Tag: Smart Home

Apple introduced HomeKey several years ago, and now The Connectivity Standards Alliance (Apple is a part of it) introduced Aliro – new open standard for electronic keys. CSA is also responsible for Matter standard.

The standard will include definitions for Near Field Communication (NFC), Bluetooth^® Low-Energy (LE), and Ultra-Wideband (UWB) experiences, as well as asymmetric cryptography and credential data.

CSA

CSA:

• The Connectivity Standards Alliance Announces Aliro, A New Effort to Make Mobile Devices & Wearables Central To A Digital Access Future
• Aliro

Reference: New 'Aliro' Standard Aims to Simplify Unlocking Doors With Smartphones

Apple releases second beta for iOS/iPad 16.5, macOS 13.4, watchOS 9.5 and tvOS 16.5. No corresponding Xcode beta is published.

New beta seem to be focused on administrator users and Matter support in Home app.

Beta download: Operating Systems

Release notes:

• iOS & iPadOS 16.5 Beta 2 Release Notes
• macOS Ventura 13.4 Beta 2 Release Notes
• watchOS 9.5 Beta 2 Release Notes
• tvOS 16.5 Beta 2 Release Notes

Philips Hue postpones plans to support Matter for their devices til the end of 2023. According to their messaging, firmware update for Hue Bridge takes more time that it was initially expected.

Eve on the other hand announces Matter firmware availability on April 17. And currently Eve already started selling accessories supporting Matter.

Matter smart home standard simplifies hardware development and unifies APIs between multiple smart home solutions. Matter is industry standard which is adopted by multiple venders including Apple. Home app and HomeKit support Matter accessories starting with iOS 16.1.

References:

• Philips Hue Bridge Matter Support Update Appears to Have Been Delayed
• Eve announces Matter firmware upgrades are coming on April 17 for a more reliable HomeKit experience
• Eve Starts Selling Matter-Enabled Smart Home Devices

Apple releases iOS/iPadOS 16.4, macOS Ventura 13.3, watchOS 9.4 and tvOS 16.4. HomePod software is also updated to 16.4. Apple also released Studio Display firmware update.

Xcode 14.3 receives RC 2.

Apple also releases iOS/iPadOS 15.7.4, macOS Monterey 12.6.4 and macOS Big Sur 11.7.5 with security fixes.

iOS

This update includes the following enhancements and bug fixes:

• 21 new emoji including animals, hand gestures, and objects are now available in emoji keyboard
• Notifications for web apps added to the Home Screen
• Voice Isolation for cellular calls prioritizes your voice and blocks out ambient noise around you
• Duplicates album in Photos expands support to detect duplicate photos and videos in an iCloud Shared Photo Library
• VoiceOver support for maps in the Weather app
• Accessibility setting to automatically dim video when flashes of light or strobe effects are detected
• Fixes an issue where Ask to Buy requests from children may fail to appear on the parent's device
• Addresses issues where Matter-compatible thermostats could become unresponsive when paired to Apple Home
• Crash Detection optimizations on iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro models

iPadOS

This update includes the following enhancements and bug fixes:

• 21 new emoji including animals, hand gestures, and objects are now available in emoji keyboard
• Apple Pencil hover adds tilt and azimuth support so you can preview your mark at any angle before you make it in Notes and supported apps on iPad Pro 11-inch (4th generation) and iPad Pro 12.9-inch (6th generation)
• Notifications for web apps added to the Home Screen
• Duplicates album in Photos expands support to detect duplicate photos and videos in an iCloud Shared Photo Library
• VoiceOver support for maps in the Weather app
• Accessibility setting to automatically dim video when flashes of light or strobe effects are detected
• Fixes an issue with Apple Pencil responsiveness that may occur while drawing or writing in the Notes app
• Fixes an issue where Ask to Buy requests from children may fail to appear on the parent's device
• Addresses issues where Matter-compatible thermostats could become unresponsive when paired to Apple Home

macOS

This update includes new emoji along with other enhancements, bug fixes, and security updates for your Mac.

• 21 new emoji including animals, hand gestures, and objects are now available in emoji keyboard
• Remove background option in Freeform automatically isolates the subject in your image
• Photos duplicates album expands support to detect duplicate photos and videos in an iCloud Shared Photo Library
• Transliteration support for Gujarati, Punjabi and Urdu keyboards
• New keyboard layouts for Choctaw, Chickasaw, Akan, Hausa, and Yoruba
• Accessibility setting to automatically dim video when flashes of light or strobe effects are detected
• VoiceOver support for maps in the Weather app
• Resolves an issue where Trackpad gestures may occasionally stop responding
• Fixes an issue where Ask to Buy requests from children may fail to appear on the parent's device
• Addresses an issue where VoiceOver may be unresponsive after using Finder

watchOS

watchOS 9.4 includes improvements to Apple Watch and brings features to new regions. 

• Wake-up alarms are no longer silenced with cover to mute gesture to avoid accidental cancellations during sleep
• Cycle Tracking with retrospective ovulation estimates and cycle deviation alerts now supported in Moldova and Ukraine
• AFib History now available in Colombia, Malaysia, Moldova, Thailand, and Ukraine

Beta download: Applications

References:

• Apple Releases iOS and iPadOS 16.4 with New Emoji, Notifications for Web Apps on the Home Screen, Voice Isolation for Cellular Calls, New Shortcuts Actions, and More
• WebKit Features in Safari 16.4
• Apple Releases Studio Display Firmware Update
• iOS 16.4 Expands iPhone 14's Emergency SOS via Satellite to Six More Countries
• Apple releases tvOS 16.4 with new ‘Dim Flashing Lights’ feature
• iOS 16.4 is now available, with a lot of user-facing updates
• iOS 16.4 Includes New Apple Podcasts App Features Across iPhone and CarPlay
• iOS 16.4 Adds Order Tracking Widget, Lets You Share Order Information
• Apple releases Studio Display firmware update with new ‘Pro Display’ feature
• PSA: Make Sure to Update Older Devices to iOS 15.7.4 to Fix Actively Exploited Vulnerability
• iOS 15.7.4, macOS Monterey 12.6.4, macOS Big Sur 11.7.5 all get security updates
• Apple releases security notes for iOS 16.4, watchOS 9.4, macOS Ventura 13.3
• iOS 16.4 Adds Support for PlayStation 5 DualSense Edge Wireless Controller
• iOS 16.4 and iPadOS 16.4
• iOS 16.4 and macOS 13.3 Gain Multiple New Shortcut Action Options

Following the yesterday's updates to iOS and other platforms Apple now updates tvOS and HomePod software to 16.3.

Most notable feature would be enabling humidity and temperature sensors in HomePod mini.

HomePod software updates include: 

• Temperature and humidity sensing measures your indoor climate with HomePod (2nd generation) and HomePod mini
• Remastered ambient sounds are more immersive and can now be added to scenes, automations, and alarms in the Home app
• Find My on HomePod now enables you to ask Sir for the location of friends and family, if they have shared it with you
• Recurring Home automations can be set up using just your voice
• Siri confirmation tone will now play to indicate when smart home requests are completed for accessories that may not visibly show a change or are located in a different room
• Audio tuning optimizes spoken content such as podcasts for even greater clarity on HomePod (2nd generation) and HomePod (1st generation)
• Updated volume controls on HomePod (1st generation) give you more granular adjustments at lower volumes

References:

• HomePod software update 16.3 now rolling out, here’s everything new
• Apple Releases HomePod 16.3 Software With Humidity and Temperature Sensing, Find My Improvements, Audio Tuning, and More

Following announcements on new Mac hardware Apple today announces update to HomePod.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMf_i1YBuMk

Second generation HomePod gets S7 chip, UWB, temperature and humidity sensors. HomePod also gets Matter smart home standard support.

HomePod second generation follows design of original smart speaker while getting sound quality improvements too. However, it is noted that original HomePod could not be combined as stereo pair with second generation.

HomePod mini apparently also has temperature and humidity sensors. And those will be enabled with upcoming software update.

Sound Recognition feature comes to both new HomePod and HomePod mini to listen for smoke alarms in the house.

Apple Newsroom: Apple introduces the new HomePod with breakthrough sound and intelligence

References:

• Apple Announces Second-Generation HomePod
• Apple unveils new full-size HomePod with refined design, new color, $299 price, more
• PSA: HomePod stereo pairs won’t work between first and second-gen speakers
• New HomePod & existing HomePod mini have temperature sensors
• Both HomePod and HomePod Mini Now Feature Temperature and Humidity Sensor
• HomePod mini software update will activate hidden sensor and Sound Recognition feature
• New HomePod Can't Be Stereo Paired With First-Generation HomePod
• Apple Expanding Sound Recognition Feature to New HomePod and HomePod Mini With Software Update Later This Year
• HomePod (2nd Generation)

It is last weekend before Christmas, so we have a bit more time to read something interesting.

• Starting with good article on Apple Pencil features in Apple Developer blog – Spotlight on: Apple Pencil hover;
  
  
• Good take by Natascha Fadeeva on code signing in iOS – Developer guide on iOS code signing & provisioning (yes, we still need to understand that properly);
  
  
• Couple more design notes by David Smith – Design Notes Diary #7, Design Notes Diary #8 and Design Notes Diary #9;
  
  
• Jesse Squires writes on issues with iOS Simulator – Workaround: simctrl status_bar broken for iOS 16 simulators;
  
  
• Quick reminder on how to make enum's easier to read by Marco Eidinger – Swift Enum With Labeled Associated Values;
  
  
• And another guide on stride function – Swift Stride Quick Guide by Keith Harrison;
  
  
• Antoine van der Lee explains OptionSet – OptionSet in Swift explained with code examples;
  
  
• Majid Jabrayilov keeps his series on SwiftUI layouts – Building custom layout in SwiftUI. LayoutValueKey.;
  
  
• Creating a HomeKit-enabled App with SwiftUI by Moritz Philip Recke guides us through smart home app development process;
  
  
• Ole Begemann creates great example app to demonstrate SwiftUI view lifecycle – Understanding SwiftUI view lifecycles;
  
  
• Dynamically Change App Icons for a Unique User Experience with SwiftUI by Leonardo Maia Pugliese explains the process of changing app icon in iOS;
  
  
• Couple of Swift articles by Sarun W. – What is the difference between #available and @available and How to make Swift Enum conforms to Identifiable protocol.

And returning with video section! Great talk on JavaScriptCore usage – Make your app securely extensive with JavaScriptCore.

https://youtu.be/u1iJAalE8lw

And that is for today! Have a great weekend!

Apple provides developers with access to first beta of iOS/iPadOS 16.2, macOS 13.1, watchOS 9.2 and tvOS 16.2.

Beta brings Freeform app which Apple demoed on WWDC22. External display support is also now available for iPads with M1 and M2 chips.

Also new beta brings new Home app architecture aimed to improve stability of smart home management.

Also, iOS 16.2 will have an option to report erroneously triggered SOS calls to Apple. Possibly, this should minimize false calls in the future.

Notably, no new Xcode beta is published. Xcode 14.1 is still in RC2 stage.

Beta download: Operating Systems

Release notes:

• iOS & iPadOS 16.2 Beta Release Notes
• macOS Ventura 13.1 Beta Release Notes
• watchOS 9.2 Beta Release Notes
• tvOS 16.2 Beta Release Notes

Apple Developer: Get ready with the latest beta releases

References:

• iPadOS 16.2 Beta Adds Support for Using Stage Manager With External Displays on M1 and M2 iPads
• iPadOS 16.2 beta adds Freeform collaboration app, Stage Manager external display support
• iOS 16.2, iPadOS 16.2, and macOS Ventura 13.1 Betas Introduce Freeform App
• iOS and iPadOS 16.2 Betas Overhaul Home App Architecture With Improved Performance
• iOS 16.2 beta introduces new architecture to the Home app for a more reliable experience
• iOS 16.2 lets users report to Apple when Emergency SOS is unintentionally triggered
• Hands-On With the New Freeform App in iPadOS 16.2
• Everything New in iPadOS and iOS 16.2 Beta 1: Freeform App, Stage Manager External Display Support, Accidental Emergency SOS Reports and More

Apple publishes iOS 16.1 beta 4, iPadOS 16 beta 11, macOS 13 Ventura beta 10, watchOS 9.1 beta 4. No new Xcode beta is published yet.

iOS 16.1 brings support for Matter home device standard.

New iOS 16.1 beta also removes Adaptive Transparency for older AirPods Pro switch in settings, confirming that this was an error.

Beta download: Operating Systems

Release notes:

• iOS 16.1 Beta 4 Release Notes
• iPadOS 16 Beta 11 Release Notes
• macOS 13 Ventura Beta 10 Release Notes
• watchOS 9.1 Beta 4 Release Notes
• tvOS 16.1 Beta 4 Release Notes

References:

• Apple-backed Matter smart home standard officially launches as iOS 16.1 adds support
• Matter Smart Home Standard Officially Launches, Support Could Come in iOS 16.1
• Latest iOS 16.1 Beta Removes Adaptive Transparency Toggle for Original AirPods Pro, Confirming Bug
• iOS 16.1 beta 4 removes ‘Adaptive Transparency’ toggle for older AirPods Pro and Max
• Ventura adds dynamic wallpaper and new screensaver as macOS 13 readies for release

The Connectivity Standards Alliance, which Apple and Google are part of, has announced delay of the Matter standard launch.