Can I eliminate my Harmony Hub with a Smart TV and HomePod integration?

[MacLadybug]

I jumped on the automation/assistant train before Siri and Homekit were really in the game. I am ready to ditch my echos and am attempting to transition my Home Theater setup to Sir/Homekit. Please read on as I explain my current setup and then if you can, advise me how I can or if I can fully transition to a simpler setup using just Sir/Homekit. Here's what I have now and how it works:

Connected to my router is my Apple TV 4K, 2019 Mac Mini, Yamaha RX-V479 receiver (has Airplay). My receiver's HDMI out is connected to my "dumb" TV (it only serves as a screen for everything - no cable tv, I cut the cord years ago) (speakers and a subwoofer are obviously connected to the receiver. I do not use the TV speakers). Then Hdmi 1 is my Mac Mini, Hdmi 2 - Apple TV. And just for fun I have 2 sets of Sennheiser RS 185 wireless headphones that connect to the front of the receiver so my husband and I can watch loud action movies late at night and not annoy the neighbors in our condo. All of this is voice controlled using an Amazon Echo and a Logitech Harmony Hub.

Now to my question... I'd like to eliminate the Echo and if at all possible the Harmony Hub and use Siri. I started by creating shortcuts to change the inputs. I had to use IFTTT since Homekit doesn't/can't recognize any of these devices except the Apple TV. But all of this will only work with the Harmony Hub attached. If I get a Smart TV I'll still have to keep the receiver so I'll still need the Harmony Hub right? Can I replace the receiver, subwoofer and speakers with 2 HomePods? Can the HomePods work as speakers for the Mac Mini and the TV? If I do that, do I need to get a Smart TV that is Homekit compatible?

What are your recommendations for a simpler cleaner setup? And I really don't want to have to use "HomeBridge" and a "Raspberry Pie", I'd like to clean things up and simplify things. I'm curious how everyone else is doing all of this.

Thanks for any and all input!

 

[waw74]

What do your current shortcuts do?
What would you like them to do?

what do you use the mini for?
it might be possible to replace with an app on the aTV, You might have to leave the Mac running though, just not connected to the TV.

I make a lot of references to "in the fall." There are new features being added in the coming OS updates. I don't know how well they'll work when released as they're still in beta now.
I also put a couple definitions at the bottom of the post, you might want to read those first.
And sorry, it's long, hopefully not too confusing though.

I'd like to eliminate ... the Harmony Hub.

you need the harmony hub to control your tv and receiver, as I'm pretty sure it's "speaking" IR to control them.
you might be able to get rid of it, but you would need another "translator" to talk to your devices from your phone.

You might be able to use a smart plug to turn your TV on and off with homekit/siri. There are plenty of homekit compatible ones out there, just make sure to get one with a switch and not a dimmer.
You'll want to check it will work first though, Power the TV on, and put it on the input you want. Unplug the tv for a bit (at least a minute) and then plug it back in, if it comes on and back to the same input, the smart plug will work. There may be settings somewhere in the TV that help with this.

if you were to update to a smart TV that has HDMI-CEC, Then the aTV remote would power up the TV and receiver and set your inputs. You'd still have to manually set it for the Mac though.
Your current TV might already support it, but you might have to enable it in the TV's settings.

Can I replace the receiver, subwoofer and speakers with 2 HomePods? Can the HomePods work as speakers for the Mac Mini and the TV? If I do that, do I need to get a Smart TV that is Homekit compatible?

Yes, the Mac and aTV can both send audio to the HomePods via airplay. (although I've seen in the forums here the Mac doesn't currently work well with stereo pairs)

a smart tv wouldn't help here, as HomePod audio has to come from an apple product. Either streaming over the net from Apple Music, or via airplay from another apple device. (internet streaming on the HomePod coming to other music services in the fall)

Devices are either airplay senders or receivers.
Non-Apple products like smart TVs or stereos that are have airplay are typically only receivers
appleTVs and HomePods are both senders and receivers
Macs, phones and iPads are only senders.


You will have to manually change the output when you switch between your devices. It's easy to do and only a couple clicks, but annoying (Been watching the aTV, but now to use the Mac, you'll need to set the mac's output to the HomePod) (this is addressed in the fall updates, and supposedly will happen automatically when you start playing on a new device)


You could get 2 HomePods, but I wouldn't.
at least currently, a direct cable is far more reliable than any of the wireless options. either bluetooth or airplay.
Airplay also has different levels of success depending on which app you use on the aTV, I have one app that has a 2-3 second delay when you hit Play when using airplay, almost instant when not.
it has gotten a bit better over time, and might get better in the fall, as they are adding some new features related to airplay, but who knows.
One big thing, Airplay depends heavily on you having a rock solid wi-fi setup in your house.

for the price of the 2 HomePods, you could get a sonos beam, it has an audio connection directly to your TV. It works best on HDMI-ARC If your TV doesn't have ARC, but does have optical output, Sonos does include an optical to HDMI adapter. If you have neither, the beam won't work for you
if your TV supports HDMI-CEC, then Alexa on the beam can turn your TV on or off.

Sonos is nice, because it has an onboard player that supports many different music streaming services, so you don't have to worry as much about the issues with airplay.
Plus that player is controllable from any of their apps (available on all phones and computers).
For airplay if you send music from your phone, and you're at your Mac, you have no control. With sonos all the apps are "active" all the time. so add a song from your phone, and you can still adjust volume or pause from the Mac.

The beam also supports airplay if you want to use it.

Sonos also seems to handle synced multi-zone playback better than airplay.

And I really don't want to have to use "HomeBridge" and a "Raspberry Pie", I'd like to clean things up and simplify things.

You don't want to, but it might be the best way.

It appears there's a plug in for the Yamaha in homebridge.
this will allow you to switch inputs on the stereo with siri

there is also a plugin for harmony, so all of your activities could be run from siri
but you'd still need the harmony in the setup

if your Mac mini (or any other computer) is awake all the time , you can run homebridge on that, without the need for a raspberry pi

I'm curious how everyone else is doing all of this.

I use a aTV, smartTV, and sonos beam
just updated the TV to one with homekit, but was using homebridge before.
I pretty much use the aTV for everything that I watch
I mostly use the appleTV remote to control everything, or occasionally my TV remote as it can control the aTV over HDMI-CEC
every so often I will use siri/homekit to turn off the TV, Either manually or in my goodbye and goodnight scenes.
I do also use homekit automations, they trigger when my TV turns on, and turn on my bias light. (and same for off)

***some definitions
HDMI-CEC - consumer electronics control - is a way of sending commands over the HDMI cable, just has fairly basic navigation, volume, and power commands. It also allows for smart input switching, So say the aTV is plugged into receiver, and then off to the TV, when you power on the aTV, both the receiver and TV turn on and switch to the proper inputs to get the signal to your screen.
This goes by several names depending on the manufacturer, but might have "link" in the name. check here to see all the names

HDMI-ARC - audio return channel - used to send audio "backwards" over the HDMI cable. When in ARC mode, your receiver's output becomes an input, and your TV's input becomes an output. So if you were using one of your TV's built in apps, or an antenna connected to the TV, the audio would go back to the receiver using the same cable that normally carries video from the receiver. Has to be supported by both pieces of gear, and uses different pins on the HDMI cable than normal audio.
To see if your TV has this, look at the HDMI input plugs, typically #2, If supported it will be labeled ARC.
your stereo's HDMI output should also be labeled