Imagine you’re arriving home after work, and before you can fumble around for your keys, the door simply senses your presence and unlocks, the lights turn on, music from your favorite album begins to play from your speaker system, the air inside is cooled to your ideal temperature.
What you’re envisioning is actually already possible. All of the technology exists—with products from companies such as Belkin, Insteon, Vera, and Nest—but it hasn’t been leveraged into an integrated system that’s accessible to the everyday person.
That's what many of us have been waiting for Apple to do. In the days leading up to today’s keynote at Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), we heard a lot of rumors of an Apple Smart Home, which we believed would offer one all-powerful app with which to control the growing ecosystem of Internet-enabled devices. After all, what company could be better equipped to deliver an integrated, intuitive user experience?
So it was a bit disappointing when Apple’s senior VP of Software Engineering Craig Federighi glossed over its announcement of HomeKit, which will be a feature of the new software developers kit (SDK), not a standalone app. We didn’t get many details about the application programming interface (API) feature, except that it will have an updated common protocol for smart gadgets to connect more easily and securely to iOS devices.
Federighi said Siri will be fully integrated with HomeKit and you’ll have the ability to either group your smart gadgets into “scenes” or control them individually. He said you'll be able to teach Siri commands like “bedtime,” and it will be able to turn off the lights, lock the doors, adjust the thermostat, and turn off any music playing.
How HomeKit Will Work
Apple listed its HomeKit partners during the announcement, among them brands such as Haier, Honeywell, and Texas Instruments. The Nest Learning Thermostat, one of the most popular smart appliances on the market, wasn’t on the list, since Google purchased the company several months ago.
Chinese manufacturer Haier has given us clues as to how the HomeKit program could work for program participants. At the beginning of the year, Haier launched the first smart appliance under the "made for iPhone" (MFi) label— called the Tianzun smart air conditioner—and plans to certify more of its products this year.
The Tianzun gained MFi certification due to its easy setup, which requires only Wi-Fi and no registration or password. The MFi certification program vouches for the design, quality, and iOS compatibility of devices, and requires chips in products be certified.
“We thought we could bring rationality into the home automation space,” said Federighi.
The tools necessary for mainstream home automation have been around for some time. Computer chips have become so cheap that it’s feasible for most home appliances to be Internet-enabled devices. But up until now, no one has leveraged this potential. I think Apple’s foray into home automation holds a lot of promise. But at this point, an Apple smart home is too nebulous of an idea for people to get really excited about. While Apple didn’t fully commit to unifying the fragmented smart appliance market today, it could be setting the stage for a bigger move in the future.
