For a brief rundown , the new Alexa+ should be easy and faster to interact with , it will integrate with “ ten of thousands of services and equipment you use in your day-after-day life history , ” Alexa Routines can be create by voice or else of only in the app , and will continue to master devices as it has for years . Alexa+will also be able to useAIto make songs in the moment with Suno — killing the souls of musician everywhere , mine included , little by niggling .
Currently throughout our home there are multiple Amazon devices , including an Echosmart speakerin our living way , an Echo Spot in our bedroom , two Echo Dots , and an Echo Show 15 . We expend almost all of them regularly , either for controlling medicine playback ( both when we ’re home and when we go out so the dogs have something to listen to ) , turning on and off the light and AC ( hello , Los Angeles warmth ) , and making announcements throughout the plate for our son to come to dinner or to say something silly and make him express joy .
We have a bedtime function congeal up for our son that we ’ve been using since he was turn out that begins a specific playlist my wife curated , turns his lights to a gear up brightness and color , and begin a projector that displays an ever - changing starfield on his ceiling . Routine is a comfort to him , and it ’s one of the longest - bunk routines we have . Routines are used in our home theater setup to turn on twist , conform lightning , and change gloss temperature depending on if we ’re watch out movies and TV or starting a workout modus operandi through Les Mills or Apple Fitness+ . Using home control and automation has been bake in to our everyday activities .
The thing is , when it comes to smart home dominance and mechanization , there are three main choices : Amazon Alexa , Google Home , and Apple HomeKit . It ’s not like any of themdon’tuse AI , Amazon is just in conclusion catching up toGoogle ’s Geminiand Apple ’s Siri , after its big Apple Intelligence thrust ( a ridiculous play on the A.I. acronym , no-count Apple ) last year . They also all call for information from our animation every waking ( and sleeping ) secondly . So it ’s a case of choosing the less of the three evils , and in our case , the option is Apple .
Apple is the lesser of three evils
Apple might be harvesting our data as much as the ease of Silicon Valley , but at least it ’s keep back it ( mostly ) to themselves . Within Apple ’s sound privacy policy , it articulate “ Apple does not deal personal data with third company for their own marketing purposes . ” It also still “ may share personal data withApple - affiliate companies , service providerswho play on our behalf , ourpartners , developer , and publishing company , or othersat your focusing . ” This could include the companies that are storing data point for Apple , services such as Apple Card and Apple Cash , or from subscriptions to third - political party apps you use from the Apple Store . Far from perfect , but we ’re at a point in this timeline where , unforesightful of entirely unplugging from the domain ( which is not a viable answer in my telephone circuit of work ) , we mitigate the collection of our data point as best as we can .
In increase to the not - quite - as - bad - as - Amazon - and - Google datum sharing insurance , we ’re already pretty well established in the Apple ecosystem — maybe even more so than we are in Amazon . And that exist integration think of a less painful modulation from one ecosystem to the other . Our iPhones ( my wife and I each have one ) , our Apple Watches ( my married woman and son each have one ) , our iPads ( my Word and I each have one ) , and our HomePods can all be used to access and control the system we set up .
The move from Alexa to Siri
For anyone considering the switch from Amazon to Apple , there are some pocket-size roadblock . Because Apple is protective over its ecosystem , there are fewer product that can be link up via HomeKit . It should come up as no surprisal that Amazon Smart Plugs wo n’t make , but other third - company selection , specially if they ’re a few years old , might not solve . ( The Wemo smart plugs we have unfortunately fall in the unsupported class . )
To facilitate that , there ’s an app visit Homebridge for integrating gimmick that are not fend for by HomeKit , include the Amazon family of devices like Ring doorbells . big , right-hand ? Well , if security measure is a major business concern , not so much . Homebridge is unresolved rootage , and any app integrations are produce by the biotic community . If you know coding , you could discipline the codification yourself to check that it ’s safe , or you could check that to only get apps that have been downloaded many times . vernacular sense when it comes to things like this goes a long way . I have n’t yet used Homebridge , though , so I ca n’t give it an endorsement yet .
As we transition , we ’ll update devices that do n’t incorporate with HomeKit with versions that do . Lutron , the lighting control fellowship long loved by menage dramaturgy enthusiasts , has hack and dimmer options . While they ’re more expensive than the Wemo we have , home theatre colleague have said they integrate incredibly well and are very promiscuous to use .
Has the Amazon news today made everyone quick to leave Alexa ? for certain not . Our own Simon Cohen is cautiously excitedabout the potential improvements for Alexa . For me , though , this was the last push I needed to transmigrate away and if you share my care , perhaps you should explore the same .
