Apple is the benchmark in terms of physical product design (period) They have redefined, to an extent even altered user preferences (users just don’t realize it š ).
Software and apps though been hit and miss. Apple Home defies all the past.
Apple Home – The smart home management app from Apple (installed by default on all devices running on iOS10) might not be carrying the expanse of integration with other products/services like Google and Amazon but in terms of effectiveness, it’s unparalleled!
The Success of smart home management hubs is two faced. One face is the effectiveness and ease of operation & integration, the other face is width of integration with third party products and services while not comprising on customer data privacy.
Apple has always been finicky about customer privacy to the point of taking the Govt head on! There it scores many marks above the rest. The spirit of customer privacy being taken extremely seriously also reflects in the way Apple chooses to integrate third party products with Homekit.
Any third party product which can integrate with Apple Homekit has to carry an additional ‘8 digit’ security code. This is in addition to other security protocols which are kind of mandated for rest of the smart home systems.
August Smart Lock with Homekit Code
Honeywell Thermostat with Homekit Code
Philips Hue with Homekit Code
In terms of product integration, Apple is very limited. Very few third party integrations, mostly essentials and all products. Not a single service integration – So if you want Siri to book you an Uber or order a pizza..sorry š But it does a fantastic job of smart home management, absolutely frills free!
Apple Homekit is not gimmicky at all, solid smart home management, and water tight customer data security – That’s it.
On the other hand while Google is just starting off, Amazon has a host of third party services integrated to it, very few products. and yes it’s a great product to show off!
Homekit Integration. Get complete list at
http://www.apple.com/shop/accessories/all-accessories/homekit
In terms of Real World smartness, I personally found Siri far more effective than Google Home. Haven’t spent a lot of time with Amazon Echo though, so I will reserve my comments there. But generically speaking, these devices are supposed to be dumb, the real intelligence resides the Cloud with which they communicate and seek answers and support, that way it feels pretty counter intuitive to have Siri playing smarter than Google Home, after all it’s Google with it’s cloud sitting heavy with legions of customer data!
Siri was far more responsive to deciphering meaning of actual sentences even after changing the syntax or placement of key words in sentences. Say for example Google Home would respond to “OK Google switch on lights in reading room” but would be clueless with “OK Google can you switch on lights in reading room”. Siri would be equally effective in both the scenarios.
The only missing practical element in the Apple Ecosystem is the static form factor: A smart assistant sitting tight on your desk looking to serve you 24X7! But then there are somethings that Apple has always been reluctant with -like the introduction of large screens. Samsung took all the risks with large form factors while Apple quietly followed them in.
Google – The only one with ‘All Form Factors’ . The Mobile device as well at Static Hub!
Quiet Clearly, there are alternate lines of thought among the harbingers , the real choice lies with what really is your priority!
By 2020, there will be criss-cross, every players integrating with every other product/service but that’s some distance. For now take sides and enjoy the show.
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