My wife thinks I went a little overboard with the smart home stuff, and looking at it all together, she might be right.
Not pictured are 7 more Hue colored bulbs, 3 smart switches, a Honeywell thermostat, and 4 outlet mounts for the Home Minis.
I originally started buying stuff that worked with Home Kit, but when I bought my wife the Home Hub for use with baking (she saw through that and knew it was just another gadget for me), I found Google Home integration to be much more reliable, and the Home Minis are much more reasonably priced way to have sound and microphones spread around the house (Yes I realize that sounds scary and I was against it first, but I have since given in). I now make sure everything I buy works with both Home Kit and Google Home (which most things do if they work with Home Kit).
What Apple does well:
I like Apple's Home app interface more, and the ability to group things more intuitively and see a quick glance of what is on, etc. Google could improve on their app and be able to group things into smaller subgroups instead of just rooms (for instance a fan that has 4 lights shows up as 4 separate lights in Google Home, but you can group them into a single item in Apple's Home app. I have found work arounds to make it a little better, but still not as nice as Apple does things.)
What Google does better:
Using voice commands, Google Home is much more reliable and faster, and the Home Hub is something Apple should look into making a competitor for. My original plan was to mount an iPad mini in the kitchen as a hub, but this is much cheaper, and works great for what we use it for (music, youtube videos, recipes, occasionally watching a game while cooking, etc.) I also hope that Apple does a better job with Home Kit. Maybe if I had a Home Pod it would be faster and less quirky, but I don't want to spend $350 for something that I can get from Google for $50 (or less. I took advantage of the Spotify's offer and having multiple email addresses, paid $14.99 each for two of them, and $0.99 each for the rest). I know the Home Pod has superior audio quality and all that, but the Home Mini is acceptable for us, and I can easily blanket my entire house with sound from the little speakers.
I think I am about done now. Just need some door locks, outdoor lights, maybe a couple cameras, and....
Ok so maybe I DO have a problem.
My wife thinks I went a little overboard with the smart home stuff, and looking at it all together, she might be right.
