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Apple CEO Tim Cook shares his HomeKit routine

The level of home automation available today with iOS and HomeKit was unimaginable just a few years, says Apple's chief executive.

Megan Wollerton Former Senior Writer/Editor
2 min read
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Apple CEO Tim Cook talks on stage at an October 27, 2016 event.

Stephen Lam, Getty Images

Tim Cook took a slight detour during Apple's quarterly earnings conference call on Tuesday. Instead of just focusing on finances, the CEO shared how he personally uses Siri and HomeKit .

"I'm personally using HomeKit accessories and the Home App to integrate iOS into my home routine," said Cook. "Now when I say 'Good morning' to Siri, my house lights come on and my coffee starts brewing."

Apple HomeKit is a software platform that lives natively in iOS 10 via the Home app. iPhone customers can add devices to the Home app to create advanced scene control. In addition to in-app management, customers can also enlist Siri to do the heavy lifting with single-device commands like, "Set my thermostat to 72 degrees" or multi-device commands like, "I'm home" that simultaneously control the lights, thermostat and window shades.

"When I leave the house, a simple tap on my iPhone turns the lights off, adjusts the thermostat down and locks the doors," said Cook on the call. "When I return to my house in the evening as I near my home, the house prepares itself for my arrival automatically by using a simple geofence. This level of home automation was unimaginable just a few years ago and it's here today with iOS and HomeKit."

Cook also said Apple is "leading the the industry by being the first to integrate home automation into a major platform with iOS 10," which took direct aim at HomeKit competitor Amazon .

While HomeKit works with iPhones and Google's voice control assistant works with Pixel phones , Amazon Alexa doesn't currently work with any phones. That's changing soon, though; Amazon Alexa's inaugural phone integration is slated to arrive this month with the Huawei Mate 9.

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