September (20) Apple Event

Alli said:
I have an Alexa every 6 feet, so I didn’t bother with the overpriced HomePod.
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JBaby said:
HomePod is definitely overpriced. I got mine in Christmas 2018 when they were on sale for $199. At the time that was the lowest price and it was one per customer. I bought one thinking I’d only want one. I was wrong. I bought a 2nd one a month later still on sale. But I bought it as my Mom.
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I think that Apple got into the home automation game way too late, the Amazon Echo is cheap, simple, ubiquitous and supports way more devices.
 
ericgtr12 said:
I think that Apple got into the home automation game way too late, the Amazon Echo is cheap, simple, ubiquitous and supports way more devices.
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I totally agree. In truth I didn’t get them for home automation and my first one was an impulse buy. I hadn’t splurge on anything since the iPhone X prior to getting it. I got the second one because the first blew me away. But if I had Echo I’d use it. But I was never really into Amazon. In fact the only Amazon device I have is a Kindle I got in 2019. Side note Kindle was the best purchase of 2019. The living room tv, Mom’s tv, has a Sonos Beam and it has Alexa but she’s never once used it. She had me turn off the mic. She’s not paranoid about Alexa she just didn’t want to use it. Now she’s too used to Siri so she doesn’t even think of Alexa. Funny story about HomeKit is when I got my fan. I was lucky that I had a HomeKit home. Back then Hunter’s app didn’t work on any platform. These fans have to be set up with the app. So there was nothing but bad reviews because the fan wouldn’t work with Google and Alexa. It would’ve been an issue for HomeKit before it wasn’t because you can bypass all companion apps. I’m sure the issue is fixed now, but back then it was a big deal. Hunter didn’t get competent devs until 11 months ago. I’d have been pissed if I bought a fan that couldn’t be set up and could only be used with the included remote. The remote sucks too because the fan beeps loudly every time a button is pressed and you could only turn it off with the app. I put my remote in my junk drawer and haven’t seen it since the fan was installed.

Even though I’m all in with  I’m only buying smart devices that can work with all 3 platforms just to leave my options open. I think my original Koogeek smart plug is the only device that’s HomeKit only.
 
JBaby said:
I totally agree. In truth I didn’t get them for home automation and my first one was an impulse buy. I hadn’t splurge on anything since the iPhone X prior to getting it. I got the second one because the first blew me away. But if I had Echo I’d use it. But I was never really into Amazon. In fact the only Amazon device I have is a Kindle I got in 2019. Side note Kindle was the best purchase of 2019. The living room tv, Mom’s tv, has a Sonos Beam and it has Alexa but she’s never once used it. She had me turn off the mic. She’s not paranoid about Alexa she just didn’t want to use it. Now she’s too used to Siri so she doesn’t even think of Alexa. Funny story about HomeKit is when I got my fan. I was lucky that I had a HomeKit home. Back then Hunter’s app didn’t work on any platform. These fans have to be set up with the app. So there was nothing but bad reviews because the fan wouldn’t work with Google and Alexa. It would’ve been an issue for HomeKit before it wasn’t because you can bypass all companion apps. I’m sure the issue is fixed now, but back then it was a big deal. Hunter didn’t get competent devs until 11 months ago. I’d have been pissed if I bought a fan that couldn’t be set up and could only be used with the included remote. The remote sucks too because the fan beeps loudly every time a button is pressed and you could only turn it off with the app. I put my remote in my junk drawer and haven’t seen it since the fan was installed.

Even though I’m all in with  I’m only buying smart devices that can work with all 3 platforms just to leave my options open. I think my original Koogeek smart plug is the only device that’s HomeKit only.
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Totally understand, once you get into one of their ecosystems it's hard to break out of that for something different. It also makes sense to turn off mics on devices you're not using.

As far as the fan goes, I recently installed a ceiling fan and it has a remote and all but I never use it, for devices like that I just replace the light switch with a smart switch, then just add a voice control command for it. I do this for all of my lights as well, just replacing the switches so I don't ever have to fuss with bulbs, etc.
 
ericgtr12 said:
Totally understand, once you get into one of their ecosystems it's hard to break out of that for something different. It also makes sense to turn off mics on devices you're not using.

As far as the fan goes, I recently installed a ceiling fan and it has a remote and all but I never use it, for devices like that I just replace the light switch with a smart switch, then just add a voice control command for it. I do this for all of my lights as well, just replacing the switches so I don't ever have to fuss with bulbs, etc.
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That’s cool! I would love to add smart switches but landlady is a Muggle. She was cool with installing the fan. We didn’t tell her it was smart. It’s no concern of hers anyway if we move I’m taking my fan with me.
 
JBaby said:
Even though I’m all in with  I’m only buying smart devices that can work with all 3 platforms just to leave my options open. I think my original Koogeek smart plug is the only device that’s HomeKit only.
Click to expand...

I’m looking forward to all the major players sharing so that those of us in mixed homes can live peacefully. My husband is <sigh> an Android user, and very happy with Google. (We have 3-4 Google devices too.) But it would be nice to put everything on a single hub that can be used by any of the platforms.
 
Alli said:
I’m looking forward to all the major players sharing so that those of us in mixed homes can live peacefully. My husband is an Android user, and very happy with Google. (We have 3-4 Google devices too.) But it would be nice to put everything on a single hub that can be used by any of the platforms.
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I can’t wait for this too. It will simplify so much.

I’m so lucky my family is easy. They use what I like. Makes it easy for me. But for years my sister had a crappy Android phone. I’m not hating on Android. It was just that this particular model was terrible. We hated seeing the green bubbles. And I hated having to fix it whenever I saw her. I finally got her on iOS with the 6S. Mom got her a 11 Pro for her birthday last year. This is her 2nd iPhone.
 
JBaby said:
We hated seeing the green bubbles.
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OMG - there is nothing worse than a group chat where that one person is using an Android. In my family, that one person is my sister-in-law. SMH.
 
Alli said:
OMG - there is nothing worse than a group chat where that one person is using an Android. In my family, that one person is my sister-in-law. SMH.
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The absolute worst!!!!! I used to think I was just being elitist. But one day Mom got a text from a coworker and she said, “Ugh! Green bubble people suck!” [emoji1787]
 
JBaby said:
The absolute worst!!!!! I used to think I was just being elitist. But one day Mom got a text from a coworker and she said, “Ugh! Green bubble people suck!” [emoji1787]
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Nothing (and I mean nothing) is worse seeing the green bubble when someone is texting you.
 
It’s just occurred to me that it’s after 8 p.m. and my new watch band isn’t here yet. The curfew went into place at 7. I don’t think I’m getting my band until Monday. :(
 
Alli said:
I got a new MBP last summer after residency. I realized I needed more space and more power just for all the research I was collecting.
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We use the last working Time Capsule Apple made. I got File Browser a long while ago, so I can easily move stuff back and forth and not cruft this thing up too much. The computer I have right now is a G5 iMac. I have done my best to skip the intel generation because, honestly, the CPU architecture is a mess and I have a hard time tolerating it.
 
Yoused said:
We use the last working Time Capsule Apple made. I got File Browser a long while ago, so I can easily move stuff back and forth and not cruft this thing up too much. The computer I have right now is a G5 iMac. I have done my best to skip the intel generation because, honestly, the CPU architecture is a mess and I have a hard time tolerating it.
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I actually automatically save everything to my Google Drive. I trust them far more than any hardware I could own. But it’s nice to have the space when you need it.
 
FedEx actually showed up today. And let me tell you, the braided band is the softest most wonderful band! Prettier in person than on TV, and it doesn’t have metal which won’t match your watch.

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