WWDc — The Smart Home Special
WWDC saw the debut of HomeKit Secure Video, plus an upgrade to CarPlay and iOS 13 for HomePod.
the Worldwide Developers Conference 2019 came and went quite some time ago, and while the keynote address all but avoided the existence of HomeKit (justifiably, given the sheer amount of high–level advancements there were to talk about), Apple’s automation platform did get one big mention, and it’s a significant one: WWDC saw the debut of HomeKit Secure Video.
Secure Video answers a lot of major concerns about security cameras. Most importantly, it goes some way to countering accusations that cloud–based cameras could potentially leave you less secure than before. Think about object analysis: when certain camera systems use their algorithms to detect people and faces, they do this by sending images from your camera online, where they’re acted on before triggering your camera to record. That’s a privacy risk — who knows what's being done with those images, or what engines they’re being used to build? HomeKit Secure Video instead hands off image processing to your local devices — your iPad, HomePod, or Apple TV — keeping it out of the cloud entirely. If something suspicious is detected, your footage is then encrypted and sent on to iCloud storage, where it’s only available to you.
This is a hopeful development for HomeKit security. We've complained for some time and at some volume about the lack of widespread camera support, with a scant few devices even compatible with Apple’s platform at all, particularly given the number that’ll happily beam their footage to Amazon’s video–compatible Alexa devices or Google’s Chromecast. This new protocol means
more security for you, but does it mean more manufacturers will throw their cameras into the Apple ring? It might. Existing HomeKit supporters Netatmo (maker of the Welcome and Presence cameras), Logitech (Circle 2), and Robin (ProLine Doorbell) join Eufy (eufyCam) in pledging to both create future products and roll Secure Video support into existing hardware via firmware updates.
inseCure Future
Increased support is likely to depend on the level of adoption by the public, and how easy Apple is making the task. We don’t know, for example, if Apple’s developer API for HomeKit will be altered to help camera creators make HomeKit support as frequent as Chromecast or Alexa video. And while the HomeKit Secure Video platform will relieve pressure on manufacturers’ own cloud service offerings (given that the processing is done at home and Apple’s iCloud servers are responsible for backing up footage) this also represents a significant lost revenue stream given the cloud subscription plans that accompany most security systems.
It’s also not going to be available to everyone without a little extra expense. While Apple is set to provide cloud storage for 10 days of video without it affecting your limit, such storage isn’t part of iCloud’s free allocation: to run one camera, you’ll need to be signed up for a 200GB plan, and you’ll be
able to monitor up to five cameras with a 2TB plan.
The HomeKit security refresh extends beyond cameras, too. Alongside Secure Video, Apple has announced HomeKit support for routers. This is due to partition your connected HomeKit devices with individual firewalls, allowing you to control how much access they have to your home network, to the internet at large, and to the devices around them. Linksys, Eero and cable operator Charter/ Spectrum are the first to sign up to build HomeKit routers, and we expect more info on these devices as we near the release of iOS 13 later this year.
app smarts
Along with a new Shortcuts app, which offers more opportunity to create custom ways to use Siri, iOS 13 will (somewhat predictably) see a revamped Home app hitting your iPhone, and presumably devices running the new iPadOS too. It’s more of a subtle update than a full–on redesign, but there are some interesting additions and updates which should make it even easier to use, and more flexible.
First up, device controls have been further refined and streamlined from their current state. Their specific layout still varies by device, but in the case of (for example) lights, shortcuts to the colors you frequently apply will now be available directly on the main brightness control screen rather than being tucked away on a separate panel, and the link to the settings screen is made less prominent. Certain devices will also compress more information into a smaller space, giving you access to a host of more metrics on a single screen. No longer will Home present the motion–sensing, light–sensing
and temperature–sensing components of the Hue Motion Sensor as different devices, for example, though you’ll still be able to tap into those features individually if it suits. You’ll find extra icons included in iOS13’s Home app, too, meaning devices like water sensors are now more easily identifiable.
Then there’s AirPlay 2, and one of the features we’re most excited to try: you can now include your AirPlay 2 devices as part of Scenes and Automations. That’s huge. Telling Siri to set the mood and having your favorite playlist come on as the lights dim, or using some heavy metal as an alert when your motion sensor’s triggered? Awesome. You can exploit controls like playing and pausing, but also include volume changes and a mysterious “Don’t change what’s playing” command, which is sure to come in useful, but not in an immediately obvious way. This isn’t just for the HomePod, either: the new controls should be applicable to everything AirPlay 2 enabled, from smart speakers to the new generation of smart TVs.
platForm game
No word yet on whether these capabilities will make their way to Apple’s macOS Home app, though given that it’s essentially a port of the iPad version, and considering that Apple has (as of WWDC) made its cross–compatibility Project Catalyst tech available for developers working in macOS Mojave, there’s a fair chance it will. We’re also willing to speculate that Project Catalyst will bring a host of smart home control to your desktop in addition to that offered by the Home app. There’s no fundamental reason that the individual mobile apps that most hardware offers can’t be ported to your desktop, so you’ll be able to get high-level device control (and indeed monitor your non– HomeKit cameras) from your Mac.
So yes, perhaps HomeKit didn’t have the loudest showing at WWDC, but Apple’s roadmap has big things in store for your smart devices. And it’s not just Apple directly: new manufacturer partnerships mean more devices, and the new capabilities of both HomeKit and AirPlay 2 make them more attractive platforms for manufacturers. It’s a positive feedback loop.