IOS 11 and HomeKit

With the introduction of IOS 11 Homekit brings sprinkler support. Apple has also released the Homekit SDK to developers and is allowing integration via software rather then hardware. With this change of direction from Apple, is Rachio reconsidering any Homekit integration?

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@Resqhopper - I think if one looks at the WWDC video where Apple announced the new Homekit in iOS11 there is the Rachio logo. It didn’t get there by accident. Beyond that I don’t expect to see any official comment from Rachio until iOS11 and Rachio v3 are both generally available - i.e. not under non-disclosure agreements. So I would expect Rachio will support Homekit. What it will be able to do is up in the air. Not a deal killer for me.

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It happens to be a killer deal for me and I haven’t promoted my unit or considered upgrading without that support. We were initially told that the first gen unit could be updated to add HomeKit support and that they were investigating it, when it turns out that it didn’t have the necessary hardware support. I read the posts where it felt like it was pulling teeth to get an admission of that and it happened again with gen 2.

The interactions concerning HomeKit make me wary of further investment, even though they have a great product otherwise and it meets my needs. Apple’s requirement wasn’t about reaping licensing money, it was about product security and we’ve seen significant issues with Internet of Things devices falling prey to hacking and becoming instruments of mayhem. A software solution has been discovered and Apple is confident enough in it to replace the hardware option going forward. I would hope to see Rachio release an app update that brings HomeKit to the whole platform, rather than just be an gen 3 feature. That action would confirm for me the ethos of the company and I’d upgrade to a gen 3 when available and promote the hell out of their product with friends and family. For now I’ll wait and see.

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I’m relatively new around here but every now and again, I see the mention of “v3”. Does v3 refer to software or to hardware? I would assume “gen-3” would be the correct reference for hardware.

Best Regards,

Phil

@Philmographer - When I use “v3” I’m referring to software that Rachio is currently working that should work on both their Gen-1 and Gen-2 hardware devices. There are posts that Rachio is fairly happy with their current Gen-2 hardware. There are posters that are asking for a “Gen-3” hardware device to have an Ethernet port so it can be hardwired connected instead of WiFi connected. I haven’t seen any comments, nor would I expect to see any comments until it is released, about a “Gen-3” hardware device.

There was an announcement about the v3 software getting ready to go into beta back in March, but that hasn’t happened yet.