My wife and I recently completed our plans for our new home, so now I'm able to think about how the HomeKit setting will work. I plan to completely rebuild "Home" to remove any "raw" software accumulated over the years. The first thing I thought about is what kind of rooms I want to use. We discussed the use of Nest cameras for outdoor use and their connection to the HomeKit using the Starling Home Hub. For indoor use, I look closely at the ONVIS HomeKit Security indoor camera in my current home to see how it will work in my new home.

Weekly HomeKit is a series focused on smart home accessories, automation tips and tricks and everything to do with the Apple smart home frame.

HomeKit Secure Video sees a nice upgrade to iOS 15 related to the maximum cameras you can have in your account. Before iOS 15, you were limited to five cameras if you had an iCloud account of $ 9.99 / month. Now, if you have the iCloud account at the highest price, you will have the option for unlimited cameras. Five rooms might seem like a lot, but you can get over that limit very quickly if you have indoor and outdoor rooms. With the iOS 15 upgrade, you can split the outdoors with maximum coverage, while still having the option to strategically cover indoor areas.

ONVIS HomeKit Security indoor camera

ONVIS, as a brand, has been making HomeKit products for as long as I can remember. ONVIS light strips are some of the best I've used, so I was ready to step on the ONVIS HomeKit safety cameras.

Maybe it's because I've added over a dozen cameras to the HomeKit over the years, but I had this camera unwrapped and working in the HomeKit in three minutes. The power input of the cameras uses USB-C and includes a USB-C to USB-A cable and adapter. But I appreciate using USB-C. It's frustrating when products still use mini-USB in 2021, so I'm looking forward to a world where All is USB-C.

ONVIS prints the HomeKit code right on the camera, which I appreciate. Losing a device's HomeKit code makes it unusable. I would always recommend creating a backup in HomePass as well.

ONVIS includes a feature you don't often find in HomeKit products. It supports 5 GHz Wi-Fi, where many HomeKit devices only support 2.4 GHz.

One thing to keep in mind with HomeKit cameras is that even if you don't want to play or record while you're at home, you can still use them as a motion detector to turn on the lights when it detects motion.

HomeKit Secure Video with ONVIS

One aspect of HomeKit that doesn't have much discussion is how it creates unified expectations for all of your devices. For example, when a device works with HomeKit Secure Video, there is an expectation of how it will work. You know it will support end-to-end encryption of video recordings. It will allow you to set streaming or stop only when you are at home, if you wish. I like how easy HomeKit makes everything. You will need either an Apple TV or a HomePod product for everything to work well with HomeKit.

Local storage in the ONVIS room

ONVIS has the option to use an SD card for local storage if you want to go this route for storage as well. You will be able to download these images in the ONVIS application. The ONVIS application is also useful for updating the camera firmware.

Is ONVIS the best HomeKit indoor camera?

The ONVIS Indoor Camera is a strong competitor to the best Indoor HomeKit camera. It is specially designed for HomeKit Secure Video, has USB-C for power, includes an SD card storage option and is accessible. So, if you want to add a few rooms inside your home, but want the security of HomeKit registration options, it's worth taking a look at the ONVIS room.

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