Enlarge / There's a new, improved Home system coming for Apple's smart home users—for the second time. (credit: nurPhoto / Getty Images)

An upgraded architecture for Apple's Home smart home system, one that would potentially make device-packed networks faster and more reliable, is coming back to iOS soon after a failed launch late last year.

Apple originally pushed a Home app update in iOS 16.2, one that, separate from the OS itself, offered "improved performance and reliability of the accessories in your home." The upgrade required that every single Apple device connected to the home—iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, MacBooks, HomePods, and Apple TVs—updates to the latest OS version or not have access. A number of people who clicked all those Settings icons and waited through reboots ended up with unresponsive devices , slow responses to commands and scene changes, and devices stuck in a "Configuring" stage.

Apple later pulled the Home architecture upgrade from 16.2, gave Home owners advice on how to regain control of their Home, and reportedly added the problems to an internal list of major hardware and software issues, seen by Apple, Apple Store, and Authorized Service Providers. The visual refresh given to the Home app was still in place, providing easier access to multiple devices and rooms from the home screen and adding widgets to the lock screen. But those who didn't jump to upgrade (and complete it) were held back. Apple listed the " Upgrade to the new Home architecture " as "temporarily removed" but noted it would "return soon."

Enlarge / Anker's Eufy division has said its web portal was not designed for end-to-end encryption and could allow outside access with the right URL. (credit: Eufy)

After two months of arguing back and forth with critics about how so many aspects of its "No clouds" security cameras could be accessed online by security researchers, Anker smart home division Eufy has provided a lengthy explanation and promises to do better.

In multiple responses to The Verge , which has repeatedly called out Eufy for failing to address key aspects of its security model, Eufy has plainly stated that video streams produced by its cameras could be accessed, unencrypted, through the Eufy web portal, despite messaging and marketing that suggested otherwise. Eufy also stated it would bring in penetration testers, commission an independent security researcher's report, create a bug bounty program, and better detail its security protocols.

Prior to late November 2022, Eufy had enjoyed a distinguished place among smart home security providers. For those willing to trust any company with video feeds and other home data, Eufy marketed itself as offering "No Clouds or Costs," with encrypted feeds streamed only to local storage.

Enlarge / We don't have to rely on megacorp obelisks to operate the things we buy. We don't have to learn their language. We can break free. (credit: PonyWang/Getty Images)

For many people, an automated smart home is about little things that add up to big conveniences over time. Lights turning on when you pull into the driveway, a downstairs thermostat adjustable from your upstairs bedroom, a robot vacuum working while you're at the grocery store—you put in a bit of setup work and your life gets easier.

What most smart homes also include, however, is a voice assistant, the opposite of a quiet, unseen convenience. Alexa, Siri, Google Assistant: They demand that you learn specific device names and structures for commands, while they frequently get even the most simple command astoundingly wrong. And they are, of course, an always-listening corporate microphone you're allowing inside your home.

There are ways to keep that smart home convenience while cutting out the conversation. Some involve your phone, some dedicated devices, but none of them involve saying a device's name. Here's an overview of the best options available.

Enlarge / This hypothetical dishwasher owner is one of a minority of smart appliance customers getting the full value of their device, including timely reminders to buy more of the company's recommended dishwasher tabs and cleaning packs. (credit: Dani Serrano/Getty Images)

Appliance makers like Whirlpool and LG just can't understand. They added Wi-Fi antennae to their latest dishwashers, ovens, and refrigerators and built apps for them—and yet only 50 percent or fewer of their owners have connected them. What gives?

The issue, according to manufacturers quoted in a Wall Street Journal report (subscription usually required), is that customers just don't know all the things a manufacturer can do if users connect the device that spins their clothes or keeps their food cold—things like "providing manufacturers with data and insights about how customers are using their products" and allowing companies to "send over-the-air updates" and "sell relevant replacement parts or subscription services."

“The challenge is that a consumer doesn’t see the true value that manufacturers see in terms of how that data can help them in the long run. So they don’t really care for spending time to just connect it,” Henry Kim, US director of LG's smart device division ThinQ, told the Journal.

Enlarge / Mui Labs' Mui Board 2nd Gen embodies the loftiest promise of Matter: a wooden board, from a company you've likely never heard of, controlling devices made by many different companies, even if they're already connected to other apps. (credit: Mui)

First came the specification , then the release , and then CES 2023—it has been a busy few months for Matter, the smart home connectivity standard. You can't quite fill your home just yet with Matter-ready devices, but there are some intriguing options in development. Here's a look at some of the most practical, quirky, and viable gear coming soon (or soon-ish).

Some parts of Matter are already here

If you wanted to start your smart home off fresh this year with a focus on Matter-powered universal compatibility, you already have a couple pieces of the puzzle ready for you. Let's go bit by bit, starting with your phone.

Your phone, whether iOS or Android , can, right now, scan the QR code or read the Bluetooth signal of a Matter-certified device. Most platforms support adding devices to a controller through an Android app, but only Apple's HomeKit and Samsung's SmartThings have support for iOS device enrollment . Amazon has said it plans to add iOS enrollment for Thread-based devices this spring but already supports devices over Wi-Fi.

Enlarge / A whole bunch of Google devices, including Android phones, can now control Matter devices. Those devices will be here at some point, perhaps soon. (credit: Google)

The promise of Matter —the future where smart-home devices easily nestle into your home, regardless of what other devices or speakers you use—just got a bit closer today. Google announced that Nest and Android devices are Matter-enabled, allowing them to set up and control other Matter devices—that mostly don't exist yet.

If your Android device runs version 8.1 or higher and has Google Play Service 22.48.14 or newer, you can use it to pair a Matter-compatible device with other Matter products and controllers. In these early post-launch Matter days , that means you can pair a few Eve devices that got their Matter firmware update three days ago. Or you can wait on a few Nanoleaf bulbs, some Level smart locks, or whatever else is to come. Nest devices that have quietly received their latest firmware updates can now be used to control that same (quite limited) set of devices.

The appeal of the moment is that you could, technically, use an Android phone to put an Eve device onto your Matter network, then use an iOS Home app, Samsung's SmartThings, or an Alexa speaker (when those are updated in early 2023) to actually control that device. Alternatively, devices you brought onto the network with an iOS device could be controlled from a Google Nest Hub or speaker or other Nest device.

Enlarge / Fire TV on the Amazon Echo Show 15. (credit: Amazon)

Amazon's Echo Show 15 versatile smart display now has a more mainstream purpose: streaming TV and movies. Amazon pushed a free software update today that grants the Echo Show 15 with Fire TV capabilities, and newly purchased devices will be able to stream content from the likes of Disney+, Peacock, and other Fire TV apps.

Amazon initially announced plans to Fire TV-ify the Echo Show 15 in September. At the time, it said 70 percent of people who used the 15.6-inch smart display in the prior month did so to watch videos.

Upon release, the Echo Show 15 supported Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, and Hulu; (though you could only summon them by asking Alexa). But today's news puts those apps under one umbrella while adding additional streaming services, including HBO Max and Discovery+ ( soon to merge into Max? ) and Paramount+.

Enlarge / Eufy's camera footage is stored locally, but with the right URL, you can also watch it from anywhere, unencrypted. It's complicated.

When security researchers found that Eufy's supposedly cloud-free cameras were uploading thumbnails with facial data to cloud servers , Eufy's response was that it was a misunderstanding, a failure to disclose an aspect of its mobile notification system to customers.

It seems there's more understanding now, and it's not good.

Eufy didn't respond to other claims from security researcher Paul Moore and others, including that one could stream the feed from a Eufy camera in VLC Media Player , if you had the right URL. Last night, The Verge, working with the security researcher "Wasabi" who first tweeted the problem , confirmed it could access Eufy camera streams, encryption-free , through a Eufy server URL.

Enlarge / Anker's cameras store their footage on a local base. Thumbnail images of faces, however, were uploaded to cloud servers. (credit: Eufy)

Eufy, a smart home brand of tech accessory firm Anker, had become popular among some privacy-minded security camera buyers. Its doorbell camera and other devices proudly proclaimed having " No Clouds or Costs ," and that "no one has access to your data but you."

That's why security consultant and researcher Paul Moore's string of tweets and videos, demonstrating that Eufy cameras were uploading name-tagged thumbnail images to cloud servers to alert owners' phones, likely unencrypted, stung smart home and security enthusiasts so hard this week.

Moore , based in the UK, started asking Eufy rhetorical questions about its practices on Twitter starting November 21. "Why is my 'local storage" #doorbellDual storing every face, without encryption, to your servers? Why can I stream my camera without #authentication?!" Moore also posted lines from " source code & API responses " that suggested a very weak AES key was being used to encrypt video footage.