Now that it's fall here in the US, my family spends a lot of time outdoors at night. After the 90 degree days in August and the first half of September, we undoubtedly enjoy the cooler 70 degree days. One of my favorite things to do at night is going out on the screened porch and reading something from Apple Books, listening to an audiobook in the prologue, or even watching TV. One of the most recent additions to my HomeKit setup is the Eve Flare, which is a perfect addition to our porch.

HomeKit Weekly is a series that focuses on smart home accessories, tips and tricks on automation, and everything related to Apple's smart home framework.

Eve is one of the best manufacturers of HomeKit products. Some of my favorites are the Eve Button, Eve Degree, and Eve Water Guard. I bought the Eve Flare without doing much research, but it's a pleasant addition thanks to the versatility of being outdoors and being battery powered.

As with all Eve products, you can add it directly to HomeKit without having to add it to the Eve app. I should mention, however, that the Eve app is well done. Since this product is on our screened in porch, I wrote down the HomeKit code in case it should wear out in the future. An app like HomePass is very useful here as you can save the HomeKit codes in it and sync them with iCloud.

The Eve Flare is waterproof to IP65 and lasts for six hours on a single charge. While I have it outdoors, it would be a perfect bedside lamp or fun lighting for a kid's room. Once it's in the Home app, you can control how it looks like any HomeKit-enabled lightbulb. It offers a wide range of colors, is dimmable and can be connected to automation systems. I already have several outside lights on our porch so I added them to my automation so that they come on when my back door is opened. I control the door automation with my door sensor, but you can also use Eve's door sensor if you don't have a HomeKit alarm to trigger the automation.

HomeKit automation

If you are just starting out with this product and HomeKit automations there is an easy way to open HomeKit and then switch to automations. Then tap + to create a new one. For this sensor, you can try "A time of day occurs". For outdoor lighting, you can use Sunset and select all seven days of the week. Then you want to find your Eve Flare. You can specify how long the device should stay on after the machine has triggered on the last screen. In this scenario, it can be helpful to turn it off after four hours. I leave my Eve Flare on the charger most of the time unless I take it to the uncovered part of our porch to sit on the table so I don't have to worry about draining the battery on me.

Final thoughts on Eve Flare

Eve Flare is a fun HomeKit product that offers outdoor lighting in a variety of colors. I love to spend time outdoors in the fall and I believe this product is one that I use almost every day to give mood lighting outside when I am relaxing and enjoying the cool weather.

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