If you have a HomePod and want to start using it as a controller for your smart home, or are thinking of buying one for that task, in this post we are going to see what kind of accessories are compatible. Beyond communication standards and protocols and applications, we are going to see, on a physical level, what can be controlled with the Apple smart speaker.
What each accessory does
Accessories compatible with HomePod, first of all, have to be compatible with the HomeKit and Matter communication protocols. On the one hand, HomeKit was, until now, Apple’s proprietary communication protocol between accessories and operating systems. The “Made For iPhone” of the home intelligent. On the other hand, Matter is the connection standard that has been adopted so that all smart devices are compatible with the different AI assistants that are currently on the market: Google Assistant, Alexa and Siri.
However, it must also be taken into account that there are certain accessories and manufacturers with which, through an application, you can interact with the accessories, without having to invoke Siri. Unlike the iPhone, however, the HomePod It does not have a screen on which applications can be displayed and handle graphical environments. Hence, it is very important that the accessories that we connect are compatible through voice commands, and not only with the application.
Although it is also true that manufacturers are going to gradually update the firmware of the different accessories to make them compatible with Matter, Apple has granted compatibility with this standard in HomePod and HomePod mini. So once we have all this in mind, it’s time to see which are the smart home accessories that have this type of standard, or, at the moment, they are only compatible with HomeKit, but compatible with HomePod:
- Lightning:
- LED strips
- Light bulbs
- light panels
- Energy and home:
- smart plugs
- smart power strips
- thermostats
- Thermometers
- Air quality sensors
- weather stations
- Valves for radiators and boilers
- Stop valves for water
- Security:
- Security cameras
- smart locks
- smart doorbells
- Motion sensors
These types of accessories are sold in a specific section of the official Apple website. The home automation section partially includes the accessories that are compatible with the HomeKit home automation ecosystem. However, the market for home automation accessories must be taken into account. At the moment, the vast majority of peripherals that can be connected to be controlled by voice assistants are of this type.
In addition, it must be taken into account that the standardized communication protocol Matter dates from December 2022. It has not been even a year since this new system has arrived and there is still a long way to go for the new accessories that are produced to have this type of communication. In addition, more and more are the new connected accessories coming out. And if we take into account that the more time passes, the more accessories come out, and the more compatibility there is, this list that we have left you will continue to grow.
