to see a full list of accessories. You can also shop from here.

HomeKit-enabled accessories are marked with a “Works with Apple HomeKit” badge on their product packaging and have only been available since June 2015. If you previously owned one of the above-listed products, they won’t work with HomeKit going forward. You need to buy the new versions. But there is a workaround for old smart accessories: you could get the Insteon Hub or iHome SmartPlug and use the HomeKit support within those device to leverage Siri and control anything connected to them, such as Phillips Hue lights.

HomeKit: How do you get started?

Apple

Until the new Home app in iOS 10 arrives this autumn, here’s how you can setup HomeKit-enabled accessories:

Pairing

• To use HomeKit, you need an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch running iOS 8.1 or later. You also need one or more HomeKit-enabled accessories (see a list of devices from here).
• On your iOS device, go to the App Store, then download the HomeKit-compatible app for your HomeKit-enabled accessory, and pair that accessory with your iOS device. Your accessory will come with a HomeKit setup code. Open the app for your accessory, and then point your device’s camera at the setup code to scan it.

Siri

• Once your iOS device and accessory have been paired, you can control the accessory with these Siri commands, which includes phrases like “turn off the lights” or “set the temperature to 68 degrees F”. If you set up homes, rooms, zones, or scenes (more on that later), you can use commands like “movie time”, for instance, to simultaneously control your TV, audio equipment, lights, or whatever.
• You’ll also be able to use Siri via your Apple Watch to issue voice commands. But that’s not all: your watch can still control HomeKit accessories when you aren’t carrying your phone. Let’s say, for instance, you go for a run with your watch but leave your iPhone at home, you can unlock your HomeKit-enabled door when near it using BT proximity detection or a companion Watch app.
• If you have an Apple TV (third-generation or later), sign in to iCloud with the same Apple ID on your iOS device and Apple TV. This will allow you to control your accessories with Siri commands when you’re away.

HomeKit: How does grouping work?

Apple

Until the new Home app in iOS 10 arrives this autumn, here’s how you can control HomeKit-enabled accessories:

Some smart accessories have individual apps that let you group your accessories in homes, rooms, or scenes. This lets you control a group of accessories with a single Siri command. Keep in mind you’ll need to set up these groups within the apps of the accessories.

With HomeKit, everything – a home, room, accessory, function, setting – must have its own name and be stored in a common database accessible by Siri. That’s because Siri has to recognise what to control when you speak a command. For example, if you own a house and a condo, each home must have a different name (such as “House” and “Condo”).

Every single room in your homes must have different names as well. Take note that you can have a “Kitchen” in both homes, but you can’t have two “Kitchens” in one home. Also, all HomeKit accessories in your home need their own names too. And every function or service that the device is capable of providing will need a distinct name in HomeKit.

Luckily, HomeKit-compatible apps take care of must of this stuff for you. That means, if you want a cup of coffee, the app should seamlessly let you name your machine “Coffee pot” and the function as ”Brew”. Siri will only be able to control your home, rooms, and HomeKit-enabled accessories by voice if it can recognise pre-programmed names across your apps.

Those of you who are tech-savvy could conceivably have hundreds of names between all your rooms, accessories, and functions. To make it easier for you to control multiple smart accessories at once, Apple offers a grouping feature with HomeKit. Grouping allows you to, for instance, turn off all the lights in your house with a single spoken command.

That means you won’t have to ask Siri to shut off every light in every room in every house you own. Grouping also includes sub-features called rooms or scenes, so you can control multiple accessories in an area or for a specific reason. Imagine you’ve assigned a scene called “Goodnight”, and various accessories and actions are connected to that scene, such as locking your doors, turning off lights, and setting alarms.

When you tell Siri “Goodnight”, HomeKit’s grouping feature will alert your doors, lights, and clock to do their respective tasks (in no particular order). After you group your accessories in a home, you can also invite other people to share control of these accessories. They just need to sign in to iCloud to accept the invitation. If you create the home, you’re the admin, and people you invite are shared users (learn more from here).

HomeKit: Will HomeKit respond to other triggers?

Apple

If you don’t want to use Siri voice commands all the time, you can set up your accessories to respond to other triggers, such as your location, the time, or another accessory. So, for location, you can set your garage door to open when you pull up. With time, you can have your coffee pot come on at 6 am PST, and with the accessory, you could use a motion sensor to detect when you walk into a dark hallway and turn on the lights.

HomeKit: What about the Home app?

Apple

Apple on 13 June while at WWDC 2016 announced something that all fans of HomeKit have been waiting for: Home. It’s a new app that serves as a single destination for controlling all your smarthome accessories.

Announced by Craig Federighi, Apple’s SVP of Software Engineering, Home offers an interface with just about every control function you need for accessories like lights, locks, and other connected gadgets. Previously, you had to manage your HomeKit-enabled hardware using the several individuals apps that came with your devices, and to actually control those devices, you had to use Siri commands.

The new Home app lets you use touch to trigger accessories individually or as a group (called scenes). You’ll see your scenes in the app’s main view. One scene for “I’m home” might turn on your lights and unlock the front door. A scene for “Good night” might turn off your lights and lock all the doors. The app also has a Favourite Access menu for controlling individual devices by room or choosing automation schedules.

The Home app isn’t revolutionary, but it does the job. It’s built into Control Center, which should make it quicker to manage smarthome accessories with your iPhone, and it works with Apple TV, allowing it to double as a smarthome hub and feed commands to HomeKit accessories. And finally, Home has Lock Screen integration for viewing alerts and device status without having to unlock an iPhone.

Home will launch for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch, alongside iOS 10 this autumn. We will update this piece over time as more details emerge about how the app works.

HomeKit: Are there any HomeKit alternatives?

Apple’s HomeKit is unique in that it doesn’t have much stiff competition. Sure – Samsung offers a home automation platform called Samsung Smart Home, but it just debuted earlier this year and is still new. There’s also a nifty platform and app called SmartThings, which turns your smartphone into a remote to control for smart accessories in your home. Samsung acquired SmartThings last year. You can read about that here.

Apart from Samsung and SmartThings, Apple should keep on eye on Google. The Mountain View-based company already has the potential to both topple HomeKit and dominate home automation, thanks to a company called Nest Labs. Google acquired Nest Labs – the makers of the Nest smart learning thermostat – for $3.2 billion in January 2014. The high price tag of the acquisition (coupled with Google’s newcomer status to the smarthome market) made headlines and confirmed Google’s interest in home automation.

Then, in 2014, Google announced a new developer program for the Nest division. Called “Works with Nest”, the program provides a set of APIs that manufacturers can include in their smart accessories to let you link and remote control them as well as integrate them with Nest and other Google products. The thing is you won’t hear anything about Google or Android. Google is keeping the Nest brand separate, letting Nest spearhead home automation for the company (which will eventually include rivaling HomeKit).

Want to know more?

Check out Apple’s HomeKit support page for more details.

iOS 10 Messages explained: What’s new and how you’ll use it

As part of its major iOS 10 unveiling at the WWDC opening keynote, Apple showed off a brand new Messages app. While previous years have seen the app slowly evolving to be more capable, this year’s revolution brings with it a huge change in focus. Instead of an ageing, but necessary communication tool, Messages now wants to be a cool, interactive and fun application.

READ: Apple iOS 10 release date and everything you need to know

Although they didn’t say so during the announcement, it seems very much like Messages is trying to compete head on with the likes of Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. But that doesn’t mean it’s going all form and no function. In fact, this is probably the biggest update we’ve seen on a default text messaging app on any platform in a very long time, and probably since BBM ruled the roos on Blackberry. And it’s not just more colourful and interactive, it’s more personal too.

Apple

Scribbles, quick responses and heartbeats

A key part of the update is a change in the ways you can communicate. You can – as always – text someone by tapping away at the physical keyboard, the same way you have been ever since the first iPhone came out 9 years ago. If you want to, that is. Or you can make use of some of the features Apple has brought across from the Apple Watch.

First off, you can now hand-scribble a message, and whoever receives it will see the doodle animate on screen, just like it would if you wrote it with a pen. Second, in group messages, you can react directly to individual messages by tapping a specific message and choosing one of six quick responses. Third, just like the Apple Watch, you can send your heartbeat, or sketches, or videos with your own scribbles on them.

Apple

Bubbles, balloons and invisible ink

While iOS 10 will bring multiple new methods of inputting your message, the Messages update also lets you customise how the receiver will see them on screen. As an example, you’ll be able to change how the bubble containing your message animates. Whether you want to appear more excited, or a little quieter, you’ll be able to choose from a number of preset animations to get your feelings across.

For certain specific messages like “Happy Birthday” or “Congrats” (just two examples of many) you can have an animation take over the entire conversation screen. For the birthday greeting, for instance, you can have balloons animate and fill the display.

Invisible ink is another new effect, which allows the sender to conceal their message in a shimmery, glittery overlay until the reader taps it to reveal what’s behind. This is beneficial for more personal messages.

Apple

More, better emoji

If you love chatting with emoji instead of real words, the next version of Messages will be a dream come true. Not only do emoji show up three times larger than they did before, but also show up in the predicted words bar at the top of the keyboard. As well as predictive emoji, you can also select individual words in a created message to swap them out for emoji.

Bringing up the emoji keyboard turns applicable words orange/yellow to denote which ones can be used. Tap the one(s) you’d like to change and it’s an emoji, just like magic.

Apple

Stickers and iMessage apps

Alongside the main text input field in the new Messages app, there’s an ‘Apps’ icon. To begin with – similar to Facebook Messenger – this will be primarily used for stickers. But Apple is opening it up to third party developers so that they will be able to build apps specifically for Messages. While you’ll be able to send animations, or create content to send to your friends and loved ones, you’ll also be able to share music from the Apple Music app, or make personal payments, all without leaving the app.

Conclusion

It’s hard not to like the updates to Messages. In many ways, it’s the modernisation the app sorely needed. In other ways, it almost seems as though Apple wants to make the app a central part of your digital life. By having multiple apps tie into Messages, and putting effort into how conversations are presented, it’s clear the company – at the very least – wants you to spend more time there.

Sniper Elite 4 overshoots its release date, due February 2017

Love yourself a bit of long-range shooting? Then Sniper Elite 4, the best-looking sharp-shooter of the franchise yet, might be just the ticket.

Only it’s overshot its 2016 release date and will now be hitting the shelves in February 2017 instead.

Rebellion, the game’s developer, puts that down to being a small independent studio and to ensure that the game will be released in its best possible form.

Jason and Chris Kingsley, co-founders of Rebellion, explain: “When we revealed Sniper Elite 4 back in March our plan was to release it at the end of 2016. However, we now know Battlezone [the studio’s other major title] will release in October [2016] as a launch title alongside PlayStation VR. That gave us a tough decision to make”.

Still, that just gives us more time to be excited about the launch. Sniper Elite is the most complex game in the series yet, delivering larger-than-ever maps and better-than-before artificial intelligence (that wouldn’t be too hard) to tactically position yourself among. Oh, and let’s not forget kill cams. You get to see slow-mo, close-up kills and the classic x-ray cam to gauge your precision.

So there we have it folks, Sniper Elite 4 will launch for PS4, Xbox One and PC… but 7-months later than planned.

Ubisoft at E3 2016: Star Trek VR, Watch Dogs 2, Ghost Recon, South Park and more games trailers

Ubisoft revealed one of its biggest titles ahead of E3, unveiling Watch Dogs 2 in the run-up to the show. But that’s not all the publisher had to show at its conference.

In a year absent of Assassin’s Creed – well, sort of, Michael Fassbender does, of course, star in the upcoming movie – its focus has been on showing-off titles announced in 2015, with added polish, in addition to some brand new franchises. The biggest of which is a Star Trek VR title. Yep, Star Trek comes to Ubisoft.

Here are the best trailers and gameplay videos on offer from the Ubisoft camp this year.

Ghost Recon Wildlands

The closing gambit at last year’s showcase, Ghost Recon Wildlands ought to get Far Cry fans salivating. The more we see, the more we want to delve deeper.

A military shooter based in Bolivia, where “the king” – the head of a dangerous drug cartel – rules with an iron fist. That’s where the “ghosts” come in, to take down this underworld – by stealth and by force.

From shooting, to driving, the game’s point of distinction is that it’s playable in four-player co-op mode, whether solo with AI assist, or online with friends. It’ll be released for PS4 and Xbox One on March 7 2017.

South Park: The Fractured But Whole

Superheroes, turn-based RPG and, um, farts are at the forefront of the new South Park game.

New gameplay revealed a new combat style, with space now manoeuvrable rather than restricted to layers; there’s also new powers that can pass obstacles and, but of course, farts that can rip through the fabric of time. Oh, South Park.

Cue lots of Marvel and DC Comic mickey-taking and, if that sounds like your RPG of choice – we loved the earlier Stick of Truth – then mark 6 December 2016 down in your calendars.

Star Trek Bridge Crew

Always wanted to man the bridge of the SS Enterprise? Well, say hello to Star Trek in VR. Bridge Crew is Ubisoft’s multiplayer virtual reality take on a real-time and social Star Trek experience.

Players have to work together to succeed in the given mission, with up to four VR-donning players taking on differing roles. From engineer to captain and beyond. Warp speed ahead!

Watch Dogs 2

Ubisoft’s big deal hacking game is back and better than ever. Everything is hackable, the cars handle better, there’s drones to control, more nuance and less nonsense.

Given the success of Mr Robot recently – which arrived post Watch Dogs – we think this sequel could well hack into the collective consciousness of the gamers of tomorrow.

It’s out sooner than you might think too: 15 November is the date to remember. And we’ve already played it, so follow the link below to read our preview and get the lowdown on what we make of it.

READ MORE: Watch Dogs 2 preview: The best-looking open-world game ever

For Honor

We weren’t particularly taken by the playable multiplayer version of For Honor that we sampled at E3 2015. But 2016 looks rather different. Shown off in its single player campaign form, this combat title looks like a slice of brutal fun.

Play as viking, samurai or knight. Whichever you choose, fret not, the crunchy hand-to-hand combat doesn’t suffer as a result. But you’ll have to wait a bit longer yet: For Honor won’t be out until 2017. On Valentine’s Day, no less. Yup, 14/02/17. How romantic.