Bought my first home pod mini. While scouring videos to figure out how to control it with HomeKit, I came across an open source project called Home Assistant. Pros and cons?
It’s super powerful and customizable. But requires a “server” machine (like a raspberry pi) running 24/7 and some technical know how. It plays with the Apple ecosystem well, and great for adding devices that aren’t native to HomeKit. You can run both in your house, like use Apple for most of the front end and Home Assistant as the main server.
The number of integrations available for Home Assistant is astounding. My car’s API even plugs into it, which gives me access to some really interesting statistics around efficiency and charging curves. It also allows me to setup automations based on the car’s location and charge state.
Home Assistant is fantastic, but it’s not for the faint of heart. In my opinion you really need to be an enthusiast to run it. If you just want something that works then the Apple product is probably more for you. But if you think spending a Saturday afternoon scripting sounds like a blast, then Home Assistant can’t be beat.
Jeff Geerling has done some content around it, and it looks like it has a page on his site