Following yesterday’s iOS 10 unveiling, August has announced that it will be one of the first companies to take advantage of increased HomeKit accessory support with its August Doorbell Cam. During yesterday’s unveil, Apple SVP of Software Engineering, Craig Federighi, revealed that HomeKit would be expanding the list of supported accessories to include devices such as cameras, doorbells, air conditioners, air purifiers, and humidifiers.
August added HomeKit support to its Smart Lock in April, however, the August Doorbell Cam lacked HomeKit support simply due to the necessary HomeKit frameworks not being available from Apple. With the release of iOS 10, new HomeKit capabilities will be added to the Doorbell Cam via a free, automatic software update coming this fall once the profile has been finalized and the Doorbell Cam can be certified by Apple.
While it is not normally possible to add HomeKit support to existing home automation accessories via a software update, August CEO Jason Johnson explained in a press release that August took the proactive step of developing the Doorbell Cam with the necessary Apple HomeKit chips already in the device, so that it would be HomeKit-ready once Apple introduced the necessary profile support.
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