Eric Welander Eric Welander

Something I hope we get with Apple’s new AI

Apple’s AppleScript language for automating your Mac has always been unique for how close it is to just writing things in plain English. For example, when you want to tell an app to do something you write:

tell application "Finder"
	open theFolder
end tell

With Shortcuts and other automation tools, there are fewer reasons you need to write ye olde AppleScript, but when you do, you can ask an AI chatbot like OpenAI’s GPT-4 to write it for you. For your Apple smart home, if I want to create automation in Apple’s Home app, I find it takes plenty of taps around the app to get what I want. Then if I want conditions in those automations, I often need to use a third-party app like Eve, Controller for HomeKit, or Home+.

Even if I tell a large language model the names of scenes and rooms, similar to what I’d need to do with AppleScript, there’s no way for it to create Apple Home automation aside from writing the Swift code to do it with Apple’s HomeKit APIs in a custom application. And while Apple has improved intelligent suggestions of automation, they only show up in certain circumstances in the app and often aren’t exactly what you want.

Apple executives have made hints that AI is a big part of their roadmap for 2024, including WWDC in June. With that, I really hope Siri adds the ability to create Apple Home automation on the fly from spoken or written requests. Here are some examples:

  • “Hey Siri, every Friday at sunset, turn on the backyard lights if I’m home.”

  • “Hey Siri, at 3 pm every day, close the living room blinds if it’s hot and sunny outside”

  • “Hey Siri, be sure all the lights are off at midnight every night”

  • “Hey Siri, close the garage door during my goodnight scene”

  • “Hey Siri, turn on the bedroom closet lights if there’s motion in there”

One of the hardest things about smart home tech is getting someone to go from a smart plug and a smart bulb to a smart home. Right now, it takes considerable effort to research it all, manually set up automation, and fine-tune the way you talk to voice assistants. I know some folks are already connecting LLMs like Chat-GPT to smart home commands and there are smart home scripting languages, but all of that is more effort than the default Home app on your iPhone and talking to the voice assistant you get by holding down the side button.

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Eric Welander Eric Welander

Choosing between Apple Vision Pro and iPad

In a 2015 interview with Charlie Rose on 60 Minutes, then VP of Worldwide Product Marketing at Apple, Phil Schiller, gave an interesting quote about Apple’s product philosophy:

Phil Schiller circa 2015

"The iPhone has to become so great that you don't know why you want an iPad," Schiller explained. "The iPad has to be so great that you don't know why you want a notebook. The notebook has to be so great that you don't know why you want a desktop. Each one's job is to compete with the other ones."

Since Apple Vision Pro runs iPad apps, and even native Apple Vision Pro apps share a lot in common with iPad apps, many people compare Apple Vision Pro to the iPad.

After using Apple Vision Pro for two months and it being likely a month or so away from a new iPad announcement, I wanted to compare my use of iPad and Apple Vision Pro. Where does Apple Vision Pro challenge iPad, and where are they completely separate devices?

Multiple Windows

Apple Vision Pro has a much larger canvas to place windows around your environment which makes you think that it might be better than an iPad if you feel confined by a small screen. But the window management in Apple Vision Pro lacks features you would expect if you are used to a Mac or PC. I still find Apple Vision Pro is best suited to single-tasking with one or maybe two windows in an immersive environment.

Where I use my iPad

Putting on Apple Vision Pro is more of a commitment, and also requires Wi-Fi. During CES, my iPad Pro with Magic Keyboard was indispensable. Having a device with a keyboard and cell connection was very helpful for capturing notes about new products. While Wi-Fi is ubiquitous at modern conventions, it’s seldom as reliable or as fast as 5G. This was not the first or last time I found this setup so helpful. If you are headed to a conference or are frequently on the go for work, I can’t recommend iPad enough as a mobile notes, writing, and email machine. 

On a more regular basis with my young children, I also find myself in places every week where I can whip out my iPad, and get a few things done while the kids our doing some activity.

Apple Vision Pro is way more of a commitment to use. It takes time to get it on and get going. It doesn’t mean I don’t love using it for focused work sessions, but I don’t consider it if I’m working on something for less than an hour.

Entertainment

iPad remains a great portable home TV. While passthrough on Apple Vision Pro is convenient for seeing the world around you, folding laundry or doing household chores is still better with an iPad. I don’t see Apple Vision Pro replacing that.

If you are considering spending Apple Vision Pro level money on immersive entertainment in your home, I have a video coming for you in April about an alternative you should consider. That said, when you want to leave your environment and watch something great on your own, nothing will beat Apple Vision Pro for the foreseeable future. Also, immersive 180º videos from Apple for Apple Vision Pro are outstanding. If Apple can ever get a meaningful quantity of content for that format, it will make the Apple Vision Pro much more amazing for entertainment.

Where I enjoy Apple Vision Pro

For me, Apple Vision Pro is still extremely valuable as a way to change to another environment for certain tasks. I tend to match specific environments in Apple Vision Pro to certain types of work I do. I tend to write YouTube scripts and other content like this in Joshua Tree. I do other work I often don’t feel like doing at Mount Hood. But it’s still early and I bet my Apple Vision Pro usage will continue to evolve.

One thing that’s remained the same is that I find having a place to put Apple Vision Pro increases its utility. Cayden Scoggins sent me his 3D-printed Apple Vision Pro stand he’s selling on Etsy. This works great on my desk and even has a spot for the battery. My Apple Vision Pro sits here charging, always ready for work.

If you are interested in this stand, use code “ERICAVP” for 10% off. https://cayden3d.etsy.com/?coupon=ERICAVP

If I had to pick between the two

Both iPad and Apple Vision Pro are useful to me in different ways, but if I had to pick which is more valuable, it’s still the iPad hands down. This is due to the ultra-portable form factor as well as the broad range of apps available. I wouldn’t be surprised if the scales tip in the other direction as more software and content comes to Apple Vision Pro.

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Eric Welander Eric Welander

Is this the dawn of the Matter super-hub era?

Apple can’t fully control all technology in your life. Even if you could live with just their services, you probably have reasons it doesn’t make sense for you. To appeal to new customers, Apple has to fit into some of your existing services. If you buy an iPhone, you expect Mail to be able to log into your email provider to send and receive messages.

But with certain apps, like Notes, Apple improved the experience by controlling more of the process. In the early days of iOS, Notes synced with your email provider. Starting in iOS 9, Apple rebuilt Notes to primarily sync with iCloud. In my experience, earlier versions of Notes were very unreliable and the iOS 9 refactor was a 180º turn in the right direction.

For the longest time, Apple Home appeared to have a Notes-style approach. You needed to buy devices certified by Apple, and all your settings and details were confined to devices that can access Apple Home. If you’re reading this newsletter, you have probably dealt with Apple Home tech being unreliable. I also find it notable that most of the brands and products I recommend as reliable like Philips Hue, Lutron Caséta, and Aqara, all have their own hub.

From Aqara’s M3 Hub press release at CES 2024:

“Featuring advanced connectivity including Thread, Zigbee, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and infrared, the M3 significantly expands the Aqara ecosystem with its capability to connect and manage the growing number of Matter devices, not only from Aqara but also from a variety of third-party brands*.”​

Why would Aqara, and presumably other competitors too, put so much effort into making a powerful automation hub for Matter?

With Matter, you can theoretically run automation on something like an Aqara Hub, and you aren’t confined to only controlling your products from that brand. Add more automation and over time, this hub, rather than your Apple Home hub, starts to become the main control for your smart home.

When you hit a problem with one of your smart home products that isn’t from your hub’s manufacturer, just replace it with one that is made by them because it’s supposed to be more reliable. As this hub takes more and more control of your smart home, Apple Home starts to be more just a portal into your other hub.

In a Matter world, centralizing control in a smart home company’s hub rather than a tech giant’s hub opens up more options. Control your home with your iPhone, or Alexa in your Sonos speaker, or a Google Home tablet. It’s all just sending commands through the same box. The missing link in most cases is matching up room names and other shortcuts between systems. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is a hole that AI can help fill in the future, understanding that two rooms with similar names and accessories in separate ecosystems are the same. Or better yet, automatically make sense of a disorganized structure of devices across your home.

​From a different CES 2024 Aqara press release​

“Ultimately, Home Copilot will be able to analyze the usage patterns in an Aqara home and proactively suggest customized automations. It will also understand natural language and configure automations per user requests. Users can automate their homes via simple voice and text instructions, which makes smart home even more intuitive and easy to use.”

Apple was able to make Apple Notes more reliable by controlling the whole process from the app through back-end systems. One of the key questions behind any technical architecture is where you create your own technology and where you integrate with others. I’ve made the case previously as to why Apple should not make light switches, sensors, and cameras. Perhaps the company that does make those products is better positioned to reliably implement the software features you need for a truly smart home. In this scenario, Apple’s Home app starts to look a lot more like Mail than Notes. The more companies you put between your home automation cause and effect, the more chances you have for bugs.

To be clear, I don't plan to abandon Apple Home. I hope Apple continues to work hard on updates. But I think it's worth considering how Matter could enable a shift to another box becoming the center of your smart home, with that being more reliable to use over time.

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