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Apple Might Make Smart Home Products Like Cameras

don't see it. iPad/iPhone seem to be enough. Why would one have yet another screen with that much overlap ? ... albeit seems Amazon has sold a lot Echo screens judging from the number of reviews. But...it is probably because it is cheap ...perhaps cheap junk.

And if Apple made everything I can imagine that it would be expensive. IF they didn't, I don't bet on Apple playing nice with everyone either.

Rather see the Lock Screen on the iPad/iPhone be a home control panel if one wants.

And I'd rather see Apple make another router.
 
Jamie0003 said:
Ubiquiti have nothing to do with Apple, their cameras don’t even support HomeKit
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While I agree with your statement that Ubiquiti cameras don't support HomeKit, just in case others aren't aware, technically, you can enable HomeKit support of Ubiquiti cameras, including HomeKit Secure Video (HKSV) with Homebridge and the homebridge-unifi-protect plugin. I'm considering replacing all of my Logitech cameras and doorbell for the Ubiquiti ones.

github.com

homebridge-unifi-protect/docs/HomeKitSecureVideo.md at main · hjdhjd/homebridge-unifi-protect

:video_camera: Complete HomeKit integration for all UniFi Protect device types with full support for most features including HomeKit Secure Video, and more. https://homebridge.io - hjdhjd/homebrid...
github.com github.com
 
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Oh? I'd like this. Nice alternative to Ring and a useful addition to the ecosystem and a logical next step. More so than the whole Apple Car thing , imo.
 
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jocamero said:
While I agree with your statement that Ubiquiti cameras don't support HomeKit, just in case others aren't aware, technically, you can enable HomeKit support of Ubiquiti cameras, including HomeKit Secure Video (HKSV) with Homebridge and the homebridge-unifi-protect plugin. I'm considering replacing all of my Logitech cameras and doorbell for the Ubiquiti ones.

github.com

homebridge-unifi-protect/docs/HomeKitSecureVideo.md at main · hjdhjd/homebridge-unifi-protect

:video_camera: Complete HomeKit integration for all UniFi Protect device types with full support for most features including HomeKit Secure Video, and more. https://homebridge.io - hjdhjd/homebrid...
github.com github.com
Click to expand...
True but the same is true for most non HomeKit cameras. UniFi cameras aren’t special cos of this
 
I'd be pretty wary of buying Apple home devices.

Don't get me wrong: Homekit is my first preference. But it is the least supported of all the ecosystems, second only to Matter/Thread. Smart home catalogues are saturated with products supporting google/alexa/smartthings, and only a small handful support homekit. Some product categories have lacked any decent homekit devices for years and years.

As a result, for better or worse, I think many (most) of us have a mixed ecosystem. There is little doubt an Apple-branded device is probably not going to play nice with mixed ecosystems.

For those of us who are not rich tech enthusiasts ready to replace all our existing setup with premium 2-3X price Apple gear, it might not be a good idea.
 
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I welcome this with open arms.

Existing products out there compatible with homekit are frankly quite inferior and overly expensive. Things like switches, lights are sold everywhere and sometimes they simply don't respond, making automation sluggish. Some products are made to integrate with Alex/Google only and not homekit. If it was done by Apple and integrates well with homekit, I'm willing to pay for the premium and know they work reliably.
 
xalea said:
This is already a pretty saturated market. I can't imagine Apple selling "tens of millions" of cameras, especially when we all know they won't be cheap. Most people don't care about Ring's privacy issues (or are unaware of them). I just don't see them moving the kind of numbers they think they will.
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Unless they can get to Eufy’s level price-wise it’s not really gonna hit (and even then this is not where Apple should be focusing its efforts). Not to mention it’s gonna be a support nightmare for any and all issues revolving around the network side of things. Apple would not only be foolish to do this, but they will fail in the standalone security camera market because good enough will win out every time. Good enough has broad cross-platform ecosystem support. As others have stated the market is saturated with some really good options. They were wise to ditch networking and would be wise to stay away from security cameras entirely even if some mythic hope of service revenue is enticing them in this direction.

What they can and should do is come up with some answer to Home Assistant for those that don’t like to tinker. Make a wall-mountable smart display for all the smart home stuff. That’s the path forward.
 
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boss.king said:
They should bring back the airport/Time Machine line. iCloud is not a backup and security cams etc should always record locally and to the cloud.
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In fairness Time Machine isn’t a backup either unless it’s part of a broader 3-2-1 strategy. The Airport/Time Machine stuff is from a bygone era, Apple could compete only if they bought/aquired someone doing interesting equipment but the two that come to mind wouldn’t sell (Unifi and Aruba)
 
Nice...that's about when my current ones will likely expire. But they need a cellular only option, otherwise I'll have to stick with my current system.
 
Chungry said:
In fairness Time Machine isn’t a backup either unless it’s part of a broader 3-2-1 strategy. The Airport/Time Machine stuff is from a bygone era, Apple could compete only if they bought/aquired someone doing interesting equipment but the two that come to mind wouldn’t sell (Unifi and Aruba)
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I’m pretty sure it is, provided you have enough storage to not be overwriting as you backup.
 
apple camera would be day one buy. Actually would buy many of them. Hopefully they do a doorbell and stand alone cameras like what Logitech offers right now.
 
boss.king said:
I’m pretty sure it is, provided you have enough storage to not be overwriting as you backup.
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That’s not the biggest issue. It fails to follow this: 3-2-1 backup strategy
Plus, In later iterations of the time capsule Apple didn’t even use NAS-rated drives because while they charged a premium for the hardware they cheaped out on the internals because, shareholder value and margins. So this is clearly a detail they consciously decided not to care about. Meaning I don’t trust Apple with my backups anymore (especially noting iCloud-related).
 
btrach144 said:
apple camera would be day one buy. Actually would buy many of them. Hopefully they do a doorbell and stand alone cameras like what Logitech offers right now.
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HomeKit video isn’t great though- it’s sorely lacking in terms of responsiveness and triggers. I’ve tried it many times across many brands over the years and went back to the manufacturer’s solution due to issues with reliability and wanting my video stored locally.
 
Apple cameras will be purposefully designed to not support ONVIF -- that would be a hard pass.
 
triptolemus said:
Apple cameras will be purposefully designed to not support ONVIF -- that would be a hard pass.
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100% they will make it proprietary if for no other reason than to stop that. Meaning, if I can’t pipe it into home assistant I’m not interested.
 
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Chungry said:
HomeKit video isn’t great though- it’s sorely lacking in terms of responsiveness and triggers. I’ve tried it many times across many brands over the years and went back to the manufacturer’s solution due to issues with reliability and wanting my video stored locally.
Click to expand...
I take that with on network encryption over 3rd party solutions that may allow them encryption keys.
 
More departments and segregation at Apple - will likely lead to even further QA degredation for their main product lines. I don't know why Apple is doing this so much lately. I mean, we know why, but, still.
 
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btrach144 said:
I take that with on network encryption over 3rd party solutions that may allow them encryption keys.
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It’s stored locally on my NAS, the app is a conduit to that not some cloud instance hosted in Timbuktu. Obviously you’d want to steer clear of Nest, Arlo and the like. What you gain in ease you lose with security and total control
 
Chungry said:
That’s not the biggest issue. It fails to follow this: 3-2-1 backup strategy
Plus, In later iterations of the time capsule Apple didn’t even use NAS-rated drives because while they charged a premium for the hardware they cheaped out on the internals because, shareholder value and margins. So this is clearly a detail they consciously decided not to care about. Meaning I don’t trust Apple with my backups anymore (especially noting iCloud-related).
Click to expand...
I didn’t say it’s a totally foolproof, self-contained backup solution, but it is still a backup.
 
boss.king said:
I didn’t say it’s a totally foolproof, self-contained backup solution, but it is still a backup.
Click to expand...
3 is 2, 2 is 1, 1 is none. I’ll preach this till I die because I’ve seen too many people rely on a consumer solution like a time capsule only for it to go feet up and lose someone’s irreplaceable memories and important documents. Just be careful. The one place there should be no price ceiling on is backup. At least have backblaze in place for when a single disk solution inevitably fails.
 
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