People should never trust Amazon or the “% off deal” that Amazon is advertising. Always verify against camelcamelcamel.com to ensure that the price is actually a deal and not artificially inflated due to some demand spike or their algorithm thinking that you really need it right now.
I have no suggestions for a hub that does what you want. However, Homeassistant does all of what you want and more.
If you have a box that HA can run on, just try it. You can integrate things you would not even expect. You can get the official Zigbee usb dongle from Nabu Casa or from anywhere you choose. Then just start pulling over one device at a time getting comfortable with HA. You can add a Z-Wave dongle, a Thread dongle, and more.
With Home Assistant the best place to start is to just get it running on your network and see all the stuff it finds on its own. Then get a Zigbee dongle and start moving things over as slow as you like. This is by far the best path rather than relying on some other hub that will eventually EOL and leave you hanging again.
Automations in HA are very easy, and coming from HomeKit, they are an absolute dream to work with.
Don’t wait to order something to get started with HA, just install it on whatever you have lying around or install it in a VM with VirtualBox if you have nothing else. Get used to it and then plan out how you want to go forward. If you find that you hate HA, it would be nice to know before you drop any $$$ on it.
I am using it for the flashlight. I hope to get fancy with a shortcut, but I don’t have one picked out yet.
I’m thinking maybe I will try it for my receipt scanning shortcut on a future business trip.
I’m also using for the flashlight.
It can only be accessed by the Lock Screen button and the control center widget. The camera can be activated by app, Lock Screen swipe, control center widget, Lock Screen button, search, etc.
I like the idea of using shortcuts to make it more flexible. However mute toggle and camera are not likely something I will pursue. (Why do people need to intermittently mute their phones, isn’t your phone always on mute?)
If I didn’t get a new phone every year I would likely not load a backup. It takes a bit more time when you just “sign in to icloud” and then go from there, but the phone feels a lot more “new”. Loading my old backup on a new phone just has too much familiarity in the way of app arrangement and whatnot.
As with any new phone, ensure all of your core apps work before resetting the old one. Often 2FA and stuff can get you in a catch 22 if you are not careful.
Mlem is a different app. Both are good, but only Memmy is currently released into the App Store.
I don’t think they can, as is. The app itself has the url imbedded into it. The only way they could get it to work is by authenticating from a web page that indicates where it is.
ESR. They have cases as low as $13 with strong magnets and a premium feel.