HomeKit is nothing new, but it seems that this year is finally when manufacturers have definitely opted for accessories compatible with Apple devices. The catalog of accessories compatible with HomeKit is growing progressively, and Within it, Elgato stands out with its Eve range, which includes indoor and outdoor temperature sensors, smart plugs, motion sensors, thermostats, etc.. All the details on HomeKit, the iOS 10 Home app, accessory settings, and the Elgato Eve app, below.
A protocol to bring them all together
HomeKit is the protocol that guarantees that accessories will work with Apple devices without problems and that you can also combine different brands and use them together without questioning their compatibility with each other. All accessories identified with the yellow logo can be controlled with the Home application, pre-installed on iOS, and it will not matter if they are from the same brand or different, you will have access to them from the Control Center widget and you will be able to use Siri to execute actions with them.
From iPhone 5 and iPad with Retina Display onwards, all iPhone and iPad models are compatible with HomeKit accessories, and you can control them with them, from your home or from outside, as long as you have internet connectivity and use a 3rd or 4th generation Apple TV or a compatible iPad as a HomeKit central at home.
Very simple setup
It is the key to the success of any accessory: configuration and installation within the reach of anyone. Forget about complicated IP cameras or having to use cables to automate your home. Elgato with its range of Eve accessories has portrayed maximum simplicity, and if you don't want to, you won't even have to use a screwdriver. The accessories work with conventional batteries and Elgato has opted for Bluetooth connectivity to achieve maximum autonomy, reaching several months in some accessories.
Open the cover of the accessory, insert the batteries and open the Elgato application to configure the accessory in question in a few simple steps. You will not even have to enter the Settings menu to configure Bluetooth. You can also choose to configure it through the Home application itself, but for reasons that we will explain later, we recommend installing the Elgato Eve application, because it's worth it. Of course it is completely free.
Apple TV becomes the center of your home
If the accessories have Bluetooth connectivity, with the limitation that this type of connection has in terms of range, how can you access them from anywhere? Apple has thought about it and has decided that two devices can be the center that brings together all the HomeKit accessories in the house: the Apple TV and the iPad. You will need an Apple TV 4th Generation with tvOS 10 or an iPad with iOS 10 to be able to take advantage of 100% of the HomeKit functionssuch as automation, remote access and permission settings. You can also use an Apple TV 3 but you will not have the possibility of automation or remote access to cameras. An important detail: you will have to enable two-factor authentication in your Apple account.
This is one of HomeKit's improvement points, and that is that in a house there will be places that are out of Bluetooth connectivity with respect to Apple TV, and that means that you will have to place another control center in that area. Considering the price of Apple TV or iPad, Apple should come up with another solution and offer other more affordable "repeaters" to distribute around the house and thus be able to distribute accessories throughout the rooms without problems. Something that must also be taken into account: if you use an Apple TV 4 you will not be able to use your old Apple TV 3 as an additional control center ... Apple's stuff
Elgato Eve, exhaustive control of your accessories
In addition to the configuration of the accessories, the Elgato Eve application allows us to control them and know all the information they collect with hourly graphs that will allow us to know the evolution of the temperature and air quality inside the house, the consumption of the accessories plugged in through the smart plug or the times the front door has been opened. We can group them by rooms to have everything more organized, and through the application we will elaborate our scenarios and establish our timers and rules so that the lights come on when we enter a room, or at sunset. The possibilities combining different accessories are endless.
Elgato's application deserves to spend time on it because its level of customization is maximum. Configure one or more houses, one or more rooms, assign each accessory to its corresponding location, modify the icons that identify them ... As you can see from the images, there are infinite possibilities to leave your home perfectly configured. And like the iOS Home app it even allows you to control accessories from other brandsas long as they are compatible with HomeKit.
Home, the native application
Apple has designed its own application to control all accessories, and it may be the ideal application for those who do not want too high a level of complexity, although they should be aware that they are wasting the potential of these accessories. We will be able to consult the live information that the accessories have collected, but forget about the graphs that show the evolution. Of course, aesthetically I find it more beautiful than the Elgato application, but once you get used to the brand's application, Casa falls short.
The good thing about the Home application is that it is incorporated into the iOS Control Center, so you can access it from anywhere, even with the iPhone locked, or using another application. The best thing about all this is that you do not have to choose between one or the other, because If you configure the Elgato Eve application, everything will appear perfectly configured at Home, and vice versa. They are two applications that take information from the same source and display it in a different way, so you can use each of them as you are interested.
Share accessories with other accounts
As expected, all your devices that have the same iCloud account activated will share the HomeKit and Home settings that you have made on one of them, so you won't have to perform the same task multiple times. But it would not make much sense that only you at home could control the accessories Since being the only one who can turn on the lamp in the living room can be a bit annoying for other members of the family.
As you can imagine, both the Elgato application and the native iOS application, Casa, allow us to share HomeKit with other people, but this time Casa does it in a more intuitive way. We can even configure the permissions so that guests do not have the same privileges as us. What if a guest has their own HomeKit set up in their home? No problem, not all the accessories will be mixed, but depending on their location, one or the other will appear.
Automations, rules and scenarios
In addition to collecting information, HomeKit accessories allow you to perform actions with that information. Depending on what accessory you have, you can make a lamp turn on (connected to Elgato Eve Energy) when you enter a room (thanks to the Elgato Eve Motion detector) or simply when you get home and open the door (with the Elgato Eve sensor). Door and Window). Do you prefer to use the sunset and sunrise? That you can also do it, or configure a few hours a day, even specify different rules for each day of the week.
Scenarios that combine different actions and that are executed when certain conditions are met, timers ... Combine the accessories and combine their functions to achieve a fully automated home. As before, here we can use the Casa application or Elgato Eve's, and as almost always, the latter includes many more options than the native Apple, although it is true that some functions require a careful study of the different configuration options.
The Elgato Eve accessories one by one
Eve Weather
A small sensor that takes care of measure outside temperature, humidity and atmospheric pressure. Its small size and weight are ideal to fix it outside the house, you can even place it on the wall with the help of a screw, although it is not mandatory. It works with only two AA batteries and is waterproof with IPX3 certification, which means that it should not be exposed to direct rain but it can withstand water spray in a not very intense way. Ideally, place it in a window opening where it is not directly exposed to the sun or rain. You have it available in Amazon at a price that usually ranges between € 39 and € 49.
Eve's Room
It is the brother of the previous one, but designed specifically for the interior of the house. The information that it offers us includes the temperature, air quality and humidity of the room in which it is located.. Air quality is not only determined by CO2 but also detects other harmful compounds that can affect our well-being. This device works with 3 AA batteries and is not designed for outdoor use so it is better not to get it wet or expose it to inclement weather. Your price in Amazon ranges from € 63 to € 75.
Eve Energy
It is the perfect accessory to turn any conventional socket into a smart socket. You can turn on a lamp using Siri, or by pressing the corresponding button on the screen of your iPhone, or by creating rules so that it turns on and off automatically when you get home or when the sun goes down. But automations are only one of the facets of this accessory, because It also offers us detailed information on the energy consumption of the accessory that we have plugged in through it.. Obviously, this accessory does not need batteries to work. Its price can be amortized very soon since it only costs about € 49 in Amazon.
Eve motion
A motion sensor that informs us about the movements that occur where we have placed it. We can receive notifications about when movement is detected, or use it to carry out actions, such as turning on the house lights at certain times whenever there is movement. It requires 2 AA batteries and its size and design is so discreet that you can place it almost anywhere. Your price in Amazon It is about € 39.
Eve Door & Window
Designed to be placed on doors and windows, this sensor detects if they are open or closed, and can notify you about it. Its size is very small and it is placed using an adhesive that includes. It only needs a small 1/2 AA battery and you can use it to perform actions when opening or closing doors or windows. You can also see in the graph of the Elgato Eve app the times it has been opened or closed in the last hours, days or weeks. Its price usually ranges from € 31 to € 39 in Amazon.
Eve thermo
It is an accessory that, due to its characteristics, will require a professional installation in most cases, since it requires that the radiator valve be replaced by a compatible one if you do not have it already installed, something quite likely. . But this "defect" is more than compensated for by its usefulness and by what it can help us save and improve our comfort at home. Ideal for homes with central heating where the placement of a central thermostat is not possible and it is necessary to regulate radiator to radiator. This thermostat allows you to set the temperature at which you want your room to be, and will regulate the radiator to achieve it. Of course it can be integrated with the rest of HomeKit accessories, and you can use Siri to control it. Your price in Amazon it is around € 60.
