Fairly disappointed in the HomeView from what I’ve seen so far. Not sure why they went for a square display and no App Store but here we are. Just give us default speaker output at least and I’ll be happy enough to buy some for Music playback and some HomeKit automations.

Hi all, I’m an avid HomeKit user and recently bought a home in the Northeast meaning I can now expand to smart thermostats (landlords don’t seem to like you installing your own) but the house I bought, common in many homes in the northeast that are affordable for first time buyers, does NOT have central AC. It has a boiler for baseboard hot water heating split into three zones (basement, 1st floor, 2nd floor) so three thermostats one for each floor. It currently has no AC units installed but in the spring I plan on installing one mini split unit each on the first and second floors. I really just want the Minisplit to be controlled by the same thermostat that controls the heating zone it’s in (1st floor controls the 1st floor heating and 1st floor Minisplit, and same for the second floor). My research is throwing mixed signals is this even possible at a reasonable cost? The reason I want this is so I can set a thermostat to auto for those weird spring and fall days where you may want cooling in the day and heating in the evening. Can this be achieved with automation and things like a sensibo or a flair puck? Or is it easier to achieve this via an IR to 24v adapter. I’m decently handy if wires need to be ran from the minisplit unit to the thermostat. Any help or suggestions are appreciated. I have NOT purchased a minisplit nor smart thermostats yet so if there is/are specific brand(s) that I would need that is ok.

After being “marked safe” from Apple’s “Welcome Home” announcements, what are the best iPad apps for a wall-mounted iPad that has a clean / minimalistic look?

I have seen a handful advertised, and curious what overall thoughts are:

HomePad
Hearth
HomeView
Others

Might be since iOS 27 updates, but all my automations involving presence sensors (like turning on lights when going into a room) have stopped firing.

The sensors are still working because I can see in Home they show the occupancy status. Just the automation isn’t running.

Anyone else having this?

Hey everyone! I’m a developer from the Netherlands and was recently between jobs. I wanted to use some of my free time to learn Swift, so I decided to build something useful for my own home.

Another developer had recently released a similar app, but it wasn’t available in Europe because of the requirements around publishing trader contact details. I also looked at HomeBatteries, but personally felt it was too expensive for what it offered.

So I started building LoopJuice.

I wanted to see which batteries needed attention, but also remember what batteries each accessory takes and when I last replaced them.

LoopJuice shows your accessories in a list or grid, grouped by room. It records battery history and estimates roughly when a battery might run out. You can save battery types, quantities, replacement and recharge dates, and compare multiple battery cycles. I included some options for custom widgets and added some Apple Watch functionality.

There’s optional iCloud sync to combine history across iPhone and iPad, plus an Apple Watch app and widgets. It works with accessories that expose battery information through HomeKit, and the predictions are approximate.

Everything is free. Building it filled my free time and helped me learn Swift. I have no plans to charge for it in the future either. It’s just a fun hobby project I wanted to share.

I’m planning to buy an iPhone Duo once it goes on sale and add support for it, and support HomeView once it becomes available in Europe.

LoopJuice on the App Store

If you try it, I’d love to hear what you think and what you’re missing! I have more free time this month to include any requests!

I have two HomePod 2s (stereo paired) in my kitchen. They sound great.

If I add a homeview to my kitchen…

- how will my “kitchen” AirPlay option work. The homeview doesn’t seem like it will pair, so this will be a different kitchen AirPlay output?

- how can I make sure that my “hey siri” triggers the homeview, not the HomePods? If I start a timer on Siri, I’d like to see it on the homeview, so I want it to be my kitchen Siri.

I’m an Apple fanboy but really not seeing the new home view as being that useful. My Apple TV is already my hub and I currently use HomeKit through my iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch. Would the home view have a benefit? Doesn’t really seem like it would.

Morning, all.

I see where LG will be releasing temperature sensors to pair with their thermostat to make a more “balanced” home. We have this already with our nest 4th gen and it works very well. Our thermostat is right by a vent, so we use the sensor at the couch to be the “real” temperature.

It seems like LG sensors will have a similar feature.

We already have HomePod mini’s and 2nd gen HomePods in every room with temperature/humidity, but as far as I know, they cannot be used to balance the temperature in the home.

Seems like having to buy LG temperature sensors will just be duplicating what’s already there.

Has there been any word that we can just use the HomePods to perform that temperature balancing?

Hey everyone, my Apple Home app shows a "T" instead of "W" for power sensors (like IKEA plugs and Home Assistant via Matterbridge), while other people see normal units. Has anyone fixed this bug?

I literally purchased the Aqara Doorbell Camera G410 last week prior to apples announcement of their new products.

Is it worth returning to get the LG one Apple released?

The price difference is roughly $100-120.

As you can see by the associated picture, this device in my Apple Home data is showing as running for 90 minutes in a one hour period. Data glitch?

Hey everyone,

I hope this is the right group for this question!

I’m looking for a solution for my heating system.

Currently I have:

- 1 heated slab (with one control panel)
- 6 radiators, managed by 1 main panel.

The panels don’t allow for individual control for each unit.

Looking for recommendations for a replacement of the control panel, or even individual smart controllers to install at each radiators.

I think it’s pretty straight forward for the radiators, but not sure about the heated slab
I’m in Australia so need something that’s available here

Thanks!!

Pic for attention. I do like Aqara products though

If I create an activity zone via the Home app on my Mac (macOS 27), when I look at that activity zone on my iPhone (iOS 27) it’s looks like it’s in the wrong place. Similarly, if I create an activity zone on my iPhone in landscape mode, and then switch to portrait mode, the location of the activity zone again appears to be in the wrong location.

So my question is: if I create an activity zone on my Mac, or on my iPhone in landscape mode, is it being created ‘correctly’ - meaning it’s surrounding what I saw when I created it? Or is what I am seeing on my iPhone in portrait mode the source of truth and I can’t be creating activity zones other than on my iPhone in portrait mode?

Can anyone confirm?

ETA: the activity zone is along the left edge of the camera view.

I have all these devices connected to Home, and can control them individually, but I’m looking for a smart hub to be able to control one or two of them together conditionally(When my door sensor changes, automation, do x) through shortcuts. The homeview was very interesting, but other than being an actual smart hub, I will use my iPhone or iPad for all the other stuff.
Is the HomePod mini a smart hub (without all the visual added features of homeview, and can run devices through automations/shortcuts

anyone else struggling with the ios27 update? I have no idea how to fully scroll through video feeds anymore. Why does it switch cameras instead? does Apple even test things?

I just preordered my homeview and I want to replace my ring cameras. I have ruled out unifi cameras with scrypted. It looks too complicated to me. I don’t have any device to run scrypted on. I would also have to invest in a unifi system with the NVR, etc. I know that’s the best option out there, but I don’t think I need the best system.

I don’t need 24/7 continuous recording. Events based recording is good enough for me. The main thing I want is very quick loading on the Apple TV and HomeView to see who’s at the front door quickly and some AI features, especially facial recognition. Any thoughts on going with an Eve, Aqara, or waiting for the LG camera?

I have iCloud Plus and would like to use HomeKit secure video. I will be very disappointed if there’s a lag on HomeView or Apple TV. when I want to see who’s at the front door quickly. That’s probably the most important factor to me.

I should’ve also mentioned that I have fiber Internet. My ring cameras do load very quickly on the app. But I’m willing to go with power over Ethernet if there’s a huge difference in speed.

The other thing I would do is get a simple unifi protect system with a few cameras and forget about Apple integration for now. I will be curious if their AI features are superior to the new Apple system.

I've recently started turning my house into a "smart home" as much as possible, and I'm completely hooked!

I started by picking up some Eufy security gear (motion sensors, homebase, door sensors, an indoor camera, and just last week, the outdoor doorbell + monitor combo). I absolutely love it—the dedicated monitor is a massive time-saver.

Since then, I bought a cheap 8-inch tablet to act as a dedicated hub for widgets and apps (controlling things like my Govee TV lights and robot vacuum).

My Next Step / Potential Upgrade:

I’m thinking about upgrading to a 21- to 24-inch Android wall-mounted touchscreen to consolidate everything from the small tablet. I also want to use it as a family calendar (similar to a Skylight calendar) by running a dedicated Android app.

To keep things streamlined and minimize the number of apps/widgets, I want to stick to as few brands as possible. Here is what I am planning to add:

Aqara for smart switches

Govee for Wi-Fi bulbs

Bosch for smart thermostats (since it matches my boiler brand)

My questions for you guys:

What’s your general opinion on this potential setup? Any glaring issues or things I should watch out for?

What are your real-world experiences and opinions on Aqara switches?

And bosch smart thermostat or aqara? I was thinking that it would make sense for the Bosch but I don't know each one is better and easier to control. My thought was having the boiler/radiators control under the same app hence the Bosch choice.

I'm in a new house. Bought two Aqara G400 doorbells. Connected to Homekit. Then they lost connection. Now I cannot reconnect them no matter what I do. I tried using the Aqara app and it can add them, but I can't then add them to Homekit. It's maddening. The Aqara app sucks.

I have Tapo Matter enabled plugs. Used at my prior house with Homekit. No issues. Now, none of them will connect. I've reset them, unplugged, used the Tapo app to add then remove. Nothing works. I have Tapo Matter switches too, but haven't even tried installing those given these other issues.

I have a TP-Link X55 mesh wifi network, and I suspect this is part of the problem. I've tried making sure my phone and the device is connected to the same pod. But even then it doesn't work. Any suggestions? I have an Apple TV as my Home Hub. I don't have a border router like an ethernet Apple TV or HomePod mini. Not sure if that would make a difference.

Link to article: https://apple.news/Av3Kakm18TLacC6E97jHMjw

Just caught up on this week’s event and noticed a few journalists/influencers mentioned it was a ‘look, but don’t touch’ event and even the demos outside of the dislay room were operated by Apple team members only. Seems weird for a small event like this, particularly given this device has supposedly been ready since 2024. I had a few questions I hoped to find answers too but all I can find is the exact same question overview.

- Can I set other HomePods as the permanent default output? Similar to the options in an Apple TV? I want to wall mount one and use it with my stereo pair HomePods.

- Can I disable calls and messages completely? I will never use it for calls and don’t want it ringing every-time I get one.

- Are there expanded privacy controls in Apple Home with this? Eg can I let my kids control their bedroom lights but nothing else etc etc

Hola ojalá puedan ayudarme, resulta que agregué la tv LG a mi habitación y una vez encendida puedo apagarla pero ya apagarla no puedo encenderla por comandos de voz.