Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones to offer longer battery life and improved ANC
A new comprehensive leak from TechnikNews along with some official-looking renders tell an interesting story about Sony’s future ANC headphones – the WH-1000XM5.
As you can see from the renders below, there are small but notable changes in the design compared to the older version. The upcoming headphones look somewhat cleaner than their predecessors, have bigger earpads and the headband seems to have a bit more padding. The hinge holding the earpads has been revamped as well. At first glance, those changes will likely contribute to a more comfortable fit.
Sony WH-1000XM5
The power button is now swapped out for a slider-type switch, while the custom button has been replaced with an NC/Ambient button.
Sony WH-1000XM5
As far as specs are concerned, the new iteration will likely deliver up to 40 hours of non-stop playback with ANC turned on, which is 10 hours up from the XM4. Expectedly, the charging time has also increased and the headphones will take 3. 5 hours to a full charge.
The source doesn’t mention anything about release time frames, unfortunately.
F1 22 release date, with new ‘F1 Life’ mode, announced for July
When it launches July 1, F1 22will lean into the fast and flashy lifestyle that Formula One fans have seen over four seasons of Netflix’s popular documentary Formula 1: Drive to Survive. Some fans worry that it will mean microtransactions and battle pass bling more than an expanded mode.
F1 Life, as it is called, is “a new space for you to unlock and show off supercars, clothing, accessories, and more for the world to see,” according to publisher Electronic Arts. The game’s official website doesn’t expand on the thought. Commenters in the F1 series’ restive subreddit wondered why EA and developer Codemasters couldn’t bring back classic competition cars, which were last seen (and driveable in most modes) in F1 2020.
“Classic F1 cars would make it so much better,” said one user. “It’s an F1 game, not a normal car game.”
F1 2020 was the first game in the series to introduce the Podium Pass, basically a schedule of tiered loot and unlockable cosmetics for use across several modes. Players have to buy into each season with Pitcoin, a secondary currency also introduced that year. Pitcoin is acquired for real money, and sometimes is awarded in one of the Podium Pass’ tiers.
The cosmetics in the Podium Pass so far involve a created driver’s racing suit, helmet, and gloves, and especially liveries for the multiplayer and career-mode car. In terms of outfits and accessories, the F1 series has never had sequences where its drivers appear in street clothes or civilian life. So, whether F1 Life means a fresh set of cutscenes to show off these unlockable customizations, as drivers walk the paddock on the way to practice or qualifying, or something more interactive, remains to be seen.
Other promises made with F1 22‘s announcement on Thursday include “the opportunity to choose between immersive and broadcast style Formation Laps, Safety Car periods, and Pit Stops.” This likely points to an expansion of commentary from host David Croft and analyst Anthony Davidson, which so far has been limited to pre-race grid introductions and post-race driver-of-the-day honors, with zero audio from the pair during the race itself.
Of course, F1 cars have changed dramatically with the introduction of new rules, and the vehicles in F1 22 will reflect that, including the new shape of the rear wings, back canopies, and wheel guards that distinguish this year’s chassis. Such aerodynamic changes were made to foster tighter racing and more overtaking opportunities in real life, and Codemasters says F1 22 will feature “a new handling model that recreates the intense wheel-to-wheel racing that’s had us on the edge of our seats so far in the 2022 Formula 1 season.”
New courses, such as the Miami International Autodrome, whose inaugural Miami Grand Prix will race on May 8, will be included in the game. Also, sprint format qualifying — where a shorter (100 km) race on Saturday sets the grid order for Sunday — will be included in all of the relevant modes. F1 Sprint races will be staged at three events this year, beginning with this weekend’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola, Italy. The format was introduced into competition last year but was not present in F1 2021.
When The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind was released on May 1, 2002, my preteen life was little more than a series of impulses dribbling out of my underdeveloped brain like an embarrassing ooze. Pants that looked like the walls of a dungeon were my entire identity. All that distinguished one day from the next was whether or not my health teacher would draw a dick on the white board in health class. (He did it a lot.) I was apathetic and sheltered, adrift in a hell that looked a lot like the Garden State Plaza, until one day I awoke on a boat, as a prisoner born on a certain day, from uncertain parents.
I’ve always gravitated toward games with some semblance of freedom. Zipping through the clouds in Skies of Arcadia was mind-blowing, as was running around Shenmue’s Yokosuka and questioning weirdly hostile NPCs about the whereabouts of sailors. There were invisible walls and locked doors, but I could go mostly where I wanted, unconstrained by consequence and the judgment of others.
Morrowind was hardly my first video game, but it was my first true love. When I was desperate for meaning, and life was at its most unsalted saltine, this was a Flavor Blasted Goldfish. I played games before, but this was more like an alternative to reality. It was open beyond comprehension long before the ubiquity of open worlds. My small, mundane existence was supplanted by possibility, mystery, and horror in equal measure. This game fundamentally altered the standard by which subsequent open-world RPGs would be judged. It changed everything.
Image: Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks via Polygon
I didn’t have friends in school, but the denizens of Vvardenfell weren’t concerned with my lack of social standing. They sought only to criticize my outlander status, or for running around in the nude, or for keeping them from the important work of meandering around a 5-foot radius and staring blankly into the distance. The game’s voice acting was pretty limited as well, with dialogue delivered mainly via text boxes. This came with the fun benefit of allowing me to assign any tone I saw fit to an NPC’s rambling — I often took undue offense and murdered many innocent townspeople, screwing myself out of future quest lines in the process.
That was one of the many wonders of Morrowind: You could fuck yourself in ways that defied imagination. In fact, Morrowind offered a game-breaking degree of freedom. Some modern games offer branching decision trees under the veil of agency, but end up funneling everyone toward the same conclusion regardless. But in Morrowind, there were no such gimmicks. In fact, there was sometimes no fail state at all. There wasn’t a Game Over screen after you killed a shady moon-sugar addict and “severed the thread of prophecy.” You could play for tens of hours before realizing the implications of dropping a key item somewhere in a sewer. The creators at Bethesda did not think to protect us from ourselves. Playing Morrowind, I was Colonel Kurtz’s snail crawling along the edge of a straight razor.
Subverting your better judgment didn’t always lead to failure, though. In some cases it led to further adventures. If one was feeling particularly ballsy, they could kill the God-King Vivec and tumble headfirst down a rabbit hole of an entirely alternate main-quest path. This information was not telegraphed to the player at the outset. Instead, it was a reward that only those with hubris enough to kill a god would be privy to. The absence of explicit direction was a fundamental aspect of Morrowind’s genius design that has only been rivaled in recent years by Breath of the Wild and Elden Ring. As in those games, new quests in Morrowind were found organically — through conversation and action rather than running toward the nearest map icon.
Image: Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks via Polygon
Curiosity, not waypoints, fueled exploration on the island of Vvardenfell. Morrowind came before we were all indoctrinated into the cult ofQuality of Life. Convenience can temper frustration, yes, but it can also reduce an otherwise rich experience into something mindless. Morrowind preserved the magic by stubbornly refusing to spoon-feed its players. Navigation was aided by the physical map, the often ambiguous (and sometimes straight-up incorrect) directions shared by quest givers, and the player’s own questionable instinct. Fast-travel options were available but limited to specific locations. And you were on your feet most of the time, so the island felt huge — despite the game’s god-awful draw distance.
With so much to explore and discover, stumbling into the unexpected came to be expected. After chatting with a tax collector about sweet roll-related issues, you could proceed outside the village bounds of Seyda Neen and be greeted with a loud shriek. It was a wizard falling from the air to his death. On his corpse was a journal, outlining the hubris which resulted in the broken corpse before you. Along with a spell that fortified acrobatics to a dangerous degree, Tarhiel’s final moments lent a pervasive sense of awe that colored the entire journey moving forward. It seemed like anything could happen, untethered from concrete quests and assignments, as long as you were in the right place at the right time. The map was brimming with possibility.
There was so much packed into that island. The geography varied from swamps to grasslands to the gray hell of Red Mountain, with vibrant mushroomy flora along the way. The skyboxes were often glorious, if they weren’t obscured by a roving band of Cliff Racers (footage of these creatures would not be out of place in A Clockwork Orange’s aversion therapy). And the water. Everyone’s heads exploded over Far Cry’s water, while Morrowind’snever got the recognition it deserved. It was shiny, ripply, and wet-looking — everything you want in a good water. Beneath the surface was a blue void that concealed treasure, sunken ships, and skeletons.
The architecture was as diverse as the geography. Each of the three Great Houses had a prevailing design aesthetic that reflected their unique sensibilities, as well as discrete senses of place. I was partial to the twisting towers of House Telvanni, carved out of giant mushrooms with vertical halls that required levitation to navigate. House Redoran’s structures looked like insect carapaces, while House Hlaalu featured the least fantastical style (although I do have a soft spot for it, since the Hlaalu-aligned city of Balmora was my character’s hometown). It is worth noting that most of the game’s cities were congruous with the rest of the map. The absence of a loading screen when entering a settlement meant you could stumble into one basically by accident.
Image: Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks via Polygon
Maybe Morrowind felt familiar and comforting because, just like real life, there was no shortage of places where I felt unwanted. Daedric shrines were as dangerous as they looked, composed of contorted heaps of sharp black metal and cage-like structures. Dwemer ruins were abandoned industrial halls where you could observe the remnants of a once-flourishing society. There, you might run into an Ascended Sleeper, a Lovecraftian nightmare of eyeballs and tentacles (and the nickname I give myself two hours after ingesting an indica-dominant edible). Aside from these sprawling ruins, there were plenty of smugglers’ caves and tombs in which I could explore, plunder, and die.
Every play session would yield something new and exciting. Hop along the smaller land masses that dot the shoreline to meet a perpetually inebriated and extremely wealthy Mudcrab merchant. You might encounter a lone Nord, tricked by a conniving witch and left to wander the land naked and angry. These passing interactions and tangential adventures would hijack the attention of even the most singularly focused explorer. Elden Ring might represent the natural evolution of this idea, with the density and complexity of its world design standing in for Morrowind’s side quests and character interactions. These games are like dining in one of those conveyor belt sushi restaurants, with every passing whim so thoroughly indulged.
Where streamlined progression systems tend to reduce modern RPGs to action games, Morrowind was a role-playing game in every sense. Player ability was second to that of the player character. The success of an action was determined by probability, hence why you could swing your sword haplessly at a Slaughterfish and do no damage. It was the tabletop-inspired role-playing of it all that made it simultaneously so maddening and so rewarding. Skills would increase through use, so if you picked locks, your Security would increase. Due to the relationship between skills and governing attributes, player characters were much more specialized. They were unlikely to assume that nebulous jack-of-all-trades role where progression in all things becomes an inevitability.
Image: Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks via Polygon
I felt a tremendous sense of ownership over my characters because they were a reflection of my decisions, rather than an arbitrary allocation of skill points. This system was not without its shortcomings, though. For one, it was easily exploitable. Only a player’s commitment to role-playing would keep them from hopping to their destination instead of walking in order to greatly increase their acrobatics skill. That being said, my Nerevarine was Easter Bunny-themed — so this type of behavior made perfect sense.
Morrowind was the perfect thing at the perfect time. It disemboweled my sad goth girl identity and divided my life into two halves: one defined by insecurity and apathy, and another touched by the (Daedric) Face of God. It awakened me to the possibilities of video games, not only in a technical respect, but insofar as how they affect me as a player. Games have come a long way in the decades since its release, but I still find myself holding everything against the impossible standard that Morrowind set. Despite some games coming close, I’m still in constant pursuit of one whose freedom can spark that same feeling of wonder that Morrowind gave me 20 years ago.
9to5Mac Happy Hour 378: Apple privacy stance impeding features, mourning the HomePod and iPhone 14 camera rumors
Benjamin and Zac start off by discussing the surprising firmware update for the MagSafe Battery Pack. We continue our wish that Apple would bring back the large HomePod. According to The Information, Apple’s strict privacy policies are hindering innovation. And finally, there’s a handful of iPhone 14 rumors to digest.
The weekly Exotics item merchant, Xur hangs out at random places around Destiny. In Destiny 2, he can appear all over the map, as well as inside the Tower. This week, you can find Xur in the EDZ, standing on a bluff overlooking the Winding Cove.
Image: Bungie via Polygon
Xur’s inventory this week consists of the following:
Prometheus Lens, Solar trace rifle: 29 Legendary Shards
Dead Man’s Tale, Kinetic scout rifle (Fourth Time’s The Charm): 125,000 Glimmer, 200 Legendary Shards, Exotic Cipher, Ascendant Shard
As of Season of the Lost, Xur also sells a collection of old armor and weapons — similar to Banshee-44 and Ada-1. Usually, these items are difficult to find and from seasons long past. Each item (whether armor or weapon) costs only 1,000 Glimmer and 50 Legendary Shards.
Xur’s Legendary inventory this week consists of the following:
Seventh Seraph SI-2, Void sidearm
Ikelos_SMG_V1.0. 2, Arc submachine gun
Wolftone Draw, Arc bow
Deafening Whisper, Void grenade launcher
Iota Draconis, Solar fusion rifle
Temptation’s Hook, Arc sword
Frozen Orbit, Void sniper rifle
Season of the Splicer armor set
Xur’s items drop at a power level similar to that of your character.
Prometheus Lens
Prometheus Lens is an Exotic from Curse of Osiris. It used to be one of the most powerful weapons in all of Destiny 2, when abug (now fixed) caused it to deal ludicrous damage in PvP. Prometheus Lens is still awesome for clearing out large crowds of enemies all at once.
The main perk, Prismatic Inferno, causes Prometheus Lens’ beam to grow in size the longer you hold down the trigger. The trace rifle can do significant damage over a wide area. The gun’s secondary ability, Flame Refraction, makes the first perk even better, allowing kills to return ammo back into the magazine. The more kills you get, the longer you can hold down the trigger and increase your area of damage. It’s a fun gun and definitely worth the Legendary Shards.
The Bombardiers
The Bombardiers are Year 3 Hunter legs with a silly and mostly useless perk — or rather, it used to be useless. Parting Gift leaves a bomb on the ground when the Hunter dodges, which then explodes and deals a bit of damage. Although it didn’t previously do anything, this bomb changes depending on the subclass you are. It can burn enemies with Solar and slow them down with Stasis. Blind targets with Arc. Void targets will also be affected. It’s a strange Exotic, but it’s still useful.
Xur’s roll this week comes with 58 total stats.
Armamentarium
The Armamentarium is a pretty simple chest piece. Its exotic perk is And Another Thing, which causes you to gain another grenade charge regardless of the subclass you’re using. It’s a great perk, but it wouldn’t be possible if Striker Titans already had two grenades. Other Titan subclasses are equipped with far more powerful grenades and exotics such as Mask of the Quiet One and Hallowfire Heart.
However, Armamentarium is still a great chest piece to grab if you don’t like those other exotics, or if you want to run the other Striker tree. This chest piece is a must-have for anyone who likes grenades and Titans.
Xur’s roll this week comes with 65 total stats.
Getaway Artist
Getaway Artist is a new Warlock Exotic from Season of the Drifter. Its Exotic perk is Dynamic Duo. This perk allows you to give up your grenade for an Arc Turret that will follow you. The Warlock Exotic Getaway Artist can be a fun, cool Warlock Exotic. It’s a great Warlock Exotic that you need to have in your collection.
Xur’s roll this week comes with 64 total stats.
Exotic Cipher quest
Image: Bungie via Polygon
Starting in Beyond Light, Xur has a new quest for an Exotic Cipher. You can buy Exotics at the Monuments to Lost Light kiosk located in the tower with the Exotic Cipher. These items will be required along with other currency to purchase Exotics such as Heir Apparent or Truth.
This week, Xur wants you to complete 21 Strikes or win Crucible or Gambit matches. By finishing the quest, you’ll earn an Exotic Cipher to use however you want.
Apple to discontinue its Mobile Device Management platform Fleetsmith
Apple bought Mobile Device Management Platform Fleetsmith almost two years ago. This partnership gave customers a first-party MDM solution for their business. Now the tech giant has announced that it is discontinuing further service through Fleetsmith.
New signups for Fleetsmith are discontinued as of April 21. Apple states that existing customers can use the Fleetsmith service until October 21, 2022. Customers can’t log into fleetsmith.com after that date. Fleetsmith servers will not allow devices to receive configuration profiles.
The service was originally acquired to help small businesses simplify its use of Apple devices. Since then, the Cupertino company has introduced Apple Business Essentials. Apple Business Essentials offers device management, 24/7 phone support for users, iCloud storage, and onsite repairs. It’s perfect for businesses looking to simplify its IT processes. While on the cusp of Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2022, it’s exciting to wait and see if we hear of any updates to Apple’s enterprise strategy.
Samsung Galaxy Watch5 series details leak, there won’t be a “Classic” anymore
We are still a couple of months away from the release of the Galaxy Watch5 series, but SamMobile has a spicy rumor to share. According to the publication’s sources, Samsung is killing the “Classic” watch and replacing it with Pro. The standard option remains with the Watch5.
It’s not clear what caused this naming change. It could mean that Samsung is ditching the rotating bezel, or it could also be just a simple rebradning for some marketing reasons. The report also contains other pertinent information.
Samsung Galaxy Watch4 and Watch4 Classic
For instance, the regular Watch5 will come in two sizes, while the Pro will likely be sold in just one size. Previous rumors also suggest that the latter will incorporate a big 572 mAh battery.
Lastly, to no one’s surprise, the new round of watches will keep the circular design and will run on the One UI Watch platform based on Wear OS 3.
SOSwim Safety Bracelet for the kids alert you of danger and drowning
SOS means ‘Save Our Ship’ and people often use it not because their ship is wrecked but to express distress over a situation. The acronym is generally used in emergencies, and we believe it is something everyone in the world must be aware of.
When it comes to children’s safety, people must be aware of their surroundings. Adults must also prepare the basics like First Aid and know how to save a drowning child. You see, when it comes to kids’ security, safety, and privacy, you can never be too prepared.
Designer: Mariya Cherkasova
There are plenty of inventions and tools that can help parents and guardians. For example, this SOSwim is designed as a safety bracelet for children while swimming. Don’t say it is just another safety bracelet, as this one will really be helpful to parents who always worry about their kids.
The SOSwim Safety Bracelet will particularly be essential during summer when all the kids want to do is just frolic in the water. So when the children want to stay in the pool or the beach, you have to make sure they are safe. If they don’t know how to swim, look after them or have someone watch them. For additional peace of mind, get a safety bracelet like the SOSwim.
Drowning is a leading cause of accidental death among children. It can be painful and it’s something you don’t want to witness or experience. SOSwim has been designed to solve situations when people, kids especially, are helpless. What it does is simple: send a notification to an adult’s smartphone if the child starts to drown.
The design of the safety bracelet is based on a lifebuoy. This includes the shapes and the colors, while the sea wave design on the bracelet is where the LED lights are located. It works with a compatible mobile app where parents can see the alerts and see the children’s physical ability.
The app also works as a fitness tracker as it can tell you your child’s distance, time, and body temperature. This helps prevent the kid from hypothermia as you can quickly call him to get off the water for a while. The safety bracelet will flash to communicate with your child. Other details the app can show include the name of the kid, age, height, distinctive features, temperature, distance, and time.
The bracelet is designed with photoluminescent silicone, which may help locate a drowning kid. The main signal light on the bracelet is composed of LEDs. It also features organic glass, 5mm LEDs, a heart rate monitor, Bluetooth connectivity, and a Micro Controller Unit (MCU).
Roblox ads are ‘exploiting’ users, FTC complaint from advocacy group says
Advertising in the metaverse is tricky.
Truth in Advertising, a nonprofit organization that aims to protect consumers from “false advertising and deceptive marketing,” filed a complaint Tuesday with the Federal Trade Commission alleging that Roblox has “completely shirked its responsibility” in following advertising laws on the kids gaming platform. The full complaint names several major U.S.-based corporations, including Netflix, Nike, Hasbro, and Mattel, as companies that have games on the platform that use deceptive marketing practices.
Roblox is a gaming and “metaverse” platform that primarily caters to children. Roblox Corp. refers to many of its games as “experiences” and they are created by the users, not the company. However, over the past several years, more and more big-name companies have begun using Roblox games to advertise their products. Hasbro released a Nerf Gun shooter; Mattel released an open-world Hot Wheels game; and more recently, Sega of America partnered with a company to release a Sonic the Hedgehog game on the platform. Truth in Advertising claims that Roblox is using advertising to trick millions of users. This happens because the company “has failed to set up any effective guardrails” to comply with Truth in Advertising laws on their platform .”
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The report goes into great depth to describe and list various problems with advertising practices on Roblox, but a lot of what it comes down to is unmarked or undisclosed advertising in different forms. (Disclosed advertising, for instance, is when an influencer uses #ad on TikTok, which that platform requires users to include if the post is a paid promotion so that they abide by FTC guidelines.) Truth in Advertising states that it is difficult for children under the age of 10 to differentiate between “advergames”, which are games created by brands and products, and user-made games. The report lists an example of searching for Stranger Things, with the search results being unclear as to the difference between the paid Netflix game and fan-made ones.
According to Roblox’s community guidelines, advertisers who are placed in Roblox games must “remain responsible” for any advertising content and follow “Community Rules and the Terms of Use.”
Reached for comment about the complaint, Roblox Corp. issued the following statement to Polygon:
Roblox is committed to ensuring our users and developers have a positive and safe experience on our platform. We have strict guidelines for developers that want to promote or use ads within their experiences, including specific rules to protect users under 13, expectations that all developers adhere to Community Standards we strictly enforce, and no tolerance for fraud or scams. Our policies and processes are designed to combat content that exploits or tricks users. In order to compensate creators for their work, we make substantial investments in innovative ways. We ensure that ad experiences comply with all applicable laws.
Truth in Advertising’s 44-page complaint goes on to mention specific instances of misleading marketing practices that can occur in Roblox. There are players that interact with Roblox users and serve as ambassadors for brands on the platform. The complaint lists Nike influencers who spend time on Roblox and “buy” Nike gear and talk to people playing the Nike game, but aren’t “disclosed in the material connection to Nike” within Roblox.
In addition, Truth in Advertising’s report takes issue with “undisclosed” or unmarked Roblox avatars that engage in promotional activities, such as giving or selling in-game items. The report points out celebrity-inspired avatars such as LeBron James have been used for promotional exchanges.
” Advertisers must ensure the legal compliance of any endorsements. This includes the content, disclosure, and form used by influencers. Truth in Advertising stated that even in the metaverse companies have legal responsibility for making sure that all consumers know what they’re viewing and interacting with. “And despite the transitory nature of avatar influencers participating as walking, talking endorsements within the Roblox metaverse, no brand (including Roblox) is permitted to ignore its legal obligation to disclose these endorsements.”
HomeKit Weekly: Have an old iPad lying around? Add a $20 wall mount and turn it into a HomeKit controller
Making it easier to work to control my HomeKit accessories is something I am always thinking about. As easy as using the Home app on my iPhone is or turning items off and on with Siri, sometimes you want to make it even easier – especially for guests and non-smart home fans. You could certainly use the Brilliant panel, but what if you want something a bit easier to install? For example, have you considered an old iPad mounted on the wall? Read on to see how easier it is to configure so it can only work in the Home app.
HomeKit Weekly is a series focused on smart home accessories, automation tips and tricks, and everything to do with Apple’s smart home framework.
Any iPad that will run the latest version of iOS 15 will work great for this situation. So if you’ve got an iPad mini – it’ll be fine. It’s you’ve got a 10.2″ iPad – it’ll work great as well. Whatever iPad you have, it’ll be perfect. Since it’ll ideally stay plugged up to power the entire time, it doesn’t matter if the battery has seen better days.
One benefit of using an iPad in this situation is that it’ll function as a Home Hub, but you’ll need to configure it first using the instructions below.
Tap Settings > [your name] > iCloud and make sure that you’re signed in to iCloud with the Apple ID that you’re using in the Home app.
Scroll down and check that Home is flipped on.
Tap Settings > Home and turn on Use this iPad as a Home hub.
To use your iPad as a HomeKit home hub, it must remain in your home, powered on, and connected to your Wi-Fi.
What gear do you need?
Outside of an old iPad, you’ll need to buy a mount to attach the device to the wall. One of the best options for a wide range of compatibility is the elago Tablet Wall Mount. The iPad is held between two pieces of scratch-free silicone. The design allows you to quickly remove and reattach if you need to reboot, manually install an update to iPadOS, etc. It also includes a 7mm space between the wall and the iPad – making it easy for cable management.
How do you configure the iPad for a HomeKit wall mount?
As long as your iPad is logged in to an iCloud account that has access to your HomeKit setup, half the battle is already over. On the iPad, we’re going to want to use Apple’s Guided Access feature to lock the device to the Home app.
Go to Settings > Accessibility > Guided Access, then enable Guided Access. You can then set up a passcode to disable or use FaceID/Touch ID to end an active session.
Now that it’s enabled, it’s time to launch the Home app. Then, activate Guided Access using Accessibility shortcuts. Now, you’ve got an iPad that’s locked to the Home app. You can also prevent the iPad from sleeping – which is ideal as the iPad should be on permanent power.
What else can I do?
If you don’t want to lock the iPad to the Home app, you might consider HomeCam for HomeKit instead of the Home app. It’ll allow you to monitor your favorite HomeKit cameras like the Circle View camera, the outdoor eufy cameras, or the Circle View doorbell. It might be especially beneficial to put it near your bed to quickly check cameras if you hear something outside in the middle of the night.
Summary
Using an old iPad as a “HomeKit controller” is a great way to breathe life into a device that might not be powerful enough for daily iPadOS usage. Grab the elago Tablet Wall Mount, a long enough power cord to keep it charged, and you’ll have all you need to give easy access to HomeKit or other HomeKit accessories without needing to use Siri or find your iPhone that probably slipped between the couch cushions.
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