Is Ring actually following through on HomeKit Support?
During the coverage of HomeKit enhancements during WWDC 2016, Apple showed a prominent slide touting device brands that had pledged to support the smart home platform. One of the big names to feature on that slide was security camera maker and smart doorbell pioneer Ring, now owned by Amazon. After a year nothing had eventuated, and come WWDC 2018 another slide was shown with Ring conspicuously absent.
WWDC 2016 slide
What happened? The assumption is that the strict certification requirements at the time created roadblocks for Ring and many other device makers. In Ring’s case that assumption further extended to a belief that the plan had been dropped by 2018 due to an ominous silence on the issue.
WWDC 2017 saw the introduction of relaxed device requirements from Apple, and a subsequent, albeit slow, acceleration in support. But still no word from Ring. But now, a ray of hope has emerged for Ring owners on HomeKit in the form of a tweet from Australian smart home enthusiast Daniel Feodorov who noticed a couple of new additions to the MFi certified accessory listing.
So it looks like @ring is now #HomeKit certified... pic.twitter.com/dcB4LNOR6H
— Daniel Feodorov (@mrdanielfeo) May 12, 2019
The certification only lists the Ring Doorbell Pro and the Ring Spotlight Cam at this time, which suggests HomeKit support may be limited to hardwired models (as opposed to battery only). We would expect to see the Flood Light Cam in there as well in that case. Even so, the presence of an official certification is an encouraging sign that Ring is actually moving forward on HomeKit support after all, but it should be noted no Ring products are yet listed on the official Apple HomeKit accessory list. Ring did, however, respond on Twitter that they are working to bring HomeKit support ‘in the future’.
Hey neighbor, we’re working on bringing HomeKit integration to Ring Pro and our other devices in the future. We don’t have a release date just yet, but you’ll definitely be the first to know once we have more information.
— Ring (@ring) May 13, 2019
There is some speculation that we might see an announcement at or around WWDC in June this year, but we’ll have to continue the long wait for Ring to finally reveal their plans in this space. In the meantime, there is a viable workaround to get all your Ring devices working in HomeKit.
