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The new HomeKit platform in iOS 8 is designed to unify the various smart home products which are in the marketplace. Instead of releasing a product line of iOS connected items, Apple has opted to create a bridge between services that existing manufacturers can use in their designs.
When I first saw the announcement about HomeKit I was skeptical because the more expansive the connections get between various companies and products, the more room for error there is. Normally that is fine, but in this case we are talking about home security and major appliance functionality. One misstep in security and our homes are open to various threats. If done properly then the possibilities are very exciting.
I like the idea of being able to tell Siri to “lock up” and have the lights turn off, the heat turn down, and the doors lock themselves. We can truly feel like we are living in the science fiction futures we imagined as children, without the flying cars of course.
One company called August has expressed their excitement about HomeKit:
“August is thrilled to be developing door locks that will work with Apple’s new HomeKit Accessory Protocol,” the company said in a statement. “HomeKit will allow August to provide a simple and easy experience for their customers, with the ability to securely pair and control devices throughout the house including integration with Siri.”
I think Apple made the right choice of staying out of the smart home hardware business by creating a framework for other companies to be integrated into iOS. While iOS is still fairly limited in scope for developers when compared to Android, iOS 8 feels like it has open a whole new range of options for developers to get involved.
[via cnet.com]
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