#Home Assistant Green vs Home Pod

5 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

kind pebble
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I am a total noob when it comes to home automation, but I'm technically inclined. That said, my wife is not.

But I'm still a little bit confused when it comes to hubs. Am I correct that Home Pod and Green are simply two hub alternatives? If so, is the advantage of Green that I can connect easier with non-Apple products? Our home is mostly Apple, but I'm a Linux user on my desktop. We use iPhones.

To start, I need to get the hemostat upgrade to programmable/smart. Pretty soon we'll also add light and cameras.

One approach I'm considering is to start with the HomePod Mini, and then add a Green if I find limitations. But truthfully, I don't need the speaker. I just need a controller, I think. For voice control, we're using mostly Siri, but there is a 5 year old Echo in the house.

Or, should I be going the Green route because it will do everything I want the HomePod to do?

Or...we also have a A1842 AppleTV on the network, which I understand can serve as a hub? So is this all we need to get started?

thorny lagoon
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You can only use the apple home pod as an Apple HomeKit hub (and thread border router).

The green would run home assistant, support way more devices, and integrate to Apple home via the homebridge integration. This would let you use all devices connected to the green with the Apple home pod (eg you could control all devices with Siri).

kind pebble
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I assume this is because of the cross platform nature of Green?

lyric oriole
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No. They are two totally different things in reality. The Home Pod is both a speaker and a thread border router for Homekit. You can use Homekit like you would Home Assistant, but it's much, much, much less powerful. The HA Green runs Home Assistant and allows you to control thousands more devices and expose them to Homekit.

kind pebble
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Thanks. So I should consider Green to be my central brain of the house, and perhaps a HomePod Mini as an access point to the entire network through Homekit which is then connected to Green?