Apple has a new plan that makes HomeKit really useful

When it comes to smart home platforms, Apple HomeKit has been like the ugly son-in-law. Home smart devices have been much slower to adopt than Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant, and while it works well, it took a little more research to be sure the devices you're buying specifically support this feature.

But at WWDC 2019, Apple has proposed some privacy-focused features that could make HomeKit much more attractive.

First of all, there is HomeKit Secure Video. If you've ever had an Amazon Echo Show, a Google Nest Hub, or a Facebook portal, it can be confusing to give all the big tech giants a live stream in your home. HomeKit Secure Video is designed to process video locally on the device and encrypt it before sending it to iCloud. Many connected security cameras are currently operating, this video data is often stored on the cloud service of the camera. Another added benefit is that users will be able to store up to 10 days of video at no additional cost and that this will not count towards your storage limit. Users can have a single camera with a 200GB package and up to 5 devices with a 2TB package.

Again, if Apple's gung-ho approach to privacy is of interest to you, you will still need to do some extra research for a HomeKit Secure Video compatible camera. That said, the options will not be missed. Logitech, Eufy, Arlo and Netatmo have been named among the first manufacturers of security cameras to support it.

HomeKit also arrives at routers. The draw here is that HomeKit routers will supposedly activate firewalls so you can quarantine hacked devices from the rest of your network. (Again, provided that they all support HomeKit.) The first HomeKit compatible routers will be available from Linksys, Eero and Internet service providers such as Charter Spectrum later this year.

Although Apple has slowly added new HomeKit features in recent years, this is the first time that it's as if Apple is addressing a major concern of smart home owners. Given Apple's commitment to privacy, this seems like a smart move for a category that regularly suffers from new hackers, leaks, and small businesses that fail to properly secure the data they collect.