Apple HomePod now works with August's Siri-enabled locks
Control August's HomeKit-enabled Smart Lock Pro and second-gen Smart Lock with your Apple HomePod.
HomePod owners can now control their August Smart Lock Pro and second-gen Smart Lock with Siri voice commands.
August's Smart Lock Pro and last-gen Smart Lock already work with Siri on your iPhone for locking and unlocking your door, as well as asking if your door is locked. The lock and doorbell startup, now owned by Yale's parent company Assa Abloy, on Wednesday announced that its two HomeKit-enabled locks now work with the Apple HomePod.
This handy chart makes it easy to see what Apple devices work with your HomeKit-compatible August locks.
The HomePod is Apple's first attempt at a standalone Wi-Fi speaker. Plug it into an outlet at home, set it up with a compatible iOS device and play music, ask Siri questions and even control HomeKit-friendly gadgets. The HomeKit portion worked well during my HomePod testing, but the speaker wasn't able to control security devices, like August locks. When asked, Siri would respond, "I wish I could, but I can't control security devices here."
That's changing with today's announcement from August and it hopefully means the HomePod will soon be able to control even more smart security gadgets.
According to August's blog post, you can now use a HomePod to lock your door and ask for the lock's status -- whether it's locked or unlocked. But you still can't ask Siri on the HomePod to unlock your Smart Lock Pro or Smart Lock.
The HomePod does serve as a bridge for your HomeKit stuff to work remotely with Siri voice commands on your iPhone or Apple Watch. Before Apple's HomePod, you needed an Apple TV or an iPad to control your devices when you were away from home.
We plan to test out this Apple HomePod integration with an August Smart Lock Pro soon to see how well it works.
