An exciting week is behind us, in which HomeKit blinds in particular played a role. But there was also a new announcement and exciting developments in the new smarthome standard Matter.

HomeKit sticker as a warning

Earlier this week, we brought to your attention the "Secured by Apple HomeKit" stickers. These are meant to be placed on doors or windows to scare burglars away as soon as they spy them.

As already suspected, your opinions differ on this idea. While some don't want to reveal the smarthome system they use, others are convinced of the effect. Decide for yourself.

HomeKit blinds from OmniaBlinds and Sonevo

Want to replace your blinds with HomeKit-enabled models, the choices get a lot bigger this fall. Eve Systems has partnered with Coulisse to develop a motor that communicates via Thread and will later support Matter. The two companies will make this motor available to other manufacturers of roller blinds.

So far, it is known from OmniaBlinds and Sonevo that they will probably offer their own roller blinds with HomeKit integration from September. In terms of price, the roller blinds from Sonevo are significantly more affordable than the models from OmniaBlinds.

Automation of the week: Run HomeKit automation only once a day

Sometimes you only want to run an automation once a day. In our case, for example, we want the wiping robot to do its work as soon as we leave the house. But not several times a day.

Since HomeKit doesn't inherently offer this option, we've given you three ways to make it happen anyway in our latest Automation of the Week.

Meross to offer HomeKit floor lamp by the end of the year

It feels like hardly a week goes by without Meross introducing or releasing at least one new HomeKit device. This week, too, another HomeKit device has been added with the MSL610 floor lamp.

Here, the new lamp shows itself to be pleasingly flexible. In addition to Apple HomeKit, this also supports Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, SmartThings and the automation service IFTTT and can be adjusted in height. If the floor lamp no longer fits next to your new couch, you can quickly turn it into a table lamp.

Aqara devices available from Apple

Aqara wants to further expand its market position in Europe and as of this week also offers the first devices via Apple.

As usual, however, the prices at Apple are based on the recommended retail price and the devices are thus significantly more expensive than in other online stores. The door and window sensor costs about twice as much as at Cyberport.

Echo devices to support Matter

Let's take another quick look outside the box. The new smarthome standard Matter, which all major smarthome systems will support, is causing high expectations not only in the Apple world.

Amazon Alexa also has high hopes for the new standard. At the developer conference Alexa Live 2021, Amazon has now announced that almost all Echo devices will support Matter. Only the first generation and the Tap will not receive an update. So will you soon be able to control HomeKit devices via an Echo? Probably not. However, you could also integrate Matter devices into Amazon Alexa at the same time and control them via it.