Ikea bringing HomeKit support to its smart lighting products

Ikea has announced plans to add support for HomeKit to its complete range of Trådfri smart lighting products. According to the company’s press release, updates are expected to arrive “during the summer and early autumn” that will not only provide HomeKit integration but also add support for Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. Released last month, Ikea’s Trådfri smart lighting provides a plug-and-play solution that allows users to simply swap out existing bulbs and use a remote control or companion iOS app to adjust lighting intensity and colour temperature for different moods. While the announcement doesn’t specify how Ikea plans to deliver the updates, German site phone-ticker.de (translated link) suggests that it will be made available as a software update to the Trådfri Gateway and the Trådfri App. Although adding HomeKit support to existing accessories typically requires hardware updates due to Apple’s security requirements, it’s possible that the Trådfri system already includes the necessary hardware and is merely waiting for the necessary software update to enable it. [via MacRumors]