

It's a handy option, especially if you have a lot of devices as we do in the CNET Smart Home. Hit the edit icon to rearrange your favorites. Click details underneath the list to see exactly which devices you've left on and you can tap the device icon on this screen to turn them off if you'd like. If you have family members that need to control your home but have trouble figuring out apps, be ready to be patient with them.Īt the top of the main page, you'll see a list of any active devices - lights turned on, locks open, and the like. You simply need to tap the edge of the screen, so it's easy enough to get used to, but the app has its stumbling blocks.
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There's also no back button, so once I did find those details, I paused again while figuring out how to get back to the main app page. It took me awhile to find how to access the detailed settings of my accessories. Other than those welcome windows when you first open the app, there's no tutorial to speak of, and no way to ask the app for help. Long press a button for more detailed options like brightness and color for Philips Hue bulbs.Ī couple of these basic functions took me a second to figure out when I was first testing the beta version of the app. With a quick press, you can activate a scene or turn a light on or off. If you want to control your connected household devices from your phone, thanks to the Home app, HomeKit is now one of the best ways to make that happen.Īll of the scenes and devices you've labeled as "favorites" show up here. Either way, the Home app is a step in the right direction.

It's almost as if Apple is finally ready to admit that yes, it does indeed want to compete in the emerging smart home market.Įven with the Home app, HomeKit still has some catching up to do - where's your Siri-enabled smart-home speaker to compete with Amazon's wildly successful Echo product line? Maybe we'll see that later this year. Whereas before you had to use third-party apps to configure and control your HomeKit-compatible smart home products, the Home app brings them all under one, Apple-controlled roof. Instead, Home brings to the smart home what it has brought to other product categories - a clean, easy-to-understand interface. That's because it doesn't actually add a ton of new features.
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If you're already familiar with HomeKit, Apple's software platform that relies on its Siri virtual voice assistant to control lights, locks and other smart home devices, the Home app may not seem like a big deal. HomeKit finally has prime iPhone real estate thanks to iOS 10's formal launch on September 13.īut what does that new app with the house icon really mean for you? We took a preliminary look at Apple's Home app via the iOS 10 beta back in July.
