On HomeKit vs. Alexa

Jacob Kastrenakes at The Verge:

Apple never shows up to CES, but the last couple years, it’s still managed to have a quiet presence through HomeKit. That’s true this year, too, but it’s been really quiet, failing to drum up anywhere near the excitement of something like Amazon’s Alexa.

[…]

CES is where that tends to change, as companies building HomeKit gadgets turn up to show off their newest products. This year, there are more than a dozen companies presenting HomeKit devices — but, for better or worse, they’re all pretty boring.

I’ve been very impressed with Alexa. We’ve had an Echo in our kitchen for months, and I recently picked up an Echo Dot to put in my studio.

It’s an open platform, meaning developers can write applications — dubbed Skills — that users can enable with just a tap in the Alexa mobile app.

I’ve added a bunch of Skills to our account. We can listen to Spotify, control our Hue lights, change our Nest thermostat, ask a Magic 8 ball questions, add stuff to Todoist and more.

HomeKit, on the other hand, is a closed system. Apple has a rigorous approval process before allowing a device or service to be listed as a supported partner. From a security standpoint, this is a big win.

For example, before Nest had an official Skill, there were a handful of third-party ones that claimed to offer control of Nest hardware via Alexa. I steered clear of those, as I didn’t want a third-party developer I didn’t know in between me and thermostat or security cameras.¹

The downside is exactly what The Verge points out. When compared directly, it’s hard to argue that HomeKit is as exciting as Alexa.

However, I think that’s unfair to both systems. With Alexa, Amazon is building a voice-driven ecosystem to rival Google Assistant or Siri. Controlling home automation devices is a vitally important part of that ecosystem, but it’s not the whole pie.