I believe Apple is deprecating HomeKit v1, so no I wouldn't be able to use other iOS apps. Unless you're telling me I should setup home assistant and then control that from my phone, I agree it's an option, but has the added hassle of having yet another home hub, my current setup was nice since it was a direct connection from phone to device.

Of course you still can, the apps just need to be updated to the latest HomeKit SDK version. The v2 update has been in the wild for years now.

And this does nothing to the hub support for third party devices. They'll work on V2 just the same as V1. All V2 does is update how the iCloud specific data is synced between devices and it's format to support larger homes better.

Same, I have (mostly) z-wave devices with a mini Beelink PC as the hub. Then use Homebridge (via HomeAssistant) to bridge to HomeKit. Works fine and I can ditch HomeKit in the future should the need arise. Of course, I’ve had an iCloud account the whole time because I use it for other things (cloud backup, photos, etc).

Correct. For what it's worth, I also run Homebridge and a couple HomeKit devices. Ability to access some devices including cameras via HomeKit and through the Apple TV is a great thing. No setup needed.

Same. I thought this article was going to be about how Apple have done basically nothing to the Home app beyond it getting a new skin with each OS release. It's such a dog of an app now.