Hue plans to support Thread on his Zigbee bridge, plus there is a new wall hub launched - overseas - from Aqara. There is also news about an Eve device that also adds Thread support.

In addition to the news, however, it's time to focus on an item in the HomeKit that doesn't always get the attention it should. Stephen shows you how great Apple's shortcut app is for controlling your HomeKit devices.

He shows you how to get started in Shortcuts. In addition, it provides some examples of useful shortcuts that it uses - and which are some of the limitations.

Andrew's new pantry design

Andrew, on the other hand, studied a hardware project more. He will build a built-in pantry in his home and plans to integrate HomeKit-compatible Hue light strips into the shelves.

Doing so means gluing or buying aftermarket adapters to extend Hue's functionality beyond what it officially accepts. He goes through these two options and the obstacles that lie ahead.

This week was a busy episode, so we managed to fit into two questions from the listener this time, but these are the ones that so many HomeKit users face.

John asked us to investigate how to best automate your porch lights with a HomeKit compatible ringtone. He wants the lights to come on and then go out after five minutes, but there seem to be too many movement alerts to keep the porch lights on permanently.

Then Derrick asked what devices abandoned Stephen or Andrew in their own personal smart homes.

Be sure to send your own questions so we can answer the show in the next episode.

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