With 16.3, Apple unlocked the temperature and humidity sensors hidden away within the HomePod mini. You can use these sensors for automation controls to make your home more comfortable.
HomePod mini:
Ecobee thermostat:
Ecobee smart sensor:
Aqara sensor kit:
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It’s baffling that people still don’t understand that single zone HVAC systems are heating and cooling the area around the thermostat; not the house
The issue with ecobee and nest smart thermostats is that it takes the average of all of the sensors that are occupied; which means that if you don’t set it properly then you are going to get even more wider spread of comfort due to how distribution of the air ducts are when its a forced air system
It’s a great update, but the sensor doesn’t work very well. I tried moving it from one room to my back porch which is 45°. According to the home app as I was monitoring it the temperature fell 10° from 70 to 60° in 2 hours. That’s too slowwwwww.
As a quick test, I created an automation so when the temp gets to 60° to turn on my Hallway light. As it turns out that the automations for the temperature sensor don’t work at all. Maybe the software dev team should had beta tested this feature before release.
Hopefully Apple will fix this before the HomePod 2nd Gen comes out next Friday. All in all the temp in the pod mini is 1 or 2° of my house hold thermostat when placed close to each other. Since I rent, I was hoping that I could use a Pod Mini temperature for a base automation this summer. When I can tell my Eve smart outlet to turn on my window air conditioner unit.
Would anyone buy the #iSpyBall if they knew exactly what’s inside it? Do gay men know where to “hide” it?
I remembered that homekit does not constantly check the humidity and temperature values (every 5 minutes for example) so it was not possible to create automations such as when a certain temperature of the sensor is reached, switch something on/off. maybe things have changed now? Does homekit check the temperature every certain time? you can automate something with temperature and humidity sensors (specifically Agara)?
I have several Homekit automations with Aqara temp sensors always worked fine for me. Technically they are automations through Shortcuts perhaps that’s where your confusion was Shortcuts does things Homekit doesn’t.
@Brian Martin Hey Brian!
Do you have automations created directly in homekit or in the aqara app?
With Aqara sensors do you control non-Aqara devices?
By shortcut, do you mean the actual “shortcut” app or the ability to create automations converted into homekit shortcuts?
Thank you!
@Cr0oked Cr0w I mean the actual shortcut app. I have an automation in my shortcut app that runs at 8pm if an Aqara sensor upstairs reads 65 degrees or less it turns on a space heater via a VOCOLinc smart plug. I have another in my bathroom if the humidity sensor reads higher than 55% it turns on the exhaust fan via a Aqara smart switch. Idk why but Apple has some features in Homekit via “convert to shortcut” and others that aren’t accessible but available in the actual shortcut app. For tip, tricks, and pointers check out YouTuber Shane Whatley
If only Rheem EcoNet updates their thermostats to Matter.
I’m not saving money because now I need to buy humidifier because my air is so dry it’s below 23%
Oh geez!
Yeah that’s a lot of work. Having the ecobee sensor is way simpler.
Totally. Wanted to make sure I mentioned the ease of ecobees solution
Yeah, that’s lazy. If you have HomePods it makes that functionality available to a wider range of thermostats and you don’t have a bunch of single-purpose sensors around the house.
@Kevin George single purpose sensors though have more functions. Such as motion sensors which then can be used for automations.
Good vid!!
Slow and not accurate so I stick with Eve’s sensor for temp,humidity and air quality.
I’ve noticed a bit of a discrepancy between my Eve and HomePod sensors (in the same room).
My home pod mini is 2 degrees higher than my Ecobee and it’s sensor; and 3 degrees higher than my Eve room which are about 2’ apart. Something wrong with the HomePod mini sensors.
The sound is really not good for the price there are better speakers.
For sure, if all you want is a speaker, there are some better options. But if you have a HomeKit based smartphone you’ll need a home hub.
Do you have instructions on how to get the nest thermostat to work in HomeKit?
Yes! I covered it all in this video &article: https://9to5mac.com/2022/04/26/add-smarthome-devices-to-homekit/amp/
Sold! I was considering buying a HomePod anyways but I didn’t realize the utility of the temperature sensor beyond knowing the room temperature.
Stop reading a boring essay and speak how you would regularly. Had to skip through half of the blah blah blah
Who cares about temperature…..the amount of skill sets Amazon Alexa has blows HomePod away.
Are we able to get the big square with the temperature form the HomePods in the app (like in the thumbnail) or is that from another third-party sensor? I’ve seen them in different videos but there are no options to display the temperature that way in the Home app.
Is the Temperature and humidity sensor in the HomePod mini always detecting or it detects change like every 30 minutes?