Apple is screwing up HomeKit; here’s how they can fix it

Apple is making it harder for device makers, but more future proof for users, which are not at the mercy of great-product-of-the-day to see its backend shutdown.

Users need to have full local control on the communication of their home devices. That doesn't mean you can't access them remotely too, but you should not rely on the cloud doing the smart things. The real interesting question is how to build something that is as easy as the cloud integration and as user centric as Apple's.