Apple tries again with HomeKit with smart home division reorganization

By Ed Oswald Published October 28, 2019

It’s no secret that Apple has not had much success in the smart home market. The company wants to change that, of course, and is reorganizing its smart home efforts to turn its fortunes around, Bloomberg reported on Monday, October 28.

The team is headed by former Mozilla Chief Technology Officer Andreas Gal, who joined Apple after his company, Silk Labs, was acquired in 2018. Apple has also hired new managers and engineers from Amazon, Qualcomm, and other companies over the past several months, and has posted at least 15 new job postings since September to work under Gal.

Apple Homepod — Greg Mombert/Digital Trends

Bloomberg says the team will focus on revamping the platform to make it more attractive to device manufacturers, who often add Apple’s HomeKit platform as an afterthought, if at all. Also, work will begin on developing and possibly building smart home devices beyond the HomePod speaker, Apple’s lone smart home device.

Recommended Videos

Such a move wouldn’t be surprising. Amazon is doing something similar: after years of building just Alexa-enabled home speakers, it now offers devices ranging from headphones to microwaves with Alexa support built-in.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Righting the ship when it comes to the smart home is vital to HomeKit’s long-term success. While Apple’s smartphone technology has been around since 2014 on its line of smart devices, the HomePod speaker only launched early last year after multiple delays, and at a price far above the prices of its competitors.

The high prices scared off consumers — and probably device makers, too, who chose to focus on building Alexa-enabled devices instead. The difference is stark: while Apple lists 450 devices on its website as being compatible with HomeKit, Google claims compatibility with 10,000 devices, and Amazon a staggering 85,000.

Part of the reason for the wide disparity may be Apple’s stricter specifications for working with the company’s platforms: both Google and Amazon place fewer restrictions on using their platforms. It is not clear if a strategy change will be part of Apple’s plans to revitalize its smart home efforts.

Either way, there is room for a lot of improvement. According to Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, Apple’s HomePod speaker has only a 5% market share, far behind Google’s 20% and Amazon’s 70%.

Topics

Contributor

For fifteen years, Ed has written about the latest and greatest in gadgets and technology trends. At Digital Trends, he's…

Smart Home

Prepare for Halloween with these smart home gadgets

A Ring Video Doorbell next to Halloween decorations.

It’s officially spooky season, and that means Halloween is right around the corner. And if you’re hoping to have the most haunted house on the block, it’s worth looking at how today’s best smart home devices can help you achieve your goal. Whether you’re throwing a costume party, spending the night curled up with a scary movie, or expecting to have hundreds of trick-or-treaters lining up at your door, there’s a good chance upgrading your smart gadgets can make the spooky season all the more exciting.

Here’s a look at how video doorbells, smart lights, and other smart devices can help you celebrate Halloween.
Update your video doorbell with a terrifying chime

Smart Home

The next Apple HomeKit device could blend HomePod, iPad, and AI

Apple HomePod 2023

Apple HomeKit has always lagged behind Alexa and Google Assistant, notably lacking a smart display similar to that of the Echo Show 15 or the Nest Hub. Rumors suggest that the company's next gadget might rectify that. MacRumors reported code found in Apple's backend that referenced something called HomeAccessory17,1. That might not seem like much to go on until you realize that HomePod is similarly named AudioAccessory.

There are still too few details to make any definitive conclusions, but we can venture an educated guess that the upcoming device might be powered by the A18 chip and feature AI-focused features. Apple already has plans to integrate OpenAI and Siri. Adding AI-powered intelligence into a smart home system would potentially give it never-before-seen functionality — perhaps even more than what Alexa can currently offer, although Google Assistant's use of Gemini could level the playing field.

Smart Home

Home Depot expands Hubspace with a smart door, smart lock, and other cool gadgets

The new Hubspace smart door and smart lock.

Home Depot held its Hubspace Fall Preview event today, showcasing a variety of smart home products arriving later this year. One of the coolest new additions to the catalog is the Smart Glass Door by Feather River Doors, as it lets you toggle between clear or opaque glass via voice commands and syncs with most smart home platforms. Home Depot also revealed a smart lock, smart freezer, string lights, and home alarm system -- all of which are fully supported by the simple-to-use Hubspace app.

The Smart Glass Door is undoubtedly the most unique item in the upcoming collection. Pricing starts at $798 with a launch date of September 30, and it’s looking to bring some seriously cool features to your home. The big allure is the central glass pane, which can quickly change between clear and opaque styles using voice commands or a physical button. That means you can activate clear mode when you want a bit of sunshine, then swap to opaque mode for privacy. Beyond Hubspace, it integrates with Alexa and Google Assistant.