At Apple’s WWDC last year, it announced a few additions to HomeKit, one was HomeKit Secure Video which utilises the power of the HomePod or Apple TV to analyse footage and stores videos in iCloud. This week, Netatmo announced support for this.

The other, was HomeKit support for home routers which will automatically configure the firewall to help isolate smart home devices from your main LAN. This isn’t a new thing by any means, this is something you can do on UniFi by creating a specific IoT VLAN and putting firewall rules in, but for less technically experienced consumers this is a very good addition.

This week, Eero has updated its devices to now support HomeKit, so any devices running eeroOS 3.18.0 can now be added to the Home app on iOS, iPadOS or macOS.

“We are excited to launch support for Apple HomeKit, adding to eero’s smart home support with Amazon Alexa and Amazon Wi-Fi Simple Setup. You can now add your eero devices to the Apple Home app and bring even more protection to your HomeKit accessories.”

Eero

In terms of locking down the access for devices, Apple has a few options within the Home app.

  • Automatic: allows an accessory to communicate to the devices and services approved by its manufacturer, preventing access by unauthorized services.
  • Restrict to Home: allows an accessory to communicate only to HomeKit on your Apple devices. You will be able to manage your accessories through the Home app, but this may reduce some functionality, such as firmware updates.
  • No restriction: allows an accessory to communicate with every device in your home, and any website or service on the internet, much like other devices on your home network.

Source: Eero