this post was submitted on 22 Dec 2024
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The biggest problem for smart homes for people who aren't enormous nerds is that nothing works together with each other in a simple, coordinated way.
And, of course, one of Apple's biggest strengths is that they've built a cohesive ecosystem that, usually, works just fine with limited fiddling.
Right now you've either got 14 apps for different shit, or you've built something like Home Assistant to try to glue together all this garbage into a coherent solution. I've gone that route, and it works mostly, usually, typically, fine-ish.
It's a shit experience, still, because it's a pile of random plugins and code from random people glued into something that can't stop fucking with existing and working features and thus is perpetually in need of updates and maintenance and fiddling.
I wouldn't bet against Apple being able to make a doorbell, security cameras, light switches, and a thermostat and then turning that into something that actually works properly in homekit, is kept updated, and is easy to configure and use and secure.
That's really the missing piece that nobody seems to have been interested or willing to go after.
I don’t doubt apple’s ability to make this work well. I do doubt that there is more than a niche market for it. I also think it’s boring, and for some reason, I still expect apple to do better.
Having a Ring doorbell is a game changer. If you've never used one I understand the reticence.
I do think it will be standard thing in the future. It's a basic quality of life improvement having a record of door interactions, being able to answer when you are away, even answering without going to the door. It's easy to understand and appealing to most people.
I’ve had one for a decade or so. It’s fine. Life was fine before it too. Let’s all stay grounded people.