Now that you can manage your home with a controller, you obviously need a way to manage said controller, too. And now, you can do just that with the Eve Button for HomeKit. Allowing folks to access various scenes and devices in bulk, the Eve Button from Elgato claims to be a “practical and pretty controller for HomeKit.” The minimal design certainly helps it blend in with other products in the Apple ecosystem, and will help you activate up to three HomeKit scenes with a single, double, or long press of the button.
The new Elgato product can be plugged into any HomeKit setup, and is said to only need a bit of configuration via the HomeKit or Eve app. But since there’s no bridge or third-party cloud service to speak of, getting the Eve Button up and running with your existing Apple smart home hub should be pretty straightforward.
But why, you ask, is such a button necessary? As Adam Steinberg, vice president of customer experience at Elgato, noted, “There are situations when you don’t have access to Siri or an app, and where no sensor is available to trigger the scene. That’s where Eve Button comes in, ensuring that you’re always in control.”
Think of the Eve Button as an extension of HomeKit, helping you exercise control over your domain wherever and whenever you’d like.
The button allows users to assign up to three different scenes in which multiple accessories will work simultaneously. A single scene can be triggered with a single press, two scenes can be triggered with a double press, and as you might suspect, three presses will trigger the third scene. The highly portable button features an anodized aluminum finish, and boasts a direct BLE connection via home hub (either your Apple TV or HomePod).
Powered by a replaceable CR2032 battery, the Eve Button is said to last quite a while on a single battery, though you can easily swap them out when necessary. The Eve Button is available immediately for $50 from Elgato and Amazon, and will be made available in the Apple Store later in January.
