I switched from Alexas to HomePod minis. The main reason was for presence.
Using Hoobs, the Hoobs plugin Hubitat Tonesto7 bridge, the HA plugin Homebridge v2, the Virtual Presence with switch HA device driver and some automation in the Apple Home app, I have near perfect tracking of who is home and who isn't. I'm hoping HA can add the Presence device to their HomeKit integration.
The other thing is for a user interface. Everyone has the Home app, so they have control of things from anywhere. Plus, "Hey Siri" via HomePod or their iPhones.
Our house is mostly Echo Dots. Have a couple Googles. We are mainly control vs automation. I have some automation, but our lifestyle is so disjointed nothing ever seems to be the same from day to day.
I used to be a die hard Android fan, but changed to Iphones a year or so ago. Like them so much better. Also both of us have Ipads and watches. So I'm a big fan now of Apple.
We hardly ever listen to music. Even in the car we never have the radio on. I play guitar and sing. Have been in a couple bands over the years. Still jam twice or more a week. But just don't listen to music that often. (Other than the obligatory Thanksgiving day listening to Alice's Restaurant. ).
Our car doesn't have Alexa built in, but does have the CarPlay. Thus I can push a button and say Hey Siri and control things in the house. Helpful for us.
As the main Interface/Controller for me and my wife. Great UI and so great to have it on the lock screen. I now only use the HE app when I need to dig deeper, see a graph or get to my hub.
I also use Homebridge for my Lock and Garage as the Garage Carplay interation is pretty awesome (Button shows up when you are getting close to your house).
We use Alexa for voice control, but Homekit for hand held control on phone, or also voice control via a watch is amazing. I love the dashboard with the little widgets across the top. The iOS16 app changed it up a bunch but I am getting used to it. I can just pop open the Home app and get a view of the whole house in one place.
Purely used as a dashboard and to turn devices on/off in my house. All automations stay in Hubitat whenever possible. I tested a few automations inside HomeKit but found them to be flakier than HE. Very happy with the integration so far.
Primary usage: Emulating my Wyze devices that I can't get into Hubitat, but can get into HomeKit, via virtual devices and automations in HomeKit and not paying for IFTTT.
1 - in my car with CarPlay so I don't have to pay Chevy for Alexa integration
2 - control devices in home via my Apple watch
3 - on my balcony to control devices where I have an Apple HomePod but no Alexa device
4 - while watching TV via AppleTV using the remote which is better than yelling at Alexa
[EDIT]Forgot to add that I also use it for presence using a virtual switch
CarPlay pretty much looks the same regardless of the car; it's just the size of the interface that differs from model to model.
Yeah, Siri is the main way to use HomeKit in CarPlay. One notable exception (the only one I know of) is garage door openers. A garage door tile appears in the CarPlay screen when you're close to your home. Since the HomeKit integration in Hubitat doesn't support garage doors, you probably won't see this tile.
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