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Apple Home Must Haves: My Real HomeKit Setup
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items Our whole house runs on Apple Home, and we haven't touched a light switch in years. These are the bulbs, plugs, sensors, hubs and cameras we actually use every day, with honest notes on what each one does well (and which one takes some patience to se...
Sections
5
Lighting
Smart Plugs & Dimmers
Hubs, Remotes & Streaming
Motion & Climate Sensors
Security
Lighting
The bulbs and strips that replaced our light switches, all controllable with Siri.
These Nanoleaf Christmas lights are absolutely amazing. Easy to set up, LED bulbs, and they look incredible. I've gotten so many compliments on them that I can't recommend them enough!
Nanoleaf Homekit Christmas Lights
We use these Meross LED strips for under-cabinet lighting in the kitchen and bathroom. Tons of color options and fully dimmable, so they really up the look of the kitchen, and they make a great night light in the bathroom so you (or the kids) don't s...
meross Smart LED Strip Lights 16.4ft HomeKit
These Linkind bulbs are my staple! They get super bright and work fantastic with Siri on our HomePods, my Mac or our iPhones. We haven't touched a light switch in years. A total game changer, and a great way to dip your toe into smart home.
Linkind Matter Smart Bulbs - Apple, Alexa, Google
Smart Plugs & Dimmers
The cheapest way to make lamps, fans and appliances smart without rewiring anything.
Another staple in our smart home. These plugs live up to the name and barely take up any space. We use them to smart-ify the coffee maker, fireplace, fans, TVs, houseplant grow lights and more. So useful and so affordable!
meross Smart Plug 15A 4 Pack HomeKit
Perfect for dimmable lamps and super easy with Siri. Just say “turn living room lamp to 50%” and voilà! They also work great on my reptile tanks that need dimming bulbs. Well worth it if it fits your use case!
Leviton Decora Smart Dimmer Plug Wi-Fi 2nd Gen
Super handy in high-plug spots where you still want smart control, like the entertainment center or kitchen appliances. Each outlet shows up as its own plug in the Home app, so you can control them separately with Siri.
meross Smart Plug Power Strip 15A WiFi
Hubs, Remotes & Streaming
The home hubs that make remote access and automations work, plus the one remote that runs everything.
I'll be honest right off the bat: initial setup can be tricky. But with a little patience you get one remote for every device in the house. Add Apple Home scenes to start movie mode in the family room with one button, and the built-in Find My feature...
SwitchBot Universal Remote with Hub Mini Matter
Besides being a home hub for all your devices (the HomePod can do this too), it's a fantastic streaming box. AirPlay is seamless, and every streaming service I have (and there are a lot) has an app.
Apple TV 4K
Motion & Climate Sensors
The sensors that trigger automations, like lights turning on when you walk in.
Perfect for automations like lights turning on automatically when you walk into a room. They make the smart home feel like magic. Available in multiple bundle sizes.
Eve Motion (Matter) 3-Pack - Smart Motion & Light Sensor
Before you think this is in the wrong category: there's a lot more to these than a speaker! Each one has built-in temperature and humidity sensors. We have one in every single room as climate sensors and great-sounding compact speakers, and we use th...
Apple - HomePod mini - White
Security
Indoor cameras for peace of mind when we're away (and for replaying the pets' best moments).
These eufy indoor cameras give us peace of mind when the house is empty. Great video quality and a built-in battery backup, so if the power goes out you still have eyes on things. They've also come in handy when the cat or dog does something hilariou...
eufy Security Indoor Cam C120 3MP 2K Wi-Fi