{"id":1210,"date":"2025-09-17T20:24:18","date_gmt":"2025-09-17T16:24:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/tariffs-kill-the-starling-home-hub-google-nests-best-bridge-to-apple-home\/"},"modified":"2025-09-17T20:24:18","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T16:24:18","slug":"tariffs-kill-the-starling-home-hub-google-nests-best-bridge-to-apple-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/tariffs-kill-the-starling-home-hub-google-nests-best-bridge-to-apple-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Tariffs kill the Starling Home Hub, Google Nest\u2019s best bridge to Apple Home"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" data-caption=\"\ufeffThe makers of the Starling Home Hub say they have discontinued the popular device. | Image: Starling\" data-portal-copyright=\"Image: Starling\" data-has-syndication-rights=\"1\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.theverge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/09\/Screenshot-2025-09-17-at-12.03.15%E2%80%AFPM.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0,0,100,100\" \/><figcaption>\n\t\ufeffThe makers of the Starling Home Hub say they have discontinued the popular device. | Image: Starling\t<\/figcaption><\/p><\/figure>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">I have bad news for ecosystem straddlers who use Google Nest products in their smart homes but rely on iPhones and Apple Home for control: the much-loved Starling Home Hub has been discontinued.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">In a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.starlinghome.io\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">message on its website<\/a>, Starling said it can no longer manufacture the hub due to \u201crapidly rising costs of doing business for small US-based product companies like us (most significantly, tariffs the US government charges us to obtain the components we need to build our product).\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.theverge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/09\/e81220_6265c89135744e02aab81de513b5add0mv2-1.avif?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0,0,100,100\" alt=\"\" title=\"\" data-has-syndication-rights=\"1\" data-caption=\"&lt;em&gt;The Starling Home Hub is a small device that plugs into your home router.&lt;\/em&gt; | Image: Starling\" data-portal-copyright=\"Image: Starling\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">The Starling Home Hub <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/Nest\/comments\/cvpa4l\/starling_home_hub_plugandplay_connect_nest\/?utm_source=chatgpt.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">launched in 2019<\/a>. At $99, it was billed as an independent bridge that let you control and automate Nest devices \u2014 including thermostats and cameras \u2014 in the Apple Home app and with Siri. It also supported local streaming for cameras, improving latency.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">Google\u2019s Nest devices have never had direct integration with Apple\u2019s HomeKit platform. While Matter adoption has helped \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2023\/4\/18\/23687751\/nest-thermostat-matter-support-apple-home\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">newer Nest thermostats now work in Apple Home<\/a> \u2014 older models and all cameras still remain outside Apple\u2019s ecosystem.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">For many users, the Starling Home Hub filled that gap as a more focused, plug-and-play option than setting up a <a href=\"https:\/\/homebridge.io\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Homebridge server<\/a>. It earned a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/HomeKit\/comments\/1fir7si\/starling_hub_seamless_and_huge_potential_with_new\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reputation as both reliable and indispensable<\/a>. Now it\u2019s gone.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.theverge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/09\/Screenshot-2025-09-17-at-11.55.37%E2%80%AFAM.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0,0,100,100\" alt=\"\" title=\"\" data-has-syndication-rights=\"1\" data-caption=\"&lt;em&gt;The message posted on Starling\u2019s website.&lt;\/em&gt;\" data-portal-copyright=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">If you already own one, you\u2019re safe for the time being. Starling says it will continue to provide tech support and roll out security and bug fix updates, and hopes to have enough stock on hand to honor warranties. It\u2019s unclear what\u2019s next for the company, which to date has only produced this one device. <em>The Verge<\/em> has reached out for comment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">In terms of alternatives, the 2020 Google Nest Thermostat and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/24322643\/nest-learning-thermostat-4th-gen-review#:~:text=The%20learning%20Nest%20is%20the,other%20thermostat%20looks%20this%20good.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">fourth-generation Nest Learning Thermostat<\/a> both support <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/23568091\/matter-compatible-devices-accessories-apple-amazon-google-samsung\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Matter<\/a>, allowing some <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/23935276\/nest-thermostat-apple-home-matter-how-to\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">control in the Apple Home app<\/a>. Camera support for Matter is slated to arrive later this year, and with Google rumored to be launching <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/news\/772414\/google-nest-cam-outdoor-indoor-doorbell-home-app-leak\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">new Nest cams next month<\/a>, that may provide a path to streaming them in Apple Home. But even if Google adds Matter support to its new cameras and doorbell, we don\u2019t know if it will extend that to existing devices.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">For now, the hub is gone \u2014 and so is a simple way to bring Google Nest products into Apple\u2019s smart home ecosystem.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The makers of the Starling Home Hub say they have discontinued the popular device. | Image: Starling I have bad [&hellip;]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-non-classe"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1210"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1210\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.actutech.app\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}