Apple, in preparation for WWDC 2015, put up this new support document on configuring HomeKit accessories with your iOS device. When Apple launched HomeKit last year at WWDC 2014, there was a puzzling UX discrepancy: Apple had not defined how the HomeKit accessories could be controlled remotely.
The blogosphere and the pundits guessed and apparently guessed right. The support document states that an Apple TV is now required if users want to control their HomeKit accessories remotely using Siri.
If you have an Apple TV (3rd generation or later) with software version 7.0 or later, you can control your HomeKit-enabled accessories when you're away from home using your iOS device. Sign in with the same Apple ID on your iOS device and Apple TV, and you'll be able to use Siri commands to remotely control your accessories.
I had purchased the original Apple TV when it launched in 2007. Anyone remember those ? It looked like a Mac Mini and even came with a built-in hard drive. But it was too slow and unwieldy and there was not enough content to watch. I jailbroke it and installed Plex. But even that was buggy. I soon abandoned it.
When the next generation hockey puck Apple TV launched, I checked it out but realized it wasn't suited for my viewing needs. I did not purchase/rent any movies or TV shows on iTunes and Apple had not added the various streaming channels that are now available (including HBO) upon launch. I preferred the Roku, then the Xbox 360 for Netflix & Amazon Video. I have a Mac Mini hooked up to the TV running Plex as my local content viewer.
But now I may have to finally give in and get an Apple TV as it now becomes the HomeKit 'hub'. This is a shrewd strategy of repurposing the existing base of millions of installed Apple TVs and leapfrogging over all other hub solutions that control IOT (Internet of Things) devices.
I predict that a year from now, the Apple TV HomeKit Hub will be far more successful than other proprietary IOT hub solutions out there.
Hey Siri, turn off those study lights, will ya ?