It's been a few years in preparation, but the excellent Honeywell Home T9 thermostat, now excellent, now has some much-needed functionality to support the Apple HomeKit.

The brand has always made some of the most legitimate smart home appliances. In fact, its most comprehensive offering, EvoHome, is in our guide to the best smart home systems.

But it's safe to say that HomeKit support for the T9 is long overdue, especially since the older Lyric T5 has been enjoying this feature for some time.

The new T9 was the brand's first thermostat that came with remote temperature sensors, which in its case are able to measure humidity as well as room temperature. In addition, it captures both movement and presence, so you can set them to turn on the heating automatically when people in a room are detected. Pretty clean.

Now, adding HomeKit support means you'll be able to control your T9 using Siri or the Apple Home app, so you can adjust all your voice temperatures and almost anywhere. Amazon Alexa and Google Home are also supported.

The move comes at an opportune time, as Honeywell is one of the main parties involved in the new Matter smart home consortium, which strives to develop a common smart home standard. It is expected to be completed and launched next year.

In addition, the news comes just in time for Black Friday 2021 sales, which are already on the rise as online retailers like Amazon and others start giving up bargains sooner than ever.