Platforms & Ecosystem
4 articlesMatter 1.6 and Product Security 1.1 officially announced - 9to5Mac5 min
Matter 1.6 targets the biggest real-world pain points: faster setup and less ecosystem lock-in. Full NFC commissioning can pair devices before theyâre even powered or installed, and âJoint Fabricâ makes sharing one Matter home across ecosystems feel less like re-adding everything twice. New thermostat âsuggestionsâ also aim to stop automations from overriding your comfort or demand-response settings.
Apple and Google have added Thread 1.4 support2 min
Thread networks have been a silent Matter pain point: each ecosystemâs border routers often built their own separate Thread mesh. Apple and Google now support Thread 1.4, which should let routers share credentials and join a single network â but the fix isnât fully usable yet (Googleâs sharing is flaky, Appleâs UI is missing in beta).
Homey's latest update lets ChatGPT build your smart home for you2 min
Homey is baking ChatGPT directly into its platform, so you can control devices and build automations by describing what you want in plain English instead of assembling Flow logic card-by-card. It works across Homey Cloud, Pro, Pro Mini, and self-hosted installs, and itâs a meaningful sweetener right after Homeyâs recent price hikes.
Google has ended Nest Mini and Nest Audio production, discontinuing both speakers2 min
Google is sunsetting two of its most common Google Assistant speakers: Nest Mini and Nest Audio are no longer being made, with the new Google Home Speaker positioned as the replacement. Current owners should still get updates and security patches, but shoppers lose the cheap âstarterâ speaker â a sign Google is narrowing its lineup as it pushes newer hardware.
Product Launches
4 articlesSchlage Sense Pro Smart Deadbolt brings UWB, Matter and Aliro together later this month3 min
This is a big step toward âphone-as-your-keyâ smart locks that donât trap you in one ecosystem. Schlageâs Sense Pro lands June 29 for $399, pairing Matter (including Matter-over-Thread) with UWB for true hands-free unlock. Aliro support is planned after certification, so cross-wallet digital keys arenât fully there yet at launch.
AI-Powered Cheerble Match G1 Multi-Cat Feeder With Face Recognition4 min
If you have multiple cats with different diets, this feeder tackles the real problem: the âboss catâ stealing everyoneâs food. Cheerbleâs Match G1 uses on-device face recognition (no collars) to unlock only the right bowl and closes a barrier when the wrong cat tries to eat. It also supports wet food with cooling; preorder starts at $189.
Google bets on Gemini to reinvent the smart home speaker | TechCrunch3 min
Googleâs new $99.99 Home Speaker is a bet that Gemini can make voice control feel less âcommand-basedâ and more conversationalânatural language, multi-step requests, and mid-sentence corrections should cut smart-home friction. The bigger shift is monetization: a Home Premium subscription adds deeper AI chats and Nest camera summaries, with a 6âmonth free trial to hook you.
Centralized smart home control: Put Matter inside your distribution box for $20 with SONOFF4 min
Why this matters: for about $20, SONOFF brings Matter control and energy monitoring to your electrical panel, so you can measure and automate whole circuits (heaters, water heaters, EV charging) instead of guessing from smart plugs. Multi-admin sharing works well, but the metrics you actually see vary by ecosystemâHome Assistant exposes the most.
Reviews & Spotlight
4 articlesAiper IrriSense 2 review: A smarter sprinkler for small yards13 min
If you want âsmart sprinklingâ without installing an in-ground system, Aiperâs IrriSense 2 is one of the simplest paths: stake it down, hook to a hose, map zones, and let weather-aware scheduling cut waste. The trade-offs are big for smart-home folks: it needs AC power nearby and has no native Alexa/Google/HomeKit (Home Assistant hacks exist).
Qingping Thermometer review: Apple Home, Thread, etc3 min
Room-by-room temperature data is the cheapest âHVAC upgrade,â and Qingpingâs refreshed thermometer makes it practical in Apple Home. Moving from Bluetooth to Thread means faster, more reliable readings (no remote lag) if you have a HomePod mini/Apple TV. The Eâink display is the real win: easy to read, blends into decor, and avoids yet another glowing screen.
Tapo P110M review: Why this $10 smart plug is the only one you need to buy6 min
If you want a cheap smart plug that âjust works,â this review says the $10 Tapo P110M is the rare Matter win: fast pairing, stable WiâFi performance, and energy monitoring once you update firmware. The catch is Matter still fragments featuresâApple Home canât show energy data yet, and youâll need Tapoâs app for updates and extras like Charge Guard.
A strange little electric nose may be the missing piece for smart fridges3 min
Smart fridges mostly automate inventory and temperatures, but this UC Berkeley âelectric noseâ points to what could actually make them useful: detecting spoilage gases and even trace allergens before you take a risk. Itâs promising lab tech (roomâtemp sensing + ML), but the real test is messy, mixed-food fridges where odors overlap.
Projects & How-To
5 articlesSimulating a Solar Panel & Battery in Home Assistant Before Buying One10 min
If youâre eyeing balcony solar + a battery but donât want to gamble âŹ1k, this Home Assistant project lets you âtry before you buyâ using your real data. Feed it an outdoor lux sensor and whole-home power draw, and it estimates panel output and simulates a battery charging/discharging minute by minuteâso you can see if youâd actually fill the battery and cover evenings in your specific home.
Home Assistant Notifications That Run Apple Shortcuts (Yes, Really)6 min
Home Assistant can now âtriggerâ Apple Shortcuts indirectly: send a notification to your iPhone/iPad/Mac, and Shortcuts in Appleâs 27 OS betas can parse that notification and run automationsâeven while locked. Big upside for controlling Apple-only actions from HA, but a beta bug currently breaks title/body filtering, limiting precision until Apple fixes it.
GitHub - MichalZaniewicz/esphome-guition-jc3636k718c-va: Full Home Assistant voice assistant on the Guition JC3636K718C round knob display, in pure ESPHome: on-device wake word, music player, timers, addressable LED ring, device control and two built-in games.4 min
DIYers: this turns the Guition round knob display into a mini âEcho Showâ for Home Assistantâwake word on-device, Assist voice pipeline, a real kid-friendly timer, and a slick knob+touch UI with a reactive LED ring. The clever bit is ESPHome âpackages,â so you keep one thin YAML and pick which screens (music, thermostat, games) compile in.
My smart home sends me a brutally honest report card every dayâhere's how I set it up with a local LLM5 min
A clever way to turn smart home data into behavior change without shipping your life to the cloud: this setup pulls Apple Health stats into Home Assistant via Shortcuts, blends in presence + tasks via n8n, then runs a local Ollama LLM overnight to generate a snarky âreport card.â In the morning it shows on a dashboard and gets read aloud when you sit down to work.
Automation modes in Home Assistant9 min
Home Assistantâs ânothing happenedâ moments are often just the default automation mode quietly dropping triggers. This guide explains when to switch from single to restart, queued, or parallelâplus two safer motionâlight patterns. Key gotcha: queued evaluates conditions at trigger time, not when it finally runs, so old intent can fire later. Use traces to confirm behavior.
Perspectives
3 articlesMy Father Wants to Age in Place. AI Will Be Watching11 min
Aging-in-place tech is shifting from âhelp if you askâ to always-on surveillanceâand this essay shows the human cost. Sensi.ai can flag falls, coughs, and even loneliness, but it may record private conversations without clear, remembered consent. Experts question bold cognitive-decline claims, and the piece warns agencies may be the real customer, not the senior.
Will robot lawn mowers replace mowing? Experts say thatâs the wrong question6 min
Robot mowers are now good enough to handle routine cutting with minimal babysitting, but the real blocker isnât capabilityâitâs whether homeowners want to give up a pride-and-routine ritual, plus todayâs high prices. Expect âpartial automationâ: robots do the repetitive mowing while humans (and landscapers) focus on edging, trimming, and design.
What Happens After Your Smart Fridge Stops Getting Software Updates? - Engadget5 min
Smart fridges donât just âbecome normalâ when updates end â they can lose cloud features you paid for, become harder and pricier to repair, and turn into a security liability on your home network. The piece argues the bigger risk is unpatched IoT: an old fridge can become an easy foothold for malware, spying, or botnets.