siri – Smart Home Perfected

Two Ways to Connect Nest to Apple HomeKit & Siri

Daniel Walsh — Tue, 30 Apr 2024 18:35:48 +0000

From your personal perspective, you may have encountered hurdles when attempting to connect Nest products with Apple devices for connectivity functionalities.

However, thanks to the new Matter standard, along with the third-party Starling Home Hub, you have a couple of ways to integrate Nest and Apple HomeKit.

So how well do these solutions work? Let’s find out.

8.2

Starling Home Hub

A reliable Nest to iOS Bridge

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How to Connect Nest to Apple HomeKit and Siri

The Nest Thermostat is made by Google, so if you want to use your Thermostat with any Apple device, you will definitely run into compatibility issues.

However, third-party devices will let you connect your Nest Thermostat with Apple HomeKit, the most popular of which is the Starling Home Hub.

Besides that, there have been some recent developments with Nest thermostats supporting “Matter,” the new smart home standard that’s designed exactly to bridge this gap.

Option 1: Starling Home Hub

The Starling Home Hub is a simple yet effective solution to connect your Nest devices with Apple HomeKit and Siri.

You can set it up within five minutes and get all your Nest products connected to Apple HomeKit, all you need is the home hub, a Wi-Fi router, and an Apple device, such as an iPad or iPhone.

8.2

Starling Home Hub

A reliable Nest to iOS Bridge

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On Amazon.com

After you get the Starling Home Hub to connect with your Internet router or switch, you move ahead and configure the hub using your iPad, iPhone, or any other Apple device. You can complete the configuration from your browser, no additional steps required.

Apart from convenience and compatibility, security and data privacy are top priorities for Starling Home Hub, which is why it doesn't store user data. Instead, all the information remains on your local network.

The hub only connects to the internet when necessary, such as when firmware updates are available.

Supported Nest Products

Starling Home Hub has support for almost every Nest product on the market. Check below to see a full list of Nest devices that you can control using your Apple phone.

Nest Thermostat (Nest Thermostat E & Nest Learning Thermostat)
Temperature Sensors
Nest Alarm Systems
Nest Protect
Nest Hello
Nest Protect (CO & Smoke Alarm)
Nest Cam Indoor/ Outdoor/IQ
Nest Secure (Guard & Detect)
Nest Dropcam
Nest × Yale Lock

How to Install and Integrate the Starling Home Hub with Apple HomeKit

Connecting Nest to Apple HomeKit and Siri is a breeze using the Starling Home Hub. It integrates with your Wi-Fi router to act as a smart home hub and bridge the gap between your Nest and Apple HomeKit devices.

Starling supports almost all routers (except for Arris RAC2V1A), including HomeKit Secure Routers, such as the Eero. The Starling Hub does not support PoE (Power Over Ethernet). Instead, you will have to power it via the Micro-USB interface provided or with a PoE micro-USB power splitter.

To get started:

Plug the Starling Home Hub into your Wi-Fi router using the included LAN Cable
After that, connect the Starling Home Hub to the power using the included USB cable and a phone charger
Check for any indicator lights on the LAN port of the Starling hub, if anything doesn’t light up, reconnect the cables and try again
Then, open up a web browser on your laptop or smartphone and make sure you’re connected to the same network as your Wi-Fi router
After that, head into the Starling network, typically it’s “setup.starling.io.” (Don’t forget to check your quick start guide for the correct address.)
If your iPhone is on a VPN or LTE, the connection will not be complete so make sure to switch these off.
The website will try to scan your local network for the smart home hub. After which, it will open up a menu to help you create a Google or Nest account
Follow the given instructions to provide your credentials and authorize Starling to control the home hub
Finally, you’ll have the option to customize the available Nest devices and configure any settings.
When that’s all done, you need to add the Starling home hub to your Apple devices.
Open up the Apple HomeKit app and tap on the plus icon “+” at the top right
Then scan the QR code to connect the hub to your Apple device
Provide any confirmation prompts and set up the location and name for your Starling Home Hub/Bridge
Set up the nest devices connected to your Starling home hub. You will have to assign rooms, rename them, and provide permissions for the functions that are available
Your smart devices will now show up in the Apple HomeKit app

If you run into any issues or the smart device doesn’t operate as expected, simply force close the app, head back into the Starling portal, and restart the Apple HomeKit app..

Security

The Starling Home Hub uses two-factor authentication to protect your data.

The team behind Starling Home Hub regularly rolls out new software upgrades, bug fixes, and patches. You can check for new updates by simply visiting their website.

If convenience is your priority, you should always install these updates as soon as they’re made available, since they make the Starling more reliable.

Option 2: Nest, HomeKit, and Matter

Matter is an innovative smart home standard created through the collaboration of tech giants like Google, Apple, Amazon, and Samsung.

As of April 18th, Nest Thermostat now supports Matter, making it the first smart thermostat to do so.

This upgrade allows Nest users to easily connect their device to Apple HomeKit without needing extra hardware, as long as they're running iOS 16.4.

Amazon Alexa, Samsung SmartThings, and other Matter-compatible platforms are also supported in this update.

However, this new functionality is limited to the 2020 version of the Nest Thermostat, with Google promising to bring functionality to the Nest E and Learning models in the future.

With Matter compatibility, a whole new realm of platforms open up for Nest products

Adding The Nest Thermostat to Apple HomeKit via Matter

Once your Nest thermostat gets updated with Matter compatibility, you'll be able to locate a new Matter settings page on the device itself and within the Google Home app settings for the thermostat.

This is where you can find the Matter pairing code required to link your Nest thermostat with Apple HomeKit.

Although the Google Home app on iOS doesn't currently support Matter, you can still integrate your thermostat with Apple HomeKit using the code provided by your Nest device.

This enables you to manage the thermostat through HomeKit until Google Home decides to include Matter support for a seamless connection.

Wrapping Up

Unfortunately, Apple doesn’t natively support Nest thermostats. Instead, the only options are to link the devices via the Starling Home Hub or integrate them via Matter.

The former is still considered the best option since it’s compatible with many Nest thermostats and you don’t have to worry about glitches or software issues.

So if you really want to control your Nest thermostat via Apple devices, the Starling Home hub can make it happen.

Sources

DanLefebvre

The post Two Ways to Connect Nest to Apple HomeKit & Siri appeared first on Smart Home Perfected.

How to Change Siri’s Voice or Name

Sophia Miller — Tue, 30 Apr 2024 12:21:26 +0000

Siri, Apple's sophisticated artificial intelligence system, has evolved into a crucial component present in various Apple devices since its introduction in 2011. It is found on a plethora of products, including the iPhone, Apple Watch, Apple TV, HomePod, Mac, and iPod, and its integration into upcoming Apple inventions is a strong possibility. A unique set of users appreciate personalization and would like the option to change Siri's name or voice. Keep reading to find out more!

Similar to its voice assistant rival from Amazon and Google, Siri can be awakened by simply uttering wake words. In her case … “Hey, Siri.”

Can you change Siri's name?

Unfortunately No, it's not possible to change Siri's name. However you can change the gender of Siri's voice to male, give her a British, South African, Irish, Indian or Australian accent. She can even speak to you in a different language!

How can I change Siri to have a male voice?

Apple Homepod

The Homepod is Apple’s answer to the Amazon Echo; a smart speaker to assist you within your home environment. Siri is your means of communicating with Homepod and she comes with some default preferences.

For instance, it has its gender, language, and accent. However, users can change these preferences anytime they wish. They can change Siri’s female voice to a male one. The steps to do so are very simple.

Launch the Home app.
Locate the HomePod option from your Favorite Accessories list.
Press and hold the HomePod you wish to make changes to.
Scroll down until you see the Details option, tap on it.
Scroll down until you see the Siri tab. From here you can change Siri’s language and access Siri’s voice menu.
Tap on the Siri Voice option.
Select the gender and accent you want your Siri to have.
Once done, exit the app.

Apple iPhone, iPad, or iPod

If users change the gender for Siri on their iPhone, iPad, or iPod, it will change on all connected devices as well. For instance, if they have connected their Apple Watch with their iPhone, and they change the default gender for Siri there, the changes will also be updated on their Apple Watch.

Take out your device and navigate to Settings >> Siri & Search.
Select the Siri voice option.
From there, pick the voice and accent you want your Siri to have.
You will find American, Australian, Irish, British, and South African accents among others.
To make sure the accent has been changed to your preference, tap on the Accent or Gender option.
Siri will now say “I’m Siri, your virtual assistant.”
Exit the settings if you are happy with the newly set accent for Siri.

Apple macOS

Users can easily change the gender for Siri on their Mac OS. Before they do so, know the gender, as well as the dialect, depend on the language they’re changed into. Sadly, some languages only have one gender version. However, Apple users who wish to continue using the English language have both the male and female gender options available to them.

Make sure you are running Mac OS Sierra, or later.
Navigate to Apple Menu >> System Preferences >> Siri.
From here you can change the voice and language for your Siri.
Tap on the Language option and select the one you prefer.
Once you change your Language preference, Siri will use it when responding to requests.
Tap on the Siri Voice option.
From here you can change the gender and accent/dialect you want you Siri to have.

Apple Watch

Siri is a big part of every Apple user’s life. Although at the beginning stages, it only offered a handful of features, it has now incorporated many advanced ones. For example, if you are using watchOS 6 or above, you can ask Siri to identify a song just by listening to it and find a Shazam result. If you want to change the female voice to male for your Apple Watch, you will have to do it from your iPhone.

Make sure you are using Apple Watch Series 3 or later.
Now navigate to Settings >> General >> Siri.
From here you can enable/disable Siri spoken responses, toggle on/off Siri silence mode, among others.
From the Siri Speaks Responses section, toggle on the Always On option to make Siri always read out responses even when your Apple Watch is on Silent Mode.
Keep this option off if you want Siri to only display notifications and responses when your Apple Watch is on Silent Mode.
Select the Headphones Only option to make Siri on your Apple Watch speak out responses only when your Apple Watch is connected to headphones.

How can I make Siri speak with an British, South African, Irish, Indian or Australian accent?

Apple Homepod

The accent is a big issue for many Apple users. For instance, not everyone is accustomed to people talking in a British accent. Similarly, some might find the Australian accent hard to understand. If you are one of them and want to change the default accent for your Siri, you can do it in less than a minute.

Take out your phone.
Launch the Home app.
Find the HomePod option from your Favorites List.
If you have multiple HomePods, press and hold the one you wish to make changes to.
Scroll down and tap on the Details option.
Scroll down to the Siri Tab.
From here you can change both accent and language for your Siri.
To change Siri’s accent, tap on Siri Voice and choose an accent. Pick your preferred one and exit the window.

Apple iPhone, iPad, or iPod

Before you change the default accent on Siri to something you prefer, make sure your Siri supports that accent for the language you prefer. For instance, if your default language is English, you can set Siri to American, Australian, or British accent. However, if you set a different language other than English for your Siri, you might face some limitations in terms of available accents/dialects.

From your device navigate to Settings >> Siri & Search.
Scroll down until you see the Siri Voice option.
From the Dialect section, you can change the default accent to your preferred one.

Apple macOS

To ensure enhanced user experience, Siri supports different languages as well as male/female voices. Moreover, it also supports many popular dialects/accents for your preferred language. For instance, for English, French, and Spanish, Siri offers different dialects. Before you go ahead and change the dialect on Siri, make sure that dialect is supported.

You have to be using Mac OS Sierra or later versions.
From your device navigate to Apple Menu >> System Preferences >> Siri.
To change the dialect, scroll down until you see the Dialect section.
Pick your preferred accent.
Exit Settings.

Apple Watch

Apple Watch is probably one of the most popular wearable gadgets on the market. Making a call, downloading an app, listening to the news, syncing your music library, setting up heart rate alerts, and so on, these can all be done with this watch. It only takes a minute to change Siri’s default accent..

Your Apple Watch will speak in the same dialect that is set on your iPhone.
To change the accent on your Apple Watch, take out your iPhone.
Navigate to Settings >> Siri & Search.
Scroll down to the Siri Voice section.
From the Dialect area, you can change the default accent to your preferred one.

Voice Commands on all Apple devices have made our lives simpler. The core idea behind all voice assistants is to let users engage with their smart devices in their natural language. And Siri is no exception.

Can I change what Siri calls me?

To ensure enhanced user experience, Apple lets its uses decide what name Siri will call them by. Users can stick to their real names or have fun by using an alias of a fictional name e.g. Tyler Durden.

From your device launch the Settings app.
Select the Mail, Contacts, and Calendars option.
Scroll down until you see the My Info option, tap on it.
From there you can create your personal contact information.
Siri will now use the name listed on your Personal Contact information.
You can also use voice command to change the name Siri calls you by.
Press and hold the Home button.
Simply say “From now on, call me John Snow.” Exit the window after Siri confirms your new name.

How to stop Siri mispronouncing your name!

Many people have complained about Siri mispronouncing their names, so that does question how smart Siri is for some.

However, know that even humans face trouble pronouncing names from completely different regions than their native country. For instance, if you have lived all your life in America and suddenly decide one day to visit an Asian country, the very first problem you will face is pronouncing people’s names.

Unlike humans, Siri can be easily taught how to pronounce your name properly!

From your device open the Mail, Contacts, and Calendars app.
Pick the contact that you wish to fix pronunciation for.
Tap on the Edit button.
Tap on the Add Field option.
You will be shown three options among others that will help you fix the pronunciation issue.
Select the “Phonetic First Name” if you wish to fix pronunciation for the first name.
Select the “Phonetic Middle Name” if you wish to fix pronunciation for the middle name.
Select the “Phonetic Last Name” if you wish to fix pronunciation for the last name.

Conclusion

Siri is a popular voice assistant. If you use it daily, you can benefit from the step-by-step guides listed above. Starting from changing Siri's default language, altering its voice, and making it speak in a different accent/dialect, these guides will help you increase the efficiency in which you interact with Siri.

Sources

Apple.com

addisonwhite

sisnandovieira

The post How to Change Siri’s Voice or Name appeared first on Smart Home Perfected.