If you’ve ever considered starting your smart home journey with the Apple HomeKit or maybe switching to it from another ecosystem, it might not entirely be a great idea. Here are some reasons why you should avoid Apple HomeKit.
1. Limited Smart Speaker Options
Smart speakers are typically deployed as the backbone of a smart home ecosystem. They serve the function of a hub, enabling interconnectivity between your smart home devices.
Apple discontinued the larger HomePod speaker in March 2021 in favor of the HomePod Mini. So far, Apple has shown no signs of launching a HomePod model to complement the mini.
2. Costly Ecosystem
Of the three major smart home ecosystems, Apple’s HomeKit is the most expensive to set up and manage. Get a $200 smartphone, a $50 Google Nest Mini, and a few smart home gadgets, and you’re off to a good start with Google’s Home ecosystem. Need Apple HomeKit? Well, using HomeKit requires an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch that is powered by the latest version of iOS.
Of course, an iPhone or an iPad doesn’t come cheap. Also, starting from iOS 16 and iPadOS16, the Apple TV or HomePod mini is the preferred control hub within the HomeKit ecosystem.
That’s not all. For a smart home device to be MFi certified, which is a standard for gadgets that can talk to HomeKit, such a device must have a special, Apple-recommended security chip. This chip is costly and adds extra costs to the production of HomeKit-compatible home appliances. This cost is likely pushed to the consumers. No matter the angle you look at it, HomeKit is an expensive ecosystem.
3. Limited Number of Compatible Devices
That’s a lot by all standards. Apple’s HomeKit can only muster compatibility with a few hundred brands.
At the fundamental level, requirements to join the HomeKit-compatible club are a bit more stringent which is typical of Apple’s walled-garden approach to building technology. This has its advantages, but it also keeps a lot of useful smart gadgets from being interoperable with HomeKit.
4. Slow Pace of Innovation
While Apple has been mocked for lacking innovation with some of its products like the iPhone, that’s quite debatable. However, Apple’s slow pace of innovation isn’t quite debatable when it comes to the story of its sojourn in the world of smart speakers and home automation.
5. Overall Performance
There’s also the issue of the virtual assistant. Siri is smart. However, it still falls short when it goes against the likes of Alexa and Google Assistant.
In terms of accuracy in answering questions, Siri came behind Alexa in our in-house virtual assistant test. In a test conducted by Loup Ventures, using a different questioning technique, Siri still played second fiddle, this time, to Google Assistant. Whether you’re an Apple fan or not, once you look at things objectively, it is easy to see that the HomePod mini and Apple’s virtual assistant, Siri, fall behind in several metrics.
6. Apple Is Not Making Much Smart Home Hardware
If you’re serious about making the best products, you need to build the hardware that runs your software. This has been Apple’s philosophy from its early years and Steve Jobs made it clear during the January 2007 unveiling of the iPhone.
This isn’t about who makes the most smart gadgets. It is about ensuring seamless compatibility and quality across all the interoperable smart gadgets within an ecosystem.
Apple depends heavily on third-party hardware to keep the HomeKit ecosystem afloat. For a lot of people using HomeKit, there’s a good chance that almost everything on their Home app is made by different manufacturers. You’d seldom find things that work just right. For some products, interoperability is a complete mess and timely software update is wishful thinking.
Do you want to walk into a store and pick a smart gadget that you know will just work with HomeKit when you plug it in? Not happening. Buying products with a HomeKit sticker doesn’t mean it will just work. Also, being HomeKit-compatible isn’t necessarily a seal of quality from Apple.
Apple’s HomeKit Isn’t There Yet
If you find yourself stuck within the Apple ecosystem, HomeKit isn’t disappointing in all metrics. It does have its good points. However, if you have the option of choosing, HomeKit might not be the best choice for you.
