Smart Home Stories - Simulated Sunrise Chris Young 2026-09-21 | Smart Home Stories - Simulated Sunrise
Things I learned during the #EnergyChallenge Chris Young 2022-04-22 | please check out the other participants in the #energychallenge by visiting the playlist hereyoutube.com/playlist?list=PLFPS7-631cZGJjeAbl6GzQklWsr9Fi0-mTo participate in the #energychallenge check out the IFTTT website hereifttt.com/energychallengeReally looking forward to hearing what you all are doing to help our environment and save a little (or a lot!) money at the same time.Follow me@homekitgeek on twitter and instagramwww.homekitgeek blogwww.facebook.com/homekitgeek#energychallenge
Using Smartlights to Enhance your Mindfulness or Breathwork Practice Chris Young 2021-11-07 | How To Make Light Effects in HomeKit! - YouTubeyoutube.com › watchFollow me@homekitgeek on twitter and instagramwww.homekitgeek blogwww.facebook.com/homekitgeekNotice: Some Links below may be affiliate links which support the channel at no extra cost to you. Vocolinc L2 Color Light Bulb - geni.us/HKGVocolincL3If you're interested in adding some new devices to your smarthome, please consider using my Amazon.com shop amazon.com/shop/netmanchris0:00 - Intro0:17 - Greetings and What We’re Going to look at.0:41 - Let’s talk about air in general1:19 - Let’s talk about the physical aspects of breathing3:32 - Breathwork Automation Description4:35 - Adding Vocolinc Bulb to Homekit5:14 - Configure Vocolinc Scenes for Breathwork practice6:37 - Configure homekit Button to trigger scene created above6:50 - Final Demo7:10 - Outro and Final ThoughtsLike many others, I’ve been looking for better ways to manage my stress and generally improve my wellbeing and mood. One of the big things I’ve been working on lately is my breathing practice which has a lot of scientific backing to show how specific patterns of breathing can help to influence your nervous system and actually help push you into a more relaxed state. Because I’ve got the smarthome setup at my disposal, I decided that I wanted to increase the practice by using some smart light bulbs to “breath” along with me. Instead of counting my breaths, I can let go of the numbers and just breath along with the changing lights. To make this work, I used the Vocolinc L2 Color bulbs, purchases from Bestbuy here in Canada. What makes these bulbs a bit unique in the Homekit space is that you can not only create dynamic scenes in the Vocolinc app, but you can also access those scenes in your basic Homekit automations ( see below for a link to a video by Shane Whatley were he runs you through setting up and accessing the dynamic scenes on Vocolinc products as I didn’t cover that in this video ).There are some drawbacks with this setup in that the time between “breaths” is the same so if you’re looking at doing any extended pauses, inhales, or exhales… your options are limited. NOTE: IN THE VIDEO I DID SAY THEY MUST BE THE EXACTLY THE SAME. IN PLAYING WITH IT A BIT MORE, I REALIZED THAT YOU CAN “BREATH” THE SAME COLOR TWICE WHICH MEANS THAT YOU COULD SETUP DIFFERENT BREATHING PATTERNS AS LONG AS THE THEY ARE HALF/DOUBLE NUMBERS. Ie. 4 seconds in, 4 second pause, 4 second exhale, 4 second exhale would be a. 4:4:8 breathing pattern. Other LinksHow to Make Light Effects in Homekit - Shane Whatley youtu.be/2vgsBaVcC_QBreath by James Nestor - geni.us/HKGBreathJamesNestorThe Oxygen Advantage by Patrick McKeown - geni.us/HKGOxygenAdvantageA Practical Guide to Breathwork by Jesse Coomer - geni.us/HKGPracGuideBreath
Aqara TVoC Sensor with Apple Homekit: Is it a good buy for YOUR smart home? Chris Young 2021-09-13 | DISCLAIMER: One of the Aqara TVoC sensors used in this video was provided to me by Aqara for review purposes. No money exchanged hands, but it's important to me that you know where this stuff comes from in case you think it affects my opinion.LINKS BELOW MAY BE AFFILIATE LINKS WHERE I MAY RECEIVED A SMALL BIT OF CASH IF YOU CHOOSE TO BUY AFTER CLICKING THOSE LINKS.The Aqara TVoC sensor is the latest is a wide range of accessories that Aqara has launched to the global market as part of it's quest to bring affordable smarthome technology to everyone's houses. The TVoC sensor is a zigbee sensor with a high contrast e-Ink display which means that it's going to have great battery life ( approx one year according to their website ). Although you could probably chose to pick one of these up and use it as a non-smart device, you ARE going to have to pair it with one of the existing Aqara Zigbee hubs ( M2, M1S, or G2H Camera ) if you're looking to get it into your Homekit home. On the bright side, if you're watching this video, there's a pretty good chance you already own one of those devices so you're probably good to take it out of the box, pair it up, and start enjoying your new sensors.The Good: The Aqara TVoC sensor has a really nice display that's visible from a short distance away. As already mentioned, the e-Ink and the zigbee radio means that this is a very low-power draw device and the battery should last about a year. The price on this baby is current the least expensive in this type of device that I've seen in it's class. ( By this I mean, Air Quality sensors that support Apple Homekit - the only ones I can really compare to are the Eve Room and the Kaiterra Laser Eggs which are double or triple the price, but also come with some other features. The Bad: The Aqara TVoC sensor's seem to have some calibration issues. I set three of the sensors, as well as the Eve Room (gen2) directly beside each other and there really wasn't any consistency between the sensors. The TVoC was close, but the temp and humidity readings all disagreed by as much as a couple of degrees and almost 5% relative humidity. This isn't going to be a lab grade sensor to say the least, but to be honest, it's as good as any other sensor in it's price range, and it's definitely good enough to be able to trigger automations in your homekit home. Other note: I've seen several people complain about this device disconnecting from it's connected hubs. I can say that I didn't experience that during my review period ( about 1 month ) but I also kept the device fairly close ( within one room distance away ) as these things go so I really didn't push the boundaries on testing the distance. Final Thoughts: The Aqara TVoC sensor is a good buy as long as you have low expectations on the accuracy of the sensors. It's not perfect, but it's good enough for my use-cases to trigger air quality based automations. Follow me@homekitgeek on twitter and instagramwww.homekitgeek blogwww.facebook.com/homekitgeekIf you're interested in adding some new devices to your smarthome, please consider using my Amazon.com shop as a starting point as it really does help to support me in continuing to create new content. amazon.com/shop/netmanchris#aqara #homekit #airquality
Smarter Bedroom for Better Sleep Chris Young 2021-07-11 | Follow me@homekitgeek on twitter and instagramwww.homekitgeek blogwww.facebook.com/homekitgeekIf you're interested in adding some new devices to your smarthome, please consider using my Amazon.com shop as a starting point as it really does help to support me in continuing to create new content. You get to support creators making content you care about and Amazon sends us a bit of cash. Win/win amazon.com/shop/netmanchrisIn this video I go over some of the things I've done in my bedroom to really dial in on my goal of improving my sleep. Sleep is a superpower that can improve pretty much every aspect of your life, but getting the best sleep possible isn't always easy. Making sure you're environment is setup to improve your chances of catching some quality ZZZ's can be made much easier with the help of smarthome technology.In this video we'll look at lighting, sounds, air quality, and temperature as well as some different ways of tracking the different aspects to make sure you wake up feeling fresh and ready for whatever the world throws at you!
Should you buy the Aqara M2 Smarthome Hub for your Apple Homekit Home? Chris Young 2021-06-13 | * Aqara offered me this promo code for all of you which is good until June 15th, 2021 *Promo Code: M2HUBKOL1Disclosure: The M2 Unit used in this video was provided to me as a review unit by Aqara. No funds exchanged hands and the opinion is my own. Follow me@homekitgeek on twitter and instagramwww.homekitgeek blogwww.facebook.com/homekitgeekNotice: Some Links below may be affiliate links which support the channel at no extra cost to you. Aqara M2 - geni.us/HKGAqaraM2Aqara G2H - geni.us/HKGAqaraG2HIf you're interested in adding some new devices to your smarthome, please consider using my Amazon.com shop amazon.com/shop/netmanchris0:00 - Intro0:37 - Review Unit Disclaimer1:48 - Why you should look Aqara products2:39 - Which Aqara Hub is right for you2:57 - Aqara M2 vs M1S3:15 - Aqara M2 Deeper Look4:09 - Let’s talk about Thread4:48 - Zigbee Mesh Overview5:38 - Matter Support6:48 - Investment Protection7:57 - Pros8:26 - Cons9:05 - Would I recommend the Aqara M2In this video we’ll look at the brand new Aqara M2 hub, specifically from a Apple Homekit perspective.Aqara has been one of those vendors who’ve came in a bit later in the Homekit world, at least here in North America. But they are quickly becoming one of the power house accessory manufacturers who are known for providing a wide selection of products at a price that won’t break the bank.The M2 is the latest in their line of Homekit hubs and one must ask why another hub if they’ve already got the Aqara M1S Security system hub and the Aqara G2H Camera hub in the market. If you’re trying to select an Aqara Hub to add Aqara child accessories, like motion or contact sensors, to your homekit home your first choice is whether or not you want a camera. If you do, go buy the G2H, if not you’re left with a choice between the M1S and the M2. In addition to its appearance and slightly different form factor. The M2 distinguishes itself from the previous model with the addition of the Infrared blaster to control IR based devices as well as blue tooth hub, neither of which are currently exposed to Apple Homekit so those really aren’t a factor in the decision here. Other than that, the M2 is a great product which supports the current, and all previous generation of Aqara supported child accessories that I’ve been able to test. I really respect that Aqara has offered its customers investment protection in this area as I’m sure it’s tempting from a manufacture perceptive to discontinue support for older products in an attempt to get customers to re-invest in new products. Aqara didn’t do that here and I have to give them recognition for that.Although I’m sure they will get some negative criticism in that the M2 isn’t a Thread device, I believe they made the right choice here as all my existing generation of accessories were able to pair to the M2 as well as get exposed to Apple Homekit here. I can’t imagine the reaction if Aqara gave customers what they asked for and killed support for older accessories. :) From a connectivity perspective, the M2 has the addition of a wired Rj45 port for connecting straight to your ethernet switch for slightly better reliability than what you would get on wifi alone, although that’s still an option. Overall, I think the Aqara M2 is a good product from a brand that stumbled at first in the North American market. With this latest release, I think they have finally won me over. I’ve made no secret of the fact that I didn’t really trust Aqara’s commitment to the NA market, but they have fixed that the only way that you can. They have continued to get better and do what’s right for their customers - one step at a time. Other LinksAqara Home Page - www.aqara.comMyHomekitHome Aqara M2 review - Is the Aqara Hub M2 Worth the Upgrade?Aqara G2H Review - youtu.be/kMqYM0EY8S4#homekit #aqara #m2
Top Ten Apple Homekit WWDC 2021 Wish List Chris Young 2021-06-06 | WWDC2021 Wishlist - 10 things I want for HomeKit in iOS 15Follow me@homekitgeek on twitter and instagramwww.homekitgeek blogwww.facebook.com/homekitgeekNotice: Some Links below may be affiliate links which support the channel at no extra cost to you. If you're interested in adding some new devices to your smarthome, please consider using my Amazon.com shop amazon.com/shop/netmanchris0:00 - Intro1:01 - #1 Overall Quality1:46 - #2 Fix Geo-Fencing2:21 - #3 Improve the Apple Home app3:19 - #4 Control our Home Hubs4:49 - #5 Give us the Thread Password5:34 - #6 Granular Permissions6:05 - #7 Facial Recognition based triggers6:36 - #8 Text to Speech7:35 - #9 Use the U1 chip8:25 - #10 Clear statement on MatterIt’s that time of year again! WWDC is right around the corner and in this video, I’m going to give you my top 10 Wishlist for improvements in the Apple HomeKit based Smarthome. 1. Quality - HomeKit is awesome. But it needs to be more reliable. 2. location based automations need to be easier and work..3. Home app needs to be usable to create all automations. It’s awesome that we have access to 3rd party apps to control our HomeKit Homes but it’s ridiculous that Apples native offering doesn’t have the same capabilities. 4. Ability to select Active/Primary Homehub AND disable Homehub on any iOS device that can be a Homehub. That means You HomePods5. Give me the password to my Thread network. Seriously. Thread is supposed to be an open standard that’s interoperable between multiple vendors to create a single self-healing low power low bandwidth network for all our smarthome devices. But without that password….6. Granular Permissions - If you live in a multi-person home and you want to share the smarthome, we NEED a way to give permissions to a subset of devices or rooms in that home to the different room mates, family members or guests. 7. Facial recognition based triggers - We’ve got facial recognition in Homekit Secure video, now we need to be able to use that information as a trigger. 8. Text to speech routines - Other smarthome do this. Yes - you can prerecord the messages, add them to your Apple Music account and then play the clip using an Airplay2 automation. But you shouldn’t have to. 9. U1 based automations “when X enters the room. “ or “when X leaves the room”10. Clear understand of Apples plans for Matter. 11. Links:Shane Whatley - Custom Siri Announcements for your Home! youtube.com/watch?v=b2lhGIwrGDgModernDayTech - Starling Hub Recognition with Nest - youtube.com/watch?v=2uFGoJCXTQ8
Is the Smartmi P1 Purifier right for your Homekit Home? Chris Young 2021-05-30 | Notice: One of the products used in this video was provided to me free of charge as a review unit. You deserve to know where this stuff comes with. As always, my opinion is my own. Follow me@homekitgeek on twitter and instagramwww.homekitgeek blogwww.facebook.com/homekitgeekNotice: Some Links below may be affiliate links which support the channel at no extra cost to you. Smarmii Air Purifier geni.us/HKGSmartMiP1Smartmi Filter geni.us/hkgSmartMIP1FilterVocolinc PureFlow geni.us/HKGVocolincPureflowEve Room Gen2 - geni.us/HKGEveRoom2If you're interested in adding some new devices to your smarthome, please consider using my Amazon.com shop amazon.com/shop/netmanchris0:00 - Intro0:24 - Review Unit Disclaimer0:46 - Why Air Purifiers1:32 - Understanding your Use-cast3:30 - Smartmi Filters4:36 - AQI Sensors5:43 - Smarthome Ecosystem Support5:51 - SmartMi Automations6:39 - LED Display7:11 - Manual Controls7:24 - Final ThoughtsIn this video we look at the SmartMi P1 Air Purifier with Apple HomeKit.If you’re in the Apple HomeKit camp, there haven’t been a lot of options if you were in the market for Air Purifiers. The Vocolinc PureFlow is a great product, but the size and price make it a tough choice to put in a smaller room. This is where the new SmartMi P1 Air Purifier slides in to save the day.The Smartmi Air Purifier is a smaller HEPA style filter which means that you’re going to have to get used to the idea of purchasing a new filter every year. Having been burned in the past, I specifically chose to not create this review until the filters were available for purchase on amazon.com. Smartmi has paid special attention to their filters and have given us two different options in that address two specific use-cases. The first being the Pollen filter which will help to deal with the dust and pollen in the air, and the second with the Oder Control filter which uses activated carbon to better deal with various smells and volatile organic compounds. From a smart perspective, the Smartmi P1 comes with the typical support for Homekit, Amazon, as well as GoogleHome. It should be noted, however, that you will need to create an account on the Smartmi platform to be able to use the Amazon and Google voice assistants. Fortunately, there’s no such restriction with the Apple HomeKit support. Local control FTW! From a sensor standpoint, the SmartMi does expose the PM2.5 sensor as an AQI sensor within Homekit, but unfortunately didn’t include a temperature or humidity sensor which is typically standard in this type of device. On the bright side, this is a perfect example of where Homekit shines in that you can easily use a device like the Eve Room Gen2 to trigger the SmartMi when the air quality in a specific room gets out of hand. As far as my specific use-cases, I’m using my Smartmi purifiers in my kids bedroom to make sure that the air is clean while they are fast asleep in their beds. If the pandemic has taught us anything it’s the importance of clean air in our environments. Other LinksSmartmi Purifier Website smartmiglobal.comSmartHome Planning for 2021 youtu.be/XQ60fdJHeSQVocolinc PureFlow Review youtube.com/watch?v=vwqk2NwHbIkEve room Gen2 Review - youtube.com/watch?v=vChrMh7v5UI
Is Eve Energy with Thread the best Homekit Smart Plug in 2021? Chris Young 2021-05-24 | *Notice: The Eve Energy Smart plug used in this video was provided to me for review purposes from Eve Home. My opinion is my own. *Follow me@homekitgeek on twitter and instagramwww.homekitgeek blogwww.facebook.com/homekitgeekNotice: Some Links below may be affiliate links which support the channel at no extra cost to you. Eve Energy Gen3 w/ Thread - geni.us/HKGEveEnergyG3 Eve Weather w/ Thread - geni.us/HKGEveWeatherG3Eve Aqua Gen2 w/ Thread - geni.us/HKGAquathreadIf you're interested in adding some new devices to your smarthome, please consider using my Amazon.com shop amazon.com/shop/netmanchris0:00 - Intro0:29 - Review Unit Disclaimer1:13 - Eve Energy Description and Features4:14 - Understanding Thread Border Routers5:17 - Understanding Thread Routers6:11 - Thread Parent and Child nodes7:36 - Eve Energy Thread Bonus Info8:20 - Eve Energy Drawbacks8:56 - Outro In this video we look at the Eve Energy Gen3 smart plug for Apple HomeKit. If you’re in the Apple HomeKit camp, the newest version of the Eve Energy smart plug falls just short of perfect, delivering on almost everything I look for in a smart plug including- Homekit controls- Energy Monitoring- Ability to disable the LED for placement in bedrooms as night- Power Button to turn it on/off- Child Lock feature to disable the power button - Bluetooth for travelling- Thread SupportFor more resource on understanding the Thread protocol, check out the ThreadGroup website which has a ton of whitepapers, videos, and other resources. [Thread Group Website](threadgroup.org)[Thread Group Resources](threadgroup.org/Support)[Thread Networking Fundamentals]( threadgroup.org/Portals/0/documents/support/Thread%20Network%20Fundamentals_v3.pdf)Also check out the Modem podcast we recently recorded with Jonathan Hui, CTO of then Thread Group. https://www.modem.show/post/s01e09/Other Links in this Video:3 Smart Plug Automations - youtu.be/-VP7oKZ-224Power Monitoring Automations - youtu.be/3-pRce8v0Bs10 Fun Ways to Automate your Home - youtube.com/watch?v=vz6aiBK8o84&t=185s#Homekit #Thread #EveEnergy
Is the Meross LED strip right for YOUR Apple Homekit Home? Chris Young 2021-05-09 | Follow me@homekitgeek on twitter and instagramwww.homekitgeek blogwww.facebook.com/homekitgeekNotice: Some Links below may be affiliate links which support the channel at no extra cost to you. Meross MSL320 LED Strip - geni.us/HKGMerossLEDIf you're interested in adding some new devices to your smarthome, please consider using my Amazon.com shop amazon.com/shop/netmanchris0:00 - Intro0:33 - Meross Length1:32 - Compare Length to Nanoleaf Essentials LED Strip2:44 - Meross LED Strip compare to Nanoleaf Brightness4:08 - Meross Build Quality4:52 - Final ThoughtsIf you’re in the market for a new LED strip to add to your Apple HomeKit home, you’ve more than like seen the incredibly long Meross MSL320 LED strip and wondered whether or not this is the right product for you.As with most things in life, it depends on what you’re actually going to be using for. Understanding the specific use-case that you’re looking at addressing is the best possible way to make sure you don’t through away your hard earned cash into a product that you’re not going to be happy with.The Meross LED strip is listed as a 10m strip, but it’s actually two 5m strips with a Y connector which definitely makes it the longest Homekit compatible LED strip on the market today. And this is definitely where this product will shine. (No pub intended)If you’re looking to have a color LED strip for a Childs room or as a background accent lighting AND you don’t really care about the rest of the attributes ( brightness, color fidelity, dynamic affects ) than the Meross can’t be beat. It’s by far the best value if all you’re worried about is distance covered.On the other hand, if you’re looking for an LED strip to use for functional lighting (to brighten up a working space ), or generally you want to have your colors match what you THINK they look like…. You might want to pass on the Meross and look at something from Nanoleaf or Vocolinc who happen to be in the same price range, but are a LOT brighter and have a much better build quality and color fidelity. If I’ve missed anything, please leave a comment@Homekitgeek#homekitgeek #ledstrip #meross
Eve Aqua Advanced Summer Watering Convert to Shortcut Apple Homekit Automations Chris Young 2021-04-25 | Follow me@homekitgeek on twitter and instagramwww.homekitgeek blogwww.facebook.com/homekitgeekAffiliate links below may result in my earning a small amount of money. If you're interested in adding some new devices to your smarthome, please consider using my Amazon.com shop amazon.com/shop/netmanchrisEve Aqua Homekit Smart Sprinkler with Thread - geni.us/HKGAquathread0:00 - Intro1:29 - Quick Discussion on the Thread aspects of the Eve Aqua2:33 - Using Siri Shortcuts to investigate the Get Current Weather conditions Shortcut3:56 - Creating a List with the specific days I want watered4:31 - Formatting the Current Date shortcut to fetch the name of the current day of the week4:49 - Using an IF conditional to check if the current day is in the list we created5:32 - Getting the Current Daily Weather Forecast6:15 - Checking to see if the predicted Low temperature will be above 5 degrees celsius7:26 - Checking to see if the predicted change of rain is below 80%7:58 - Using the Eve Home app to create a night watering scene8:28 - Going over the entire auutomation again from start to finish9:00 - OutroSpring is here and I wanted to improve on my existing watering schedule using the power of Apple Homekit’s Convert to Shortcut’s based automations.In this video, I go through the details of creating a complex automation that will only water the lawn under the following conditions- 12pm midnight- Only on Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday’s- Only if the predicted low temperature is above 5 degrees Celsius- Only if there’s less than an 80% chance of rain the following dayAll of this in a single Apple Homekit automation that will run on your Apple Homehub whether or not you’re home.LinksThe Brad Lloyd Eve Aqua Reviewyoutube.com/watch?v=BVARdY2TMAMModernDayTEch Siri Shortcuts Videoyoutu.be/XGgMf34uWhYMatthew Casinelliyoutube.com/user/MatthewJCassinelli#homekit #contactsensor #shortcuts
3 ways to better use Contact Sensors in your Apple Homekit Home Chris Young 2021-04-04 | Follow me@homekitgeek on twitter and instagramwww.homekitgeek blogwww.facebook.com/homekitgeekIf you're interested in adding some new devices to your smarthome, please consider using my Amazon.com shop amazon.com/shop/netmanchris0:00 - Intro0:41 - Condensing Walk-in closet light automations based on a contact sensor into a single convert to shortcut Homekit automation2:14 - Patio-door smart automation to turn off thermostat in the summer if the patio door is left open4:56 - Using Contact Sensor as a presence proxy for Teenage boys wake-up alarm in the morning.6:58 - ClosingAs many of you know, I’m spending time right now to really get my homekit home smarter using the sensors I have. It’s taken me some time to really get this right, but I’m finally digging into the gift Apple has given us in iOS14 with the new Convert to Shortcuts automation functionality.In this video, I go through three different types of automations that you can now create using a simple contact sensor in Apple HomeKit for something beyond where you might have tried already. Hopefully this inspires some of you to push the limits in what Apple’s given us. Definitely post in the comments below if you have anything you’ve done that you think is creative, that you’re proud of, or you just want to share.#homekit #contactsensor #shortcuts
How to use Convert to Shortcuts and IFTTT to enable Smarter Notifications in your Apple Homekit Home Chris Young 2021-03-21 | Follow me@homekitgeek on twitter and instagramwww.homekitgeek blogwww.facebook.com/homekitgeekIf you're interested in adding some new devices to your smarthome, please consider using my Amazon.com shop as a starting point amazon.com/shop/netmanchrisOne of the common complaints about Apple's Homekit smarthome platform is that it's near impossible to customize your notifications. In this video, I walk though how to use the Homekit Convert to Shortcut automations to be able to reach out to IFTTT as your notification engine. As I'm slowly trying to move all of my automations into the Apple ecosystem, I really wanted to keep as much as possible in native Homekit. Using the Convert to shortcuts URL feature allows me to have a native Homekit automation reach out to a IFTTT Webhook address which is connected to a notification service. Although it's not 100% Homekit, it is super simple to configure and should allow many Homekit users to customize their notifications fairly easily.#homekit #notifications #converttoshortcut
Simplifying AND Supercharging your Apple Homekit Smarthome with Convert to Shortcut Automations Chris Young 2021-03-15 | Follow me@homekitgeek on twitter and instagramwww.homekitgeek blogwww.facebook.com/homekitgeekIf you're interested in adding some new devices to your smarthome, please consider using my Amazon.com shop as a starting point amazon.com/shop/netmanchrisIn this video, we're going to look at automations, triggers, and walk you through evolving your automations from a simple motion sensor triggered automation to an advanced Convert to Shortcuts based automation that allows you to consolidate multiple actions for an entire room into a single automation script.#convertoshortcut #homekit #automations
Building your Modular Home Theatre with Sonos and Hue Sync Chris Young 2021-03-07 | Follow me@homekitgeek on twitter and instagramwww.homekitgeek blogwww.facebook.com/homekitgeekIf you're interested in adding some new devices to your smarthome, please consider using my Amazon.com shop as a starting point as it really does help to support me in continuing to create new content. amazon.com/shop/netmanchrisSonos Rears Guidelines: support.sonos.com/s/article/4807?language=en_USAffiliate LinksTV TCL 65” Series 5 with Roku geni.us/HKTCLROKUAudioSonos Arc Soundbar. geni.us/HKGSonosArSonos Beam Soundbar geni.us/HKGSonosBeamSonos Beam Wall Mount geni.us/HKGSonosBeamMountSonos One Rear Speakers geni.us/HKGSONOSONSonos One Wall Mounts geni.us/HKGSonosOneMountLightingHue Sync HDMI geni.us/HKGHUESYNCHue Play Lights geni.us/HKGHUEPLAYHue LED Strips geni.us/HKGHUELEDHue Gradient Strips geni.us/HKGHUEGRADIENIt’s easy to spend a lot of money building out your home theatre in one shot, but with a little bit of planning, you can gradually build your way into a fully immersive home theatre experience including lighting and sound that will take back into the cinema experience that we’ve all been missing. In this video we’re going to walk through the evolution of a home theatre and give you some tips and tricks on how to evolve and incrementally improve your families movie viewing environment over time. #homekit #hometheatre #tipstricks
Vocolinc MistFlow Humidifier with Apple Homekit Chris Young 2021-02-14 | Follow me@homekitgeek on twitter and instagramwww.homekitgeek blogwww.facebook.com/homekitgeekIf you're interested in adding some new devices to your smarthome, please consider using my Amazon.com show as a starting point [affiliate links]amazon.com/shop/netmanchrisVocolinc MistFlow Humidifier geni.us/HKGMistflowIt's cold in Canada and my central heating has been slowly turning my home into a desert. Thankfully the Vocolinc MistFlow has finally arrived in time to help us deal with the winter itch before it gets too bad!The Mistflow is the latest release in Vocolincs Well Being product line, following up the PureFlow that was released last year, and is the big brother to the FlowerBud which many of us have been enjoying for the last couple of winter seasons. Unlike the Flowerbud which was intended to be a diffuser for essential oils, the Mistflow is a full blow humidifier with a 2.5L capacity that helps to keep your air at the proper moisture for up to 30 hours on a single fill. At a low 30w max power draw, the Mistflow is also going to offer significant energy saving when compared to some of the standard hot mist humidifiers that it might be replacing. In my case, my sense energy monitor reported that the Mistflow was consuming on average around 25w of power which is about 10% of the draw from the Warm mist humidifier which it's replacing (254w average). The Mistflow isn't all good things though - When used as directed with distilled water, the Mistflow will be great, but the majority of people using standard tap water to refill the unit daily will find that they now have a higher level of particulate matter to deal with in the air.This isn't a huge deal if you have a quality Air Purifier in the same room such as the Vocolinc PureFlow, but it IS something that you should definitely consider before placing them all over your house. Overall, I'm very happy with the MistFlow, so much so that I've picked up four of these units to place around my home to cut down on my energy usage AND keep the air at a healthy humidity level through the winter.#Vocolinc #homekit #MistFlow
Smarthome Planning and Projects [2021Edition] Chris Young 2021-02-07 | Follow me@homekitgeek on twitter and instagramwww.homekitgeek blogwww.facebook.com/homekitgeekIf you're interested in adding some new devices to your smarthome, please consider using my Amazon.com shop as a starting point amazon.com/shop/netmanchris2021 is a New Year and after the dumpster fire that was 2020, I'm looking forward to working on my Smarthome and focusing on projects that help the house take care of the people who live here and visit. My projects for 20211) Healthy LightingWith the extra time at home during 2020, one of my focus areas was improving my health, starting with my sleep. After spending a lot of time reading ( I highly recommend the book "Why we sleep" by Matthew Walker Phd ( affiliates link geni.us/hkgwhywesleep ) I've become a little obsessed with making sure that my family and I get the right amount and type of light at the right time of day. Smart lighting can definitely help with keeping sure your circadian rhythms in line. Basically it means that it will reset your body clock and help to make sure you get sleepy at the right time of day. Apples Adaptive lighting was supposed to be a step in this direction, but unfortunately, it fell short of expectation. Apple Adaptive Lighting Explained - youtu.be/Ra4Svk4Go1oOn the bright side, I've been running the beta of Follow the Sun by developer Matt Corey ( homemadeautomation.com ) which has some me seeing some light at the end of this tunnel ( see what I did there!!! )Follow the Sun macOS App - homemadeautomation.wordpress.com/2021/01/08/fts-coming-soon2) Air Quality2020 has taught us the importance of air quality and making sure you take care of what goes in your lungs. Fortunately, 2020 has also been a great year for Homekit enabled smart devices which help to take care of your environment. For more on some of these devices check out these reviewsRio Arc Electric Heater - youtu.be/ZXKe_ZhtJYcVocolinc PureFlow Air Purifier - youtu.be/vwqk2NwHbIkUsing my Awair Air sensors as my main feedback loop, I'm going to continue to work towards having the house always working towards keeping the air fresh for everyone in the house. 3) Intentional DesignAs my Smarthome has matured, I've realized that much of it was put together with what I politely call "organic growth. 2021 is going to be the year of re-designing my smarthome with intention. A place for everything and everything in it's place. I'm still working on the actual requirements, but I be documenting the whole process and really looking forward to sharing the journey with all of you. 4) Electricity ReductionI've had the sense.com electrical sensing system now for a couple of years. Although the device is great, what I've realized is that you need to "feed" it with additional devices to be able to really get the most out of it. Smartplugs with electrical sensing always feel like half a solution to me as the graphing and data analysis piece always feels half-baked. By combining TP-Kasa HS300 power sensing power strips with the Sense platform, I've getting close to identifying the great majority of the electrical draw in my house. Now that I know what's there, the plan is to start figuring out what's drawing power when it shouldn't be and shutting it down. Those are the four big projects for me for 2021. It's ambitious and will take up most of the year but I'm really hoping to be able to make a dent on all four of these by the time that Santa jumps back in his sled. If you want to let me know what you're working on in 2021, I'd love to hear about it in the comments!#homekit #smarthome #projects
WHY Local Control in your Smart Home Matters! Chris Young 2021-01-24 | Follow me@homekitgeek on twitter and instagramwww.homekitgeek blogwww.facebook.com/homekitgeekIf you're interested in adding some new devices to your smarthome, please consider using my Amazon.com show as a starting pointamazon.com/shop/netmanchrisYou may have heard the term "Local Control" thrown around in the smarthome space and wondered "what does that even mean?"In this video, I'm going to break down the differences between cloud and local controlled devices and help you understand why it matters for your smarthome user experience. As always, if you've got comments, questions, or just want to say hi, I'd love to hear from you!Chris Young
Rio Arc Electric Heater with Apple Homekit NA Edition Chris Young 2021-01-15 | Note: The Rio Heating Arc used in this video was provided to me as a review unit. I'd like to think that didn't affect my opinion, but I leave that to you, dear viewer, to decide. Follow me@homekitgeek on twitter and instagramwww.homekitgeek blogwww.facebook.com/homekitgeekIf you're interested in adding some new devices to your smarthome, please consider using my Amazon.com show as a starting pointamazon.com/shop/netmanchrisIf you're looking at picking up a Rio Heating Arc, please order directly from their website at rioheating.comThere are certain categories that have been feeling very empty in the Homekit world, thankfully Rio Heating is here to rescue us from the cold.The Rio heating Arc is a gorgeously crafted piece of technology that most would be proud to have on display. There are a few Homekit accessory manufacturers, like Eve Home for instance, that have taken time to make sure they get not just a functional product, but also one that hits the Aesthetic bar that many consumers flock to Apple products for. Rio Heating is one of these manufacturers. The Arc is a beautiful piece of curved glass and with brushed nickel style feet that will blend into most modern homes without looking like it's a misplaced children's toys. No cheap plastic parts are visible on this unit.It's primary, and arguably only function, is to warm up a room. Unlike traditional space heaters which can be noisy and blast heat out into a room, the Arc is whisper quiet and slowly emits enough heat to get the room up to at the target temperature over a longer time period while not interrupting or distracting whatever else is going on in that space. Final Thoughts: At the price point, the Arc is a bit of a luxury buy so it's not something I would be putting in every room in my house. But as a functional display piece that will help to keep you warm on a cold winter night, it's definitely something I would recommend looking at if it fits into your budget range.
Smart Candles with Switchbot Hub Mini and Apple Siri Shortcuts Chris Young 2020-12-13 | Follow me@homekitgeek on twitter and instagramwww.homekitgeek blogwww.facebook.com/homekitgeekIf you're interested in adding some new devices to your smarthome, please consider using my Amazon.com shop as a starting pointamazon.com/shop/netmanchris*affiliate links*Switchbot Mini - geni.us/HKSwitchbotMinInfrared Candles - geni.us/HKGCandleHere are some other great videos from some of my Homekit Creator friends taking a look at how to incorporate Switchbot into your Homekit Home. Videos featuring Switchbot and HomekitBring Switchbot Curtains into Homekit using Hoobs - ModernDayTechyoutube.com/watch?v=0l7PNUu8PdkSwitchbot works with Homekit! Control IFTTT devices in Homekit with Hoobs - Shane Whatleyyoutube.com/watch?v=koJ7puPAR2QSwitchbot curtains in HOMEKIT with Hoobs - Shane Whatleyyoutube.com/watch?v=8hlsGVIh40sLike many people, I love Candles in my life. Unfortunately, burning anything in the house for hours on end may not be the best things for our lungs. Thankfully LED based candles have been on the market for years now. Unfortunately, there’s been no reliable way ( at least in the Apple ecosystem ) to be able to control those candles as part of your Apple-based Smarthome setup. Thankfully Switchbot has finally given me a solution to a problem that I’ve been trying to solve for a few years. The days of looking for remotes when setting up a candle lit family movie night are over!Strictly speaking, this solution isn’t Apple Homekit compatible as the Switchbot Mini hub doesn’t have Homekit compatibility at this point in time ( see the videos above ways to get the Switchbot Mini Hub into Homekit using Hoobs and Homebridge ). Thankfully Switchbot DOES support Siri Shortcuts and when we use that with a spare iOS device hanging around we can use personal shortcuts to be able to set time-based automations to enjoy the flickering lights and still save batteries!#Switchbot #Homekitgeek #SiriShortcuts
Connecting your Vocolinc SmartDevices to GoogleHome Chris Young 2020-11-27 | Follow me@homekitgeek on twitter and instagramwww.homekitgeek blogwww.facebook.com/homekitgeekIf you're interested in adding some new devices to your smarthome, please consider using my Amazon.com shop as a starting point. amazon.com/shop/netmanchrisIt's Black Friday again and I've had a few people in my life ask for help with setting up the brand new Vocolinc smart plugs that they purchased bundled with Google Home devices. Although I'm using a Google Mini and a Vocolinc Smartbar in this video, this same procedure should work with any of the other Vocolinc products which you might be looking at adding to your smarthome.To those who are just stepping into the smarthome journey, welcome to the future!#bestbuy #vocolinc #google
Yeelight Staria Standing Lamp with Apple Homekit Review Chris Young 2020-11-26 | Note: The Yeelight Staria Standing Lamp was provided to me as a review unit by Banggood. Thought you should know in case you think it affects my opinion. Follow me@homekitgeek on twitter and instagramwww.homekitgeek blogwww.facebook.com/homekitgeekYeelight Staria Standing Lampbanggood.com/custlink/KGmdFly8fN(Banggood Affiliates Link)If you're interested in adding some new devices to your smarthome, please consider using my Amazon.com show as a starting point amazon.com/shop/netmanchrisThe Yeelight Staria standing lamp is the big brother of the Yeelight Staria bedside lamp which has started to appear on amazon internationally (amzn.to/2Kf79xh). Although the standing light doesn't have the Qi charging like it's little brother, it's full of good things that make it a good addition to any smarthome.The lamp appears to be well built, and the addition of tactile controls are a welcome addition when comparing this to the typical method of adding a smartbulb to an existing lamp. But things aren't all bright with the Staria Standing lamp. The one thing that I really dislike about this lamp is how it's been exposed to Apple Homekit. Although the Lamp does offer full RGBW color spectrum in the Yeelight app as well as exposing it out to both Amazon and Google centered smarthomes, the Homekit integration only gives us white warmth controls. This seems like a really big oversight on the part of Yeelight at best, a deliberate choice at worst. Although the lack of the color controls in homekit doesn't win them any points in my mind, the inclusion of Siri Shortcuts support does at least mitigate this feature lack to some degree as Shortcuts can be used to still launch colors or dynamic scenes while staying within the apple ecosystem. All in all, I'm happy with the Yeelight Staria Standing.#Banggood #Homekitgeek #Yeelight
HomePod Mini or IKEA Symfonisk: Which 100$ Speaker is Right for Your Apple Homekit Home Chris Young 2020-11-22 | Follow me@homekitgeek on twitter and instagramwww.homekitgeek blogwww.facebook.com/homekitgeekIf you're interested in adding some new devices to your smarthome, please consider using my Amazon.com show as a starting point. amazon.com/shop/netmanchrisApple recently released the HomePod Mini and it's an amazing little device. Although I'm incredibly happy that Apple's now got a budget priced smarthome speaker, it does present a question when you now have mulltiple options. So which smarthome speaker is right for your apple homekit home?The two main choices in this range are the Apple HomePod Mini and the Ikea Symfonisk Bookshelf ( Sonos inside ). Although at first glance these are both smarthome speakers there are a lot of differences to be considered before deciding which one you should add to your Apple smarthome. Bottom line is that you need to spend some time thinking about what you're trying to accomplish before spending your money. If you want to super-power your apple smarthome specificallty, then the Homepod Mini might be your best choice. On the other hand, if you are a music lover with multple streaming music sources, you might find that the Ikea Symfonisk speaker is a better choice which gives you access to your whole music library but still integrates into your Apple home perfectly. If I've missed anything or you have question, please post in the comments below and I'll be happy to get back to you as soon as possible.#homekitgeek #homepodmini #ikeasonos
Adaptive Lighting in HomeKit: how it REALLY works Chris Young 2020-11-01 | Note: Eve Light strip used in this video was provided to me by Eve Home as a review product. I think it's important that you know where this stuff comes from so you can decide if it affects my opinion. Follow me@homekitgeek on twitter and instagramwww.homekitgeek blogwww.facebook.com/homekitgeekIf you're interested in adding some new devices to your smarthome, please consider using my Amazon.com show as a starting pointamazon.com/shop/netmanchrisAlthough, Apple Adaptive Lighting was "available" earlier this summer in beat version of iOS14, it was not available for most of us to play with until this week when Eve Home released a firmware update enabling the feature on their Eve LED Light Strips. Although this is one of the big features introduced to Homekit in iOS14, relatively little is known on how this actually works under the covers. In this video, I reveal the results on some of the digging to answer some of the questions I had around Adaptive lighting including- How often does the light change colors? - Does the brightness shift as well?- How warm/cold does the white shift actually go?Although we're still early days here, I believe that this feature is going to be useful for introducing circadian lighting into more Apple Homekit users homes in an Apple dead-simple way. Although I wish there was a greater ability to control the warmth values and brightness throughout the day, I think this is a great start on Apple extending HomeKit to not just manage our homes, but also to potentially use the Homekit system to improve our health. What do you guys think? Comments and questions are welcome!#Homekit #AdaptiveLighting #CircadianLighting
EightSleep Pod Pro Sleep Fitness System Review Chris Young 2020-10-28 | Notice: This product was provided to me as a review unit by Eight Sleep. I'll let you decide if that affected my opinion or not. Thought you should know.Follow me@homekitgeek on twitter and instagramwww.homekitgeek blogwww.facebook.com/homekitgeekIf you're interested in adding some new devices to your smarthome, please consider using my Amazon.com show as a starting point amazon.com/shop/netmanchris (Affiliates Link )Over the past few months I've been making some life changes to improve my health and general quality of life. At the front of those changes is a focus on trying to improve the quality of my sleep. I've done all the usual things to improve sleep like improving my diet, getting more exercise, trying to set a constant sleep schedule etc... but I really wanted to take my sleep game to the next level. This is where the Eight Sleep Pod Pro Sleep Fitness comes in. To be clear, I didn't have HORRIBLE sleep before, I didn't wake up soaking wet at night, or shiver through the early hours of the morning. I don't have sleep apnea or any diagnosed sleeping condition that was plaguing my general existence. But what I DID have was a better understanding of how sleep can improve just about every other aspect of our lives.As a parent, partner, employee like most people - I can't do much to add a few extra hours of sleep every night because there's just not enough hours in the day. But what I CAN do is improve the general quality of the sleep I am getting. The Eight Sleep Pod Pro is a complete sleep fitness system including- The Mattress - layers of foam mattress- The Active Grid ( sensors and thermo regulating pad that sets on top of the mattress )- The Hub - The Brains of the system that both records sensor data to send to the Eight Sleep Cloud as well as controls and pumps the heated or cooled water through the active grid to keep you from getting too hot or too cold. - The App - This is your portal into the whole system. You can schedule (or actively control) the Eightsleep pod pro in the app, integrate it with smarthome (or other ) systems through the IFTTT integration, transfer some data into your Apple Health account, as well as generally understand how things are going. Check the video for the general review. If you've got any questions or comments, please post in the comments below and I'll answer them as quickly as I'm able.#eightsleep #homekitgeek #sleephealth
Villa Neri Pathway Lights with Apple Homekit Chris Young 2020-09-27 | *** Note: The Villa Neri Pathway Lights used in this video were provided to me as review units. They provided the product, but they didn't buy my opinion. Making sure you know where this comes from in case you think it affects my opinion. ***Follow me@homekitgeek on twitter and instagramwww.homekitgeek blogwww.facebook.com/homekitgeekIf you're interested in adding some new devices to your smarthome, please consider using my Amazon.com shop as a starting point. amazon.com/shop/netmanchrisVilla Neri is a company that is focused on bringing the beauty and craftmanship of high-end lights down to the mid market. The first product they have delivered on that vision is the Villa Neri Pathway lights which are compatible with Apple Homekit, Google Home, and Amazon Alexa which is great because no matter what smarthome systems you're living in - you deserve to have beautiful, well made path lights to help you enjoy your yard. First the part that's going to be the yardest for some people to swallow. The Price. These lights are reassuringly expensive and anyone who's trying to build a smarthome on a budget will definitely have some issues with the price tag on these lights. But for those who are looking for a permanent lighting solution for their landscape that they want to last for a long period of time... these might be a great fit. As I'm focusing on Homekit, there really isn't a lot of competition in this space, the only other light being the Philips Hue Calla pathway lights which are roughly a 1/3 of the price of the Villa Neri's when averaged out. Are the Villa Neri's worth the price difference? Well that depends on what you're looking for. If you're looking for colored lights and live in a temperate climate, the Hue are probably going to make you happy. But if you live in a place where there is more extreme temperatures, the Villa Neri has a much better environmental standard which is able to survive all the way down to -30C. The other major thing to consider when there's a lack of power outside is the scale difference between the two solutions. The Hue Calla's top out at 5 lights on a single power socket. The Villa Neri on the other hand tops out at 40 lights on a single power-chain and up to 63 lights on a single bridge. Needless to say - Villa Neri scale definitely wins here. If you're able to get past the initial sticker shock, then I think the Villa Neri Pathlights are a great option for adding long-term beautiful ligjhts to your yard that will survie the test of time. #homekit #villaneri #review
Yeelight Bedside Lamp with Apple Homekit Chris Young 2020-09-08 | ** Note: This Product was provided to me for review purposes by Banggood.com No money was exchanged and the opinion is my own. **Follow me@homekitgeek on twitter and instagramwww.homekitgeek blogwww.facebook.com/homekitgeekYeelight Bedside Lamp D2geni.us/HKGYeelightD2 If you're interested in adding some new devices to your smarthome, please consider using my Amazon.com shop amazon.com/shop/netmanchrisThe Yeelight Bedside lamp D2 is my current top pick for Bedside lamps. This USB-C powered lamp is small enough to fit on any nightstand and the tactile controls and ability to dim out at 40 lumens makes it the ideal bedside lamp for my son's room.#Yeelight #Homekit #Homekitgeek
Smarthome Toilet Training for Adults with Apple HomeKit Chris Young 2020-08-10 | Follow me@homekitgeek on twitter and instagramwww.homekitgeek blogwww.facebook.com/homekitgeekWanted to do something fun for a change in this video. Any parents of teenage boys can tell you that getting them to just put the seat of the toilet down can be a challenge.In this video, I use a couple of contact sensors and Apple HomeKit to help them correct the behaviour. :). Nuff said. If you're interested in adding some new devices to your smarthome, please consider using my Amazon.com shop as a starting point*affiliates link*amazon.com/shop/netmanchris#smarthome #homekit #toilet
Eufy 2K Pan Tilt Smart Camera with Apple Homekit Secure Video Chris Young 2020-07-26 | Follow me@homekitgeek on twitter and instagramwww.homekitgeek blogwww.facebook.com/homekitgeek** Affiliate Links **Eufy Pan Tilt 2K Camera geni.us/HKGEufyPanTilt If you're interested in adding some new devices to your smarthome, please consider using my Amazon.com show as a starting point amazon.com/shop/netmanchrisThe Eufy Pan Tilt camera is, at least currently, the ONLY pan-tilt camera that supports Homekit Secure video and at the price point, it's going to be very attractive to a lot of people. But there are some things you should know about this camera before clicking that Buy-It-Now button.The Eufy Pan Tilt is listed as a camera that has a TON of capabilities including pet detection, motion zones, facial recognition, RTSP streams, and more. All this is true of course as long as you're not using the camera in Homekit mode. As soon as you connect this to your Homekit home, the majority of those features go away. We should be getting back facial recognition and motion zones once iOS14 is released, but until then, it's something that you should definitely consider if you're looking at picking up one for you smart home.The other thing to be aware of is that the Eufy cam MUST be connected to the Eufy Security app before you can add it to your Apple HomeKit home. For those of you who more concerned about your privacy, this might be a deal breaker and instead might point you towards the Logitech Circle View or the Eve Camera which are both Homekit only cameras which have no other cloud connectivity at all. The Eufy Pan/Tilt's main selling feature is going to be, as expected, the ability for the camera to pan around the room. Although these controls are not currently exposed in Apple HomeKit, you can still leverage this feature by turning on the motion tracking within the Eufy app and then just letting the camera move around as it detects motion in it's vicinity. All in all, I think the Eufy camera is a great buy, especially at it's price point which is one of the lowest in the market right now. #homekit #Eufy #pantilt
Eufy 2K Indoor Camera with Apple Homekit Secure Video Chris Young 2020-07-26 | Follow me@homekitgeek on twitter and instagramwww.homekitgeek blogwww.facebook.com/homekitgeek** Affiliate Links **Eufy 2K Indoor Smart Camera geni.us/HKGEufy2KindoorIf you're interested in adding some new devices to your smarthome, please consider using my Amazon.com show as a starting point amazon.com/shop/netmanchrisThe Eufy 2K Indoor camera is, at least currently, the most-affordable camera that supports Homekit Secure video and at the price point, it's going to be very attractive to a lot of people. But there are some things you should know about this camera before clicking that Buy-It-Now button.The Eufy 2K Indoor is listed as a camera that has a TON of capabilities including pet detection, motion zones, facial recognition, RTSP streams, and more. All this is true of course as long as you're not using the camera in Homekit mode. As soon as you connect this to your Homekit home, the majority of those features go away. We should be getting back facial recognition and motion zones once iOS14 is released, but until then, it's something that you should definitely consider if you're looking at picking up one for you smart home.The other thing to be aware of is that the Eufy cam MUST be connected to the Eufy Security app before you can add it to your Apple HomeKit home. For those of you who more concerned about your privacy, this might be a deal breaker and instead might point you towards the Logitech Circle View or the Eve Camera which are both Homekit only cameras which have no other cloud connectivity at all. All in all, I think the Eufy camera is a great buy, especially at it's price point which is one of the lowest in the market right now. #homekit #Eufy #IndoorCamera
Eve Home Smart Camera with Apple Homekit Secure Video Chris Young 2020-07-26 | Follow me@homekitgeek on twitter and instagramwww.homekitgeek blogwww.facebook.com/homekitgeek** Affiliate Links **Eve Camera geni.us/HGKEVECAMERA If you're interested in adding some new devices to your smarthome, please consider using my Amazon.com show as a starting point amazon.com/shop/netmanchrisThe Eve Camera is the latest in a long line of accessories offered by Eve Systems. Eve has been one of the original Homekit manufacturers and has been committed to Apple HomeKit since the release of the ecosystem. The Eve Camera is one of the cameras was conceived with your privacy in mind. It does not connect to the Eve Cloud ( there is no Eve cloud!!!) and there is no support for any other smartphone system except for Apple HomeKit. The camera itself is well made in a stylish black and is able to mounted from almost any angle at all. Although the Eve's 150 field of view is not the largest available in the current Homekit camera lineup, it's definitely clear enough to be able to cover a large room and the night vision also means that you're covered day or night. The one other feature that I really appreciate which is unique to the Eve camera is the tracking of motion events over time. Eve has taken a page from their other sensors and stores the amount of motion events locally on the camera so you can look at how busy a particular space in your home might be over time. I'll let you decide how useful this is to you, but it's as Eve is currently the only camera with this feature in it, it's important to mention it as a differentiator.
Logitech Circle View Smart Camera with Apple Homekit Secure Video Chris Young 2020-07-26 | Follow me@homekitgeek on twitter and instagramwww.homekitgeek blogwww.facebook.com/homekitgeek** Affiliate Links **Logitech Circle View geni.us/HKGLogitechCircleView If you're interested in adding some new devices to your smarthome, please consider using my Amazon.com show as a starting point amazon.com/shop/netmanchrisThe Logitech Circle View is the newest Homekit Secure Video capable camera in the Logitech line and has a couple of features that might make it your top choice for Homekit cameras.If you're living in the Amazon or Google smartphone ecosystems, this might be where you want to stop reading as the Circle View is Homekit only. If you're in the Homekit camp on the other hand, you might be pleased to learn that you have complete control over your camera footage and all recordings will only be accessible to you as they are stored in your Apple iCloud account ( Assuming you've paid for the 200Gb or 2Tb account levels required for HSV to work ).The three major features that differentiate the Logitech Circle View from the other available HSV cameras are- Ultra-wide angle lens - At 180 degrees, this tense covers a whole space. Granted, it does so at the cost of signifiant fish-eye affects on the edge of the video, but if you're looking for a camera to cover a wide-angle, this is definitely the one.- Outdoor rate - With an outdoor IP rating, the Circle View is currently the only weather proof wired outdoor camera in the Homekit stable. Sure, you can go to wireless cams with base-stations like the Eufy or Arlo offerings, but that will also push you into a higher price range than you would be paying for the Circle View. If you've got power close by, the View might be your best choice.- Privacy button - To the best of my knowledge, the Circle View is the only Homekit camera that has a physical privacy button on it which disables the cameras ability to stream. In addition to that, the flexible mount can also be pointed at the wall in case you don't trust the button. Obviously, they are pretty serious about the privacy aspects here and it shows. #homekit #logitech #circleview
Yeelight 1S Color Wifi Smart Light Bulb with Apple Homekit Review Apple Devices Chris Young 2020-07-19 | *** Notice ***This product was provided to me for review purposes by the online retailer Banggood. Although they did provide me the product, the opinion is all my own. Just thought you should know. Follow me@homekitgeek on twitter and instagramwww.homekitgeek blogwww.facebook.com/homekitgeekClick here if you're interested in picking up a Yeelight 1S wifi Smart Color Light bulb for your smart home** Affiliates Links **geni.us/HKGYeelight1S If you're interested in adding some new devices to your smarthome, please consider starting at my Amazon.com storefront** Affiliates Links **amazon.com/shop/netmanchrisAlready a powerhouse in China, Yeelight has been slowly increasing it's presence outside of it's home country and the Yeelight 1S is another of those products that seem to offer a great balance of value and light.A wifi light bulb that is compatible with pretty much all the major ecosystems, the Yeelight also includeds additional dynamic functions such as flicking, candlelight, as well as others which push this product into the upper range of wifi light bulbs while still keeping their price point down ( currently showing at $25 USD on Banggood.com#HomekitGeek #Yeelight #Homekit
AQARA G2H China Edition with Apple Homekit Secure Video Chris Young 2020-07-11 | Follow me@homekitgeek on twitter and instagramwww.homekitgeek blogwww.facebook.com/homekitgeekAqara G2H Camera *affiliate link* geni.us/HKGAqaraG2H If you're interested in adding some new devices to your smarthome, please consider using my Amazon.com affiliates store amazon.com/shop/netmanchrisThe Aqara G2H (China Edition) hit the market a few weeks ago. The first thing to be aware of is that the China version is NOT the international version which should be releasing later this year. The Aqara G2H is packed with features including local storage ( microSD card ), HomeKit Secure Video support, as well as the inclusion of a zigbee hub where you can pair your Aqara accessories and extend your SmartHome with any of the various Aqara accessories. At least that's the theory...There are some things that you need to be aware of though...1) The Aqara G2H (China Edition) seems to be locked in the Chinese language. To be clear, the app is in English ( or I'm assuming whatever languages Aqara supports ) but the voice prompts of the camera only speak in Chinese. This may be resolved in the future through a firmware update, but for now - it's definitely something to be aware of. 2) Not ALL the Aqara accessories are exposed to HomeKit. The Apple HomeKit certification requires all accessories paired to a hub to be certified. In the case of the Aqara G2H Camera, it looks like that, since it's a China market camera, the North American zigbee smart plugs weren't included in that certification process. At least not yet. Again - could this change in the future? Sure - but it's better to be aware of the limitations of the product now - especially if you are ordering this for use outside of China. Better to have the right expectations.3) The last thing I'd point out is the general uncertainty with Aqara's global business plan. Aqara has been doing globally, and has done a huge amount of work to improve their North American sales model since the introduction of the Aqara products on Amazon.com last year, but there's still uncertainty on how products ordered from international sources are going to work in other regions. If you're a Apple Homekit user, you can always pair it directly with the your Apple Homekit home and avoid the Aqara app altogether, but it's definitely a "buyer beware" situation. The Aqara G2H is a great little camera. It's super cute. Colourful and checks all the boxes for my Apple Homekit home, but it does have some limitations that you'll want to be aware of before jumping in.If I've missed anything, please feel free to post in the comments and I'll do my best to answer your questions!#Aqara #G2H #Homekit
Ecobee Contact Motion Sensor with Apple Homekit Chris Young 2020-07-05 | *** I received the Ecobee Smart Sensor as a review unit. All opinions are my own. Just thought you should know ***Follow me@homekitgeek on twitter and instagramwww.homekitgeek blogwww.facebook.com/homekitgeek*affiliate links*Ecobee Smart Sensor - geni.us/HKGEcobeeSmartSensor If you're interested in adding some new devices to your smarthome, please consider using my Amazon.com amazon.com/shop/netmanchrisThe Ecobee Smart Sensor is the first Homekit compatible device that combines motion and contact sensor into a single device. The Smart Sensor is a 915 Mhz range device which means that you should get good connectivity over a wide area to the required Ecobee Smart Camera or Ecobee Thermostat. Currently, the Smart Sensor is exposed to Apple HomeKit only if the Smart Sensor is paired with the Ecobee Thermostat, but this feature should also be available in the future via a firmware update to the Ecobee Smart Camera. A key component in the Ecobee Haven Security system, the Smart Sensor allows you to extend the visibility of the Ecobee system to include opening windows and doors in addition to the existing occupancy/motion sensors provided by their traditional remote sensors. #homekitgeek #ecobee #review
Vocolinc PureFlow Air Purifier with Apple Homekit Chris Young 2020-06-28 | Follow me@homekitgeek on twitter and instagramwww.homekitgeek blogwww.facebook.com/homekitgeekVocolinc Pureflow Air Purifiergeni.us/HKGVocolincPureflow The Vocolinc Pureflow Air Purifier is one of the first Homekit Certified Purifiers that I've been able to get my hands on. This is the latest addition in the Vocolinc Smarthome line of accessories and is the second device that deals specifically with air treatment ( the Vocolinc Flowerbud diffuser being the first ).In addition to the HEPA purifier, the Vocolinc Pureflow includes temperature, humidity, and particulate matter 2.5 sensors which can be used by the unit in it's auto mode to clean the air as necessary. They are also all exposed to Apple Homekit so you can use them as triggers for any of your other automations as needed. Pros: - integrated sensors - night mode turns of screen and keeps sound around the 30dB mark so it's great for your sleep spaces. Cons: - the night mode isn't exposed as an automation in the apple home or vocalinc apps - the Pureflow doesn't include a VoC ( volatile organic compound ) sensor which would have definitely pushed this over the top for me.Conclusion: The Vocolinc Pureflow is a really good product and will likely become better as updates to the units firmware and the vocolinc app file down some of the rough edges ( the night mode scheduling specifically is one I'd love to see fixed soon )./. Although the VoC sensor is a bit of an oversight, the ability to use Apple Homekit automations to trigger the Pureflow from a Homekit compatible VoC sensor such as the Eve Room (gen2) or the Kaiterra Laser Egg + VoC device make it possible for anyone with a little time and knowledge to fill in the gaps by using their existing products. What do you think?#homekit #vocolinc #pureflow
Vocolinc Smartbar Smart Plug Review with Apple Homekit Review and Unboxing Chris Young 2020-06-07 | Follow me@homekitgeek on twitter and instagramwww.homekitgeek blogwww.facebook.com/homekitgeekIf you're looking at picking up a Vocolinc Smartbar smart plug for your SmartHome, please consider using this affiliate linkgeni.us/HKGVocolincSmartbarThe Vocolinc Smartbar is a wifi smart plug that’s compatible with the three major smart home ecosystems. Whether you’re in the Apple, Amazon or Google camps, or even in multiples at the same time, the Vocolinc smart bar is a great budget smart plug that will let you easily add smarthome controls to some of your legacy appliances around the house. At a current price of $25USD for a two pack, the Vocolinc Smartbar doesn’t include some of the more advanced features like a nightlight, USB port, or energy monitoring as you would find in some of it’s more expensive competitors, but what it does have is a automatic power cycle feature that will quickly make this a a favourite of anyone who’s ever had the need to remotely power cycle a router to figure out that once you turn it off…. You can’t connect to turn it back on. The Vocolinc Smartbar has been a stable device and I haven’t seen a single disconnect/unavailable message in the short time that I’ve been using it. #homekitgeek #vocolinc #smartplug
How to Organize your Apple Homekit Home: Using Zones, Rooms and Groups. (2020) Chris Young 2020-05-24 | Follow me@homekitgeek on twitter and instagramwww.homekitgeek blogwww.facebook.com/homekitgeekIf you're interested in adding new devices to your SmartHome and you found this tutorial useful, please consider using the following affiliates link as a jump off point. Sengled Homekit Compatible Smartbridge geni.us/HKGSengledHKBridge Although I'm not a big advocate for the voice-first SmartHome design, making sure to organize your home in a way that allows you to use voice naturally to control your SmartHome is still a great idea for those moments when your sensor-based triggers aren't doing exactly what you need them to do. In this video, I'm going to explain how the Homekit hierarchy works, explain the different components of the Apple Homekit system including:- Homes- Zones- Groups- Accessories- ServicesOnce we've covered the basics of what these different features are, we'll dive into some examples of how I use them to be able to easily use voice commands to get my house to do what I want without having to try and remember what any individual device was named. Thanks for all your support!#homekitgeek #applehomekit #planning
Sengled LED Strip with Apple Homekit Chris Young 2020-05-18 | Follow me@homekitgeek on twitter and instagramwww.homekitgeek blogwww.facebook.com/homekitgeekIf you're looking at picking up a Sengled LED strip for your SmartHome, please consider using this affiliate linkgeni.us/HKGSengledLEDStrip The Sengled LED strip is a Zigbee based LED strip that, when paired with the Sengled Smartbridge, works with all the usual suspects. With support for Apple Homekit, Amazon Alexa, GoogleHome as well as Samsung Smarthings and IFTTT, it's a good fit for your SmartHome regardless of which camp you find yourself in. At a current price of $42USD ( when posted ) it's on the pricey side of the mid-range LED strips, but the color saturation definitely does justify the extra cost in my mind. The Sengled has one of the best Yellows that I've seen in this price range and the Green, Blue, and Red are all easily recognizable unlike some of the other LED strips on the market. With few dynamic capabilities, the Sengled LED is a good buy as an accent light, but it's not going to offer some of the truly cool features that you would get in something like the Philips Hue, LIFX, or Vocolinc LED strips, but it's got great color and brightness at a decent price. If you're looking at a mid-range price point and color is your most important factor, I would say you can't go wrong with the Sengled LED strip. Just make sure you have the bridge to go with it! :)#homekitgeek #LEDStrip #Sengled
Sengled Bridge with Apple Homekit Chris Young 2020-05-18 | Follow me@homekitgeek on twitter and instagramwww.homekitgeek blogwww.facebook.com/homekitgeekIf you're interested in adding the Sengled Homekit Compatible Smartbridge to your SmartHome, please consider using the following affiliates linkSengled Homekit Compatible Smartbridge geni.us/HKGSengledHKBridge The Sengled Smartbridge is one of those products that I've been looking at for awhile. There's nothing particularly special about this bridge to be honest. It's zigbee. It supports Apple Homekit, Amazon Alexa, and Google Home, as well as Samsung Smartthings and IFTTT. Just like many of the other bridges on the market. The thing I love the most about this bridge is that it's not special. It just works. It does what you expect it to do at a great entry price and, honestly, isn't that the most important thing?#homekit #sengled #homekitgeek
Ecobee Camera Unboxing and Review with Apple Homekit Chris Young 2020-05-10 | Note: The Ecobee Camera used in this video was provided to me by Ecobee at no cost for this review. The opinion is totally my own. Making sure you have the information in case you believe that affects my opinion. Follow me@homekitgeek on twitter and instagramwww.homekitgeek blogwww.facebook.com/homekitgeekIf you're considering picking up an Ecobee Camera please consider using the following linkgeni.us/HKGEcobeeSmartCamera *affiliates links*Ecobee has made a name for themselves as the maker of one of the most popular smart thermostats available. With support for Apple Homekit, Amazon Alexa, as well as GoogleHome, they have been building their customer base into one of the most recognizable brands in the smartphone world. The Ecobee Camera is a beautiful looking camera, contrasting from many of the white plastic Smart Cameras that have been hitting the market in the last year. Whether the consumer market is willing to pay the premium that Ecobee is charging (price currently showing as $249CDN) will be interesting to watch.As a Homekit camera, the Ecobee Camera is functional. In it's initial release, Ecobee has not exposed the motion or occupancy sensors to Homekit which makes it one of the least capable Homekit cameras on the market today. As well, although there are rumours of Homekit Secure Video support being planned, there's no confirmed date yet.Where the Ecobee Camera is going to shine is as a core component of the Ecobee Haven security offering that Ecobee has recently launched. I'm looking forward to getting more hands on with the Haven system and will be posting more soon. #homekitgeek #ecobee #smartcamera
Eve Water Guard Unboxing and Review with Apple Homekit Chris Young 2020-05-03 | Follow me@homekitgeek on twitter and instagramwww.homekitgeek blogwww.facebook.com/homekitgeekNOTICE: THE EVE WATER GUARD USED IN THIS REVIEW WAS PROVIDED TO ME BY EVE SYSTEMS. MY OPINION IS MY OWN BUT IT'S IMPORTANT TO ME YOU KNOW INFORMATION THAT COULD INFLUENCE MY OPINION.If you're looking at adding the Eve Water Guard to your Smarthome please consider using the following affiliate linkEve Water Guard - geni.us/HKGEveWaterGuardREVIEWFloods are really, really bad. For those who have never had the experience, let me assure you that you don't want it. The destruction of personal property, the clean up, the tearing out of floors and walls and rebuilding of the place just sucks. The only possible bright side is that it, if you've got the insurance or extra money, you might get some nice new floors out of the nightmare. A smart flood sensor light the Eve Water Guard can definitely give you a chance to avoid all of this. The Eve Water Guard flood sensor is Homekit compatible and of course will get you the notifications if a flood event is detected. Of course it can also be used as a trigger for any scene or automation that you have configured in your Apple Homekit home. If water is detected, flash lights, play a siren on your Airplay2 devices, turn plugs on/off to prevent damage to electrical equipment - there are a lot of possibilities here. The Eve Water Guard isn't the first flood sensor available for Apple Homekit, but it does have some features that differentiates it from the other devices available in this category. The fact that the Eve Water Guard plugs directly into a wall socket is both a good and bad thing. Sure, you'll never have to worry about whether your batteries ran out or have to source odd shaped batteries, but it also means that you are much more restricted on where you can place the flood sensor. Eve definitely though this limitation through though and gave us a long sensing cable to help deal with this location restriction. And the extension cable allows the Eve Water Guard to cover up to an AMAZING 150m from a single device. In contrast, the Fibaro and Aqara flood sensors, the other two which are available, don't even ship with a sensing cable. I sincerely hope that you never have to deal with a flood, but if you do, having a device like the Eve Water Guard can help you react to it quicker and limits the damage to your positions and living space. #homekitgeek #EveWaterGuard #FloodSensor
Home Office Hacks: Use IFTTT to Make you Smarter Chris Young 2020-04-30 | @homekitgeek on twitter and instagramwww.homekitgeek blogwww.facebook.com/homekitgeekNOTE: This video was produced using the Awair Air quality Sensor and a LIFX Beam, but there's no reason you can't use any other IFTTT Supported products! Or take some inspiration and play a sound as your notification instead of using light. Get creative! If you're looking to pick up the LIFX BEAM or Awair AQI Sensor of your own you can find that here.LIFX Beam - geni.us/HKGLIFXBEAMAwair Element Air Quality Sensor - geni.us/HKGAwairElement Note: These are affiliate links.If you have found yourself suddenly spending more time in your home office there are some things that you can do to help keep yourself alert and increase your productivity. In this video, we're going to walkthrough using IFTTT to combine an Awair AQI sensor with a LIFX Beam full color smart light with the goal of helping us be more aware (get it?) of the air around us.Unlike the offices and buildings that many of us come from, indoor air flow isn't always optimal and high Co2 levels can start to get to you after a couple of hours. Using IFTTT to help alert you to when the air around is no longer helping you can be a a great way to remind you to open the door or window and help refresh the air in your space. If you find that you're drowsy or just mentally not able to concentrate after a few hours in the home office, this might be just what you need to get your productivity back up.For those of you wanting to get more into the studies, feel free to use these links as starting pointsCo2 and Human Cognitive Performance Studieshttps://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/27662232/4892924.pdf?sequence=1…http://blog.gigabase.org/en/contents/132Why Air Quality Matters: youtu.be/MRqh8oLY7Ik#workfromhome #airquality #ifttt
LIFX Tiles Feature Smart Lights with Apple Homekit Review Chris Young 2020-04-13 | @homekitgeek on twitter and instagramwww.homekitgeek blogwww.facebook.com/homekitgeekNOTE: The first thing you need to know about the LIFX Tiles Smart Lights is that they were announced as going away at CES 2020. LFIX will no longer be making these lights so if they are something you’ve been on the fence about, you might want to pick them up now. If you're looking to pick up the LIFX Tiles of your own you can find that here.geni.us/HKGLifxTiles Note: These are affiliate links.I've never made it a secret that I'm a big fan of the LIFX product line and the LIFX Tiles do not disappoint. The LIFX Tiles is comes in a set of 5 tiles . Each Tile is in a 1' x 1' form-factor and contains 64 individually addressable full colored LEDs. Yup - 64 Colors at the same time from a Single tile and 320 individually addressable LEDS across the entire set of 5. I'll just let that sink in for a second.LIFX has pioneered the polychrome technology in various of there other products including- LIFX Z Strip- LIFX Candles- LIFX Beambut the Tiles product is something special in that the size of each tile and the horizontal and vertical layout of the LEDs allow the tile to create amazing affects which just aren't possible in the other products. From what I can tell, the Tiles were a product that had some initial issues with firmware and a coupe of bad reviews on cable management. The Firmware has, in my mind, been addressed. With over 10 sets of these in my home, I can honestly say that the LIFX tiles are a stable product. Having looked into some of the critiques around the cable management, I've found that the reviewers who found this didn't take the time to really experience what the Tile has to offer and how flexible it really is. It often gets compared to the Nanoleaf Feature lights but to be honest, after living with products from both vendors for a long time. The Tile is just a different product with different uses. The Nanoleaf is a great product and their dynamic scenes are some of the best on the market. It's typically the focus point of any room. The LIFX Tile on the other hand CAN be a focus, but is just as suited to fade into the background to set the mood without drawing everyone's attention away from what's going on in the space. What do you guys think?#homekitgeek #lifxtiles #smartlights
Creating a Virtual Fireplace with LIFX Tiles and Amazon Routines Chris Young 2020-04-08 | @homekitgeek on twitter and instagramwww.homekitgeek blogwww.facebook.com/homekitgeekIf you're looking to pick up the LIFX Tiles of your own you can find that here.geni.us/HKGLifxTiles Note: These are affiliates links.The LIFX Tiles is one of my favourite feature lites. The combination of the large form factor with the 64 individual controllable LEDs per Tile has allowed LIFX to enable some really cool effects with enough power behind them to really set the mood in any room. I recently installed a couple of Tile chains in my master bedroom to create a virtual fireplace affect and it was a really great hit with my girlfriend. In the interest of helping other's make their partners happy, this video goes through using Amazon Alexa routines to create a voice trigger to setup the whole scene in one command. Hope you enjoy this!#homekitgeek #virtualfireplace #LIFX
LIFX Candles with Apple Homekit Chris Young 2020-04-05 | @homekitgeek on twitter and instagramwww.homekitgeek blogwww.facebook.com/homekitgeekIf you're interested in adding some new devices to your smarthome, please consider using my Amazon.com show as a starting point as it really does help to support me in continuing to create new content. amazon.com/shop/netmanchrisIf you're looking to pick up the LIFX Candle of your own you can find that here.geni.us/HKGLIFXCandle Note: These are affiliate links.I've never made it a secret that I'm a big fan of the LIFX product line and LIFX's newest addition does not disappoint. The LIFX Candle is the first LED light in a E12/E14 form-factor that I've seen which is able to display up to 26 different colours at once. Yup - 26 colors at the same time from a Candle bulb.LIFX has pioneered the polychrome technology in various of there other products including- LIFX Z Strip- LIFX Tiles- LIFX Beambut the Candle is the first version of this technology in a smaller bulb form factor. At $44usd it's definitely not the least expensive E12/E14 bulb on the market but the ability to shine multiple different colors combined with the dynamic scenes and scheduling in the LIFX application definitely makes it worth the price, at least in my view. #Homekitgeek #LIFX #Candle
LUFT Qi Cube Air Purifier Review Chris Young 2020-04-02 | Notice: This Luft Qi Cube used for this review was provided to me by Luft Cube but all opinions are my own. @homekitgeek on twitter and instagramwww.homekitgeek blogwww.facebook.com/homekitgeekIf you're looking to pick up the Luft Qi Cube of your own you can find that here.geni.us/HGKLuftQiCube Note: These are affiliate links.The Luft Qi Cube is the newest generation of the personal air purifier from Luft Qi ( luftcube.com ) is a photocatalytic air purifier ( similar to the Airocide and Brid air purifiers which I've previously reviewed ) in an incredibly portable format. Although the Luft Qi Cube isn't a smart device, it's a great way to keep the air around you cleaner to ensure the health of you and your family. As we are now, more than ever, spending most of our time indoors, the Luft Qi is a great spot-treatment option for you to complement the larger air purifiers not to mention the fact that it's portable can help to shelter us from the impurities in the air once we get in our cars.One of my biggest concerns with photocatalytic purifiers in general is that they are known to put off Ozone as part of the purification process. I'm happy to say that the uHoo Air Quality sensor which includes a dedicated Ozone sensor saw no increase in Ozone over a period of multiple days. All in all, the Luft Qi Cube is a great addition to your overall air treatment plan and the fact that you can take it with you in the car or to the office is just the icing on the cake.#homekitgeek #luftcube #airpurifier
Vocolinc LS2 LED Light Strip with Apple Homekit Chris Young 2020-03-29 | @homekitgeek on twitter and instagramwww.homekitgeek blogwww.facebook.com/homekitgeekIf you're interested in adding some new devices to your smarthome, please consider using my Amazon.com show as a starting point as it really does help to support me in continuing to create new content. amazon.com/shop/netmanchrisIf you're looking to pick up the Vocolinc LS2 of your own you can find that here.geni.us/VocolincLS2HKG Note: Amazon purchases used with these links may result in putting a small amount in my pocket.For those not already familiar with Vocolinc, they are one of the long standing Homekit commited brands that have aimed to deliver quality products in the budget price range. The LS2 is the latest addition to the Vocolinc family of products.The Vocolinc LS2 is a wifi based color LED strip. The strip is in the mid brightness range coming in at 250lm per meter, or 500 lumens for the initial 2 meter length. For those of us where 2m is just not enough, there is also an extension strip available which can push the length of a single LS2 unit all the way up to 4m of 1000 lumens colored goodness.Although the Vocolinc LS2, at first glance, seems very similar to other budget LED strips like those available from Koogeek, iHaper, and Santala. Where the Vocolinc LS2 really seperates itself is the additional software features which have been embedded in this light strip.When controlled through the Vocolinc Linkwise application, the Vocolinc LS2 really opens up with software features such as - sunrise/sunset scheduling which is currently only available in higher priced LED Strips such as LIFX or Philips Hue. - time of day scheduling with granular dimming capabilities- dynamic scenes which allows the LED strip to flow, breath, flicker, or flash between lights. Most amazing is the price point at which Vocolinc has been able to deliver all of this functionality coming in right in the average of the budget range of Homekit supported LED strips at $39 USD. After having lived with the Vocolinc LS2 for the last couple of months, it's quickly become my favorite cost-conscious Homekit LED strip.If you have any questions or comments or just want to say hello. Feel free to comment below and I'll get back to you as soon as possible.#homekitgeek #Vocolinc #LightStrip
Eero Homekit Secure Networking: Deep Dive Chris Young 2020-03-24 | If you missed the first looks at the Eero HomeKit Secure networking check out the video here youtu.be/O803xndJ-BQ@homekitgeek on twitter and instagramwww.homekitgeek blogwww.facebook.com/homekitgeekIf you're interested in adding some new devices to your smarthome, please consider using my Amazon.com show as a starting point as it really does help to support me in continuing to create new content. amazon.com/shop/netmanchrisIf you're looking to pick up the Eero Homekit Secure networking enabled access point you can find that here.geni.us/eeroproHKGNote: Amazon purchases used with these links may result in putting a small amount in my pocket. Having lived with the Eero Homekit Secure Networking for a few weeks now, I wanted to come back and try and answer some of the questions that came up during the first release. Hopefully this will help to answer some of the outstanding questions but I'm fairly sure that it will raise some more of them as we see Homekit Secure Networking appear on other platforms. ( Linksys Velop looks like the next one in line ).Bottom Line - After living with this for a couple of weeks and turning it on and off without losing my Homekit Home I'm a lot more comfortable with Eero's implementation of Homekit Secure Networking and generally with the new Homekit functionality.I still have concerns about the scalability of the Eero system and most likely won't be able to run it long term because of the size of my network, but if you're a normal user, I think that Eero and the HomeKit Secure networking can definitely add some ease of use and security to your smart home. If you've got any questions, comments, or there's something I missed covering in the review, please feel free to post below!#Homekit #homekitsecurenetwork #eero
Is the SmartDry Sensor worth your money? Chris Young 2020-03-10 | NOTICE: The SmartDry unit used in the making of this video was provided to me for review purposes at no cost. I think you should know in case you think that affects my opinion. @homekitgeek on twitter and instagramwww.homekitgeek blogwww.facebook.com/homekitgeekIf you're interested in adding some new devices to your smarthome, please consider using my Amazon.com show as a starting point as it really does help to support me in continuing to create new content. amazon.com/shop/netmanchrisIf you're looking to pick up the SmartDry of your own you can find that here.geni.us/HKGSmartDryNote: Amazon purchases used with these links may result in putting a small amount in my pocket.Details: When I first got in touch with SmartDry I was VERY skeptical as to whether or not the SmartDry Laundry Sensor was going to have any measurable impact on my life. I couldn't have been more wrong. It's quickly become one of those devices that I LOVE having around because it helps make sure that things don't go wrong. At first glance, the SmartDry Laundry Sensor is one of those devices that you look at and thing "Wow. Why would I ever need that?" and you might be right. In my case, I was especially skeptical in that I already have a "smart" dryer with a built in dryness sensor that's supposed to detect when the laundry is dry and automatically turn off the dryer. Unfortunately, sometimes that sensor goes a little wonky and the dryer stops before the load is actually dry. This exact situation is where I quickly found the value of the SmartDry Sensor.One of the SmartDry sensor's main selling features is the ability to save you money. They claim that by using the Sensor's ability to detect when clothes are actually dry, you can then run down to the laundry room and turn the dryer off and avoid wasting energy on continuing to dry clothes that are already dry. In practice, I've found that a house with multiple kids just means that IF you see the notification there's usually something else going on that prevents you from running to turn the dryer off.The feature that I found to be unbelievably useful is the SmartDry Laundry Sensor's ability to detect when things in the dryer are still wet. Busy day and you throw sheets in the dryer and say "I'll make the bed later". Dryer finishes. You go down at around 9pm to figure out the dryer stopped early and the sheets are still wet. THIS is the situation that the SmartDry Laundry sensor helped me avoid. And that makes it all worth it for me. What do you think?#homekitgeek #smartdrylaundrysensor #smartdry
Eero Homekit Secure Networking: Setup and First thoughts Chris Young 2020-02-26 | @homekitgeek on twitter and instagramwww.homekitgeek blogwww.facebook.com/homekitgeekIf you're interested in adding some new devices to your smarthome, please consider using my Amazon.com show as a starting point as it really does help to support me in continuing to create new content. amazon.com/shop/netmanchrisIf you're looking to pick up the Eero Homekit Secure networking enabled access point you can find that here.geni.us/eeroproHKGNote: Amazon purchases used with these links may result in putting a small amount in my pocket. After teasing support in a recent firmware update, Eero finally released Homekit Secure networking support to Eero Pro customers today. For more on the Apple HomeKit Secure Network feature please check out the Apple support page.support.apple.com/en-ca/HT210544Bottom Line - Unless you’re feeling really lucky, I would avoid connecting your Eero Pro system to your Apple HomeKit Home at this point in time. If you really enjoy living on the edge and you’re willing to risk blowing up your entire Apple HomeKit home to the point of a complete rebuild that’s great!For the rest of you who are here to decide whether or not this is something you really want to do, I would HIGHLY recommend not making the jump and subscribing to hear how things go over the next few weeks. If you've got any questions, comments, or there's something I missed covering in the review, please feel free to post below!#Homekit #homekitsecurenetwork #eero
