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Comment by roel_v | Hacker News Reader

Where on the website does it say how it actually works? Because "the it works" page, well, doesn't. It seems it connects to a phone via bluetooth? But also uses Wifi? How does it actually connect to any devices? Does it even do that? Or is it just a bluetooth remote for your phone, and the phone then does the real work? If I put this thing next to my bed, and I use it to control my lights, and I left my phone downstairs - will it work?

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The remote connects to your iphone, iPad, or Mac. The phone/computer uses wifi or the net to talk to your devices. You can also use IFTTT to control hundreds of devices that aren't natively supported by Turn Touch.

I have a Turn Touch in a pedestal next to my bed and it controls all of the lights in my home.

Huh? It needs my phone to be present to turn on the lights? What if my wife wants to turn on the lights? Why does it need to talk to a phone? Wouldn't a zigbee device compatible with the hue bridge make more sense?

Maybe a good idea for a future add-on to this product: sell a stand-alone hub (something like a Raspberry Pi) that could replace the need for an iOS or MacOS device. You could still use an iOS (or Android) app to configure the hub.

It'd add a bit to the price, but clearly not everyone has a spare Apple device sitting around, that is always-on.

There are dozens of this sort of 'home automation hub' on the market already; some of the based on Raspberry Pi, or on COTS hardware, or dedicated devices.

In that case you'd be better off connecting it to a communal iPad or to a Mac that lives at home.

Ooh you may want to make it (much, much) clearer that this won't work without an Apple device.

How many wireless standards are there?

about 18 so far (according to wikipedia) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11

This is pretty neat, but I was hoping for something not mobile app dependent. Like a ZigBee or Z-Wave connected device. (My automation software currently runs Insteon only, though I've got the hardware to add ZigBee and Z-Wave and will someday get around to it.)

I don't have an iPhone, iPad, or Mac, so I pretty much immediately ended up outside of your market.

I love the idea of the wall dock for it, that I assume is magnetic.

Does it work with non-Apple Bluetooth devices? The language on the "how it works" page seems surprisingly specific to Apple.

Also, does it connect with Sengled hubs?

It's Apple only for now. Once that market shows it's worthwhile I'll expand into Android. As for Sengled hubs, if there's IFTTT support or custom URL support, then it's in there.

Thanks for the response. Personally, I would be more interested in connecting through a Raspberry Pi 3, which has Bluetooth on board, rather than a mobile device.

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