每个人都知道Amazon Alexa和Google Assistant等虚拟助手以及(Google Assistant)Amazon Echo和Google Home等智能扬声器。有远见的房主正在使用这些技术来控制智能家电，如插座、灯和吊扇——当然，还可以告诉他们的虚拟助手播放他们最喜欢的歌曲。
但由于亚马逊(Amazon)和
谷歌(Google)因其产品而受到的所有关注，iPhone 用户可能不知道的是，他们已经有可能像与其他亚马逊(Amazon)或谷歌(Google)一样连接和控制这些智能家电。
对于 iOS 10 及更高版本，Apple用户可以访问应用程序Apple Home ，它使您能够在名为(Apple Home)HomeKit的框架上控制大量智能家居设备。更重要的是，HomeKit可以通过你的 iPhone、iPad、Apple Watch(Apple Watch)、Apple的智能扬声器——Apple HomePod——(HomePod–as)以及Apple TV来使用Siri进行控制。(Siri)
虽然HomePod的售价比
Amazon Echo和Google Home贵一点，为 349 美元，但走设置HomeKit的路线，使用(HomeKit)Apple Home应用程序控制它，最终将HomePod集成到其中，对于已经来到这里的忠实Apple用户来说可能更有意义信任品牌并热爱用户体验。这是此设置的工作原理。
随时随地使用家庭应用程序
无论是从您的 iPhone、iPad、MacBook还是Apple Watch，您(Apple Watch–you)都可以使用家庭(Home)应用程序从任何Apple
设备管理您的HomeKit 。这使您可以轻松地完全控制您购买的智能家居配件，并将其作为HomeKit连接。
而且，您不必只是坐在家里打开灯或确保带智能锁的门实际上已锁定。您可以通过Apple TV、HomePod或 iPad 管理家外的事情。
Apple Home现在是新款 iPhone 用户首次启动新设备时预装的应用程序之一。在购买
HomeKit电器进行控制时，它的设置很简单，基本上可以随时使用。
设置您的 HomeKit
您不能只将任何智能设备连接到您的Apple HomeKit。它必须带有“Works with Apple HomeKit ”标签。但是有数百种可用的设备可以用来构建HomeKit，从扬声器到灯再到恒温器和空气净化器，因此无需担心限制。
将这些智能家电连接到您的
HomeKit并使用Home应用程序或通过
Siri从任何设备发出命令来控制它们非常简单。您可以将 iPhone 靠近设备或扫描设备上或其说明中的设置代码。然后设备将与设备配对并在您的家庭(Home)应用程序中可用。
添加设备后，您可以编辑其信息，包括其名称和使用的房间。事实上，这就是Home应用程序按房间组织您的智能家电的方式，从而可以根据它们的位置轻松控制它们'位于您的家中。
Home应用程序不仅允许您在构建网络时跟踪您的设备，而且如果您经常使用它们，您还可以将它们列为收藏夹；创建设备功能的自动化编排；创建设备组以同时控制多个设备（例如打开多个灯具）；甚至可以直播家里发生的事情（如果你有安全摄像头的话）。
HomeKit是一个合法的连接框架，您可以通过一个应用程序、一个虚拟助手来控制或自动化，可以从多个Apple(HomeKit)设备(Apple)访问。
编排场景
控制您的设备是一回事，编排它们是另一回事。家庭(Home)应用程序可让您两者兼得。关于后者，您可以使用Home应用程序（也可以通过Apple TV、HomePod或 iPad 执行此操作）来自动化设备的功能，或者Apple所谓的“场景”。
一个场景是基于时间、位置或传感器检测执行的多个任务和/或实例，例如晚上 7 点通过HomePod 播放灯光和爵士乐(HomePod)
通过Home应用程序或Siri发出一个命令来同时启动多个设备功能，您不必担心在一天离开之前关闭所有灯或确保每扇门都被锁上。
只需(Simply)按下家庭(Home)应用程序中的按钮或命令Siri执行此操作，即可确保为您处理这些任务。在保存您创建的任何场景之前，您可以对其进行测试以确保它们按计划进行。
让您的家更智能
事情的发展方式是，使用智能家居设备将您的家庭数字化正在成为常态。但是随着时间的推移，这些框架可能会变得昂贵且复杂，这使得决定您使用哪个提供商为您的家庭提供服务非常重要。
对于Apple用户来说，知道他们已经通过Apple Home触手可及这种设置的基本功能，这个决定可能会更容易一些。
How to Use Apple Home to Bring Your Living Spaces to Life
Everyone knows about virtual assistants like Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant as well as smart speakers like Amazon Echo and Google Home. Forward-thinking homeowners are using these technologies to control smart-home appliances like outlets, lights, and ceiling fans–and to tell their virtual assistants to play their favorite songs, of course.
But with all of the attention Amazon and
Google have received for their offerings, what iPhone users may not know is
that they already have the potential to connect and control these smart-home
appliances the same way they would with other Amazon or Google.
For iOS 10 and up, Apple users have access to an application, Apple Home, that gives you the ability to control a slew of smart-home appliances on a framework called HomeKit. What’s more, HomeKit can be controlled with Siri through your iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Apple’s smart speaker–Apple HomePod–as well as Apple TV.
While HomePod comes in a bit pricier than
Amazon Echo and Google Home at $349, going the route of setting up a HomeKit,
controlling it with the Apple Home app, and eventually integrating HomePod in
might make more sense for loyal Apple users who have come to trust the brand
and love the user experience. Here’s how this setup works.
Use the Home App Anywhere
Whether it’s from your iPhone, iPad, MacBook,
or Apple Watch–you can use the Home app to manage your HomeKit from any Apple
device. This makes it easy to gain complete control over the smart-home
accessories you purchase and connect as a HomeKit.
And you don’t just have to be sitting at home
to turn on a light or make sure a door with a smart lock is, in fact, locked.
You can manage things away from home through Apple TV, HomePod, or your iPad.
Apple Home is now one of the pre-installed
apps users of newer iPhones get when they first power up their new device. It’s
simple to set up and essentially ready to go when it comes to purchasing
HomeKit appliances to control with it.
Set Up Your HomeKit
You can’t just hook up any smart appliance to your Apple HomeKit. It has to have the “Works with Apple HomeKit” label. But there are hundreds of available appliances to build a HomeKit with, from speakers to lights to thermostats and air purifiers, so no need to worry about limitations.
Hooking up these smart-home appliances to your
HomeKit and controlling them with the Home app or by issuing commands through
Siri from any device is simple. You can either hold your iPhone near the
appliance or scan the setup code on the appliance or in its instructions. The
appliance will then be paired with the device and available in your Home app.
Once the appliance is added you can edit its
information, including its name and the room it’s used in. In fact, this is how
the Home app organizes your smart-home appliances–by room–making it easy to control
them based on where they’re located in your home.
Not only does the Home app allow you to keep track of your appliances as you build a network, but you can also list them as favorites if you often use them; create automated orchestrations of appliance functions; create device groups to control multiple appliances together (such as turning on several light fixtures); and even live stream a video feed of what’s going on at home (if you have security cameras, that is).
The HomeKit is a legitimate connected
framework that you control or automate with one app, one virtual assistant,
accessible from multiple Apple devices.
Orchestrate Scenes
Controlling your appliances is one thing, orchestrating them is another. The Home app lets you do both. Regarding the latter, you can use the Home app–you can also do this through Apple TV, HomePod, or your iPad–to automate the function of an appliance, or what Apple calls a “scene.”
A scene is multiple tasks and/or instances that are executed based on time, location or sensor detection, e.g. lights dimming and jazz kicking on through your HomePod at 7 p.m.
By issuing a single command through the Home app or Siri to kick off multiple appliance functions simultaneously, you don’t have to worry about things like turning off all the lights before you leave for the day or making sure every door is locked.
Simply pressing a button in the Home app or commanding Siri to do this ensures these tasks are taken care of for you. And before you save any scenes you create, you can test them to ensure they go as planned.
Get Smarter About Your Home
The way things are going, digitizing your home with smart-home devices is becoming the norm. But these frameworks can become expensive and intricate over time, which makes deciding which provider you enable your home with pretty important.
For Apple users, that decision might be a little easier knowing they already have the base capabilities for this kind of setup right at their fingertips with Apple Home.
