Nest, Amazon Echo, and HomeKit Work with More Devices

Nest, Amazon Echo, and HomeKit now work with a lot more devices

By Jenny McGrath January 13, 2016

nest amazon echo and homekit work with more devices vivint works — Jenny McGrath / Digital Trends

At last year’s CES, Nest announced a flock of new partners for its Works with Nest program, adding more functionality to its connected thermostat, smoke detector, and camera. Unlock the door, and your heat kicks on. If your Nest Protect goes off, your Hue lights start flashing. This year, Nest didn’t make a big announcement, and it was actually the Amazon Echo that seemed to gain the most functionality. But both Nest and HomeKit added new integrations in the great journey to making your home fully connected.

Whirlpool added some new functionality that makes a lot of sense: Nest knows when you’re home and away, so it can alert you if you left your Whirlpool connected range on. Nuheat isn’t as much of a household name, but it works similarly. Its floor-heating system can kick on or off, depending on whether you’re around. On the Nest Cam side, owners’ MyQ app can give them a live stream of what’s happening when their Chamberlain garage door opens.

It’s become almost impossible to keep up with everything that works with Apple’s HomeKit now. At CES 2016, First Alert announced several new Onelink products that will work with Siri, including a smoke and carbon monoxide detector, environment sensor, Wi-Fi-enabled safe, and thermostat. The company also wants its forthcoming baby monitor camera to have HomeKit compatibility. Its cool feature is that it tracks your child’s breathing patterns, meaning it can send an alert if something goes wrong.

HomeKit will get its first compatible fans from Hunter Fan Company, and Lutron’s blinds will also work with the platform, as long as you have its Caséta Wireless Smart Bridge. The first HomeKit-enabled lock from Kwikset, Premis, was also on display at the show. And while iDevices already had a couple products that were HomeKit-ready, later this year it will add four more; a socket, switch, dimmer switch, and wall outlet.

If you’re a fan of talking to your smart-home devices without pulling out your phone, you’ll be glad to know Amazon Echo had its own slew of compatibility announcements. Big Ass Solutions has fans that you control with the Bluetooth speaker, and Alarm.com came on board to let you use your voice to control your lights and eventually thermostats. You can ask Alexa to find items you’ve attached your TrackR Bluetooth beacon to. You can also make hands-free, Internet-based phone calls using Ooma Telo and its new Alexa integration. Beyond that, subscription-based smart-home companies Nexia and Vivint announced Echo compatibility, and the latter also works with Nest.

On the more DIY side, Honeywell’s smart thermostat and its smart smoke-detector battery Roost each now have IFTTT channels.

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