If you've ever dreamed of Siri doing useful things for you around the house, you'll be interested to hear of what one developer did. As with most of its products, Apple had a very tight grasp on Siri — that is, until someone discovered how to extend its features beyond what it can currently do, and shared it with the world. Developer Pete Lamonica then used this knowledge to hack his way into the voice command app so that it can control his thermostat.
To hack Siri into controlling a thermostat requires a high level of technical skill: Lamonica had to create a special proxy server to issue voice commands, as well as work with security certificates among other things. Not all of us will be able to replicate what he did, so he mentioned the possibility of releasing an automated script for other people to use in the future. In the video above, you'll see Lamonica check his thermostat status, and change his heater settings using Siri.
Controlling thermostats remotely isn't anything new. Prior to this Siri hack, people have been using home energy management systems (HEMS) to operate thermostats so as not to waste electricity. Just recently, a Best Buy event introduced iPad-controlled thermostats to the public, too. But if you want to be able to set your heater (or air conditioning later next year) with a single voice command, this Siri modification is the only way to do so for now.
This article was written by Mariella Moon and originally appeared on Tecca
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