Apple’s smart home system, HomeKit, is adding support for several new types of devices this year, including home security cameras and routers. Apple has steadily expanded the types of devices that HomeKit can handle since its introduction in 2014, adding a few year by year as product makers have requested support for them. This year’s additions fill an important gap in the home security space.
Apple pointed out that most smart home security cameras send video to the cloud to analyze it and tell the difference between objects and people, risking your privacy. Apple’s new way of approaching this is called HomeKit Secure Video.
With HomeKit Secure Video, the video captured by your camera is analyzed locally on your resident iPad, HomePod or AppleTV. Then, it’s encrypted and sent to iCloud where no one can see it.
Apple also announced HomeKit-enabled routers that will automatically firewall off each of your smart home accessories to protect them even if your network is compromised. The first routers to be HomeKit-enabled will come from Linksys, Euro and Spectrum.
