Apple's smart home plan, 18.3 changes, & xBloom coffee maker

On this episode of the HomeKit Insider Podcast, your hosts talk through even more smart home rumors from Apple, talk about the new 18.3 releases, and review the xBloom smart coffee maker.

This week on AppleInsider we rounded up all of the most recent Apple rumors for the smart home and tried to put them into a timeline and strategy that makes sense. We revisited that here on the podcast.

We then walked through the newly-released beta updates for developers, including iOS 18.3 and tvOS 18.3. 4th updates have minor smart-home related changes, including support for robotic vacuum cleaners.

Google has started testing new tiered access for smart home control, after being announced in November. Your hosts theorize how Apple could adopt a similar tactic and how it compares to the guest access it offers now.

In third-party news, ElevationLab has usurped Apple's "TimeCapsule" name, using it for its new product. The ElevationLab TimeCapsule is an enclosure for an AirTag that extends the battery life by up to 10 years.

Eufy has released its new Indoor E30 camera, which includes a number of impressive features for less than $70. It is a 4K camera with support for HomeKit and HomeKit Secure Video, 360-degree rotation, 75-degrees of tilt, and microSD card storage for local storage.

We wrap up this holiday episode by reviewing the xBloom smart coffee maker. This incredibly cool machine can use its own proprietary pods with roasted-on-demand coffee or users can provide their own and use filters.

The machine will grind the beans and brew pour-over style coffee in minutes. It has a near-unlimited number of settings from how fine to grind the beans, temperature of the water, and how long to let the bloom rest.

It's all run with NFC cards, including from the accompanying app. Just tap a recipe card on the top and it loads all the recipe settings needed for that specific bean or roast.

It does highlight Apple's shortcomings with NFC though, as you can't tap your phone to load a recipe. Currently, NFC is limited to paying, access cards, and other similar uses.

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