One of the things Amazon has done well with Alexa is cloud-enabled skills that are directly connected to its Echo products. In my smart home setup, we have a few Echo Dots in my child's rooms that I use for "story time" at night. I like my HomePod, but it can't replace this functionality right now. Is it time for Apple to build a HomeKit skills section that runs directly on iCloud?

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

From the earliest days of Alexa, Amazon built all its "skills" in the cloud. Because Amazon is not very important for smartphones, they could not rely on streaming content from it to audio power. Thanks to its flash information, games and other types of programming, the Echo line remains on its own in terms of the ability to work independently of any other devices.

I'd love to see Apple expand the HomePod to work the same way. For Apple Music and Apple Podcasts, it can play content directly from the internet. Why can't other apps do the same? AirPlay 2 exists and is a stop-gap for this problem, but it does not solve it. Here are some ways I'd like to be able to use my HomePod:

Podcast applications

I want an app like Overcast or Breaker to be able to talk directly to my HomePod in the cloud. The way I think about this is when I install Overcast, it might require connecting to my HomePod. I could say, "Hey Siri, play the Apple @ Work podcast on Overcast." My homePod would, without using another device, talk directly to Overcast's web infrastructure to stream the podcast.

Sleeping applications with HomeKit skills

As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, one of the most common use cases for Echo Dots is "Amazon Story Time". My kids use it while they sleep at night. I would like to use an application like Moshi: Sleep and Mindfulness directly on the HomePod. Similar to Overcast, I wish I could give Moshi access to run directly from iCloud or any system created by Apple for services that talk directly to my HomePod. At this point, I could use AirPlay to do this, but it would require the use of a dedicated iOS device.

Good morning Siri

I had this idea so I could say good morning to Siri and made Siri run some HomeKit automations and play the latest episode of The Daily and then NPR Up First using the data from Overcast. If I hadn't finished the episode before interrupting it, I wish the Overcast iPhone app could know exactly where it stopped. Another example of how I could use this is that when my abode motion sensor first sees motion in the morning, it will turn on a few Hue lights at 30%, start morning podcasts (bonus points if I can set a preference on which broadcasts from those released on that date are played first). A very fun idea for the future would be if my alarm system could turn off if I knew my wife or I were awake.

Wrap HomeKit skills

What do you think about HomeKit skills? Would you connect third-party apps to the HomePod experience without having to launch an iPhone app, make sure you want to use HomePod, or purchase one if you don't have one? I like my HomePod, but I also see the value with how Alexa is a first cloud operating system. Whatever happens to the HomePod ecosystem in the future, it must be open to third-party developers and have a cloud-first approach.

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