Don’t switch to Alexa, despite the obvious privacy issues with Amazon, the whole interaction is painful. And the incessant “By the way, you can do this or buy on Amazon” and so on are cringe. I switched to Apple’s HomePod and although it’s also flawed, it’s been. Much nicer experience. Plus you can use a Raspberry Pi with HomeBridge running on it to make Home interact with any wifi smart thing. The Pi converts them into Apple compatible devices. It also has many plugins to create intricate automations by creating dummy sensors to trigger things and so on. It’s really powerful.
A friend of mine runs his automations off Alexa and based on the headaches it’s caused while we are at his house I’ll avoid an Alexa ecosystem too, on top of the privacy concerns. We are still a few years off from needing to figure it out, but right now our next doorbell and security system would be through Simplisafe and our Hue lighting system will continue being used. Any additional cameras I’ll figure out later, but they must be HomeKit compatible. The LevelLock+ Apple partners with also looks promising.
Amazon’s main goal with Alexa is not to provide you with an assistant, it’s to allow them to sell you more things.
HomeKit compatibility is nice but HomeBridge really can take care of that and connect any non-HomeKit device to it. I have TP links lights and switches, i have a garage door that can become compatible if I buy their $100 bridge, i have IP cameras… none are HomeKit compatible, but I connected them to HomeBridge and I get them all to work. All that on a Raspberry Pi Zero!
Thanks for the suggestion. I typically try to avoid adapters because those often lead to added failure points and a loss of features, but I’ll take a look at Homebridge down the line and gather thoughts on if it can fit.
Don’t switch to Alexa, despite the obvious privacy issues with Amazon, the whole interaction is painful. And the incessant “By the way, you can do this or buy on Amazon” and so on are cringe. I switched to Apple’s HomePod and although it’s also flawed, it’s been. Much nicer experience. Plus you can use a Raspberry Pi with HomeBridge running on it to make Home interact with any wifi smart thing. The Pi converts them into Apple compatible devices. It also has many plugins to create intricate automations by creating dummy sensors to trigger things and so on. It’s really powerful.
A friend of mine runs his automations off Alexa and based on the headaches it’s caused while we are at his house I’ll avoid an Alexa ecosystem too, on top of the privacy concerns. We are still a few years off from needing to figure it out, but right now our next doorbell and security system would be through Simplisafe and our Hue lighting system will continue being used. Any additional cameras I’ll figure out later, but they must be HomeKit compatible. The LevelLock+ Apple partners with also looks promising.
Amazon’s main goal with Alexa is not to provide you with an assistant, it’s to allow them to sell you more things.
HomeKit compatibility is nice but HomeBridge really can take care of that and connect any non-HomeKit device to it. I have TP links lights and switches, i have a garage door that can become compatible if I buy their $100 bridge, i have IP cameras… none are HomeKit compatible, but I connected them to HomeBridge and I get them all to work. All that on a Raspberry Pi Zero!
https://homebridge.io/
Thanks for the suggestion. I typically try to avoid adapters because those often lead to added failure points and a loss of features, but I’ll take a look at Homebridge down the line and gather thoughts on if it can fit.