HomeKit Getting Started With HomeKit: A Beginner's Guide

[Peepo]

I am using my ISY994i and HomeBridge with following devices:

SwitchLinc Relay
SwitchLinc Dimmer
KeypadLinc
IOLinc
FanLinc
ApplianceLinc
LampLinc
Motion Sensors

Works good except that my IOLinc is controlling the garage door opener and Siri doesn't like the word garage door - as if it is reserved for official HomeKit garage openers. The homebridge-isy developer said he will try to make it look like a garage door somehow in a future update.

There is also issues with scenes and keeping switchlinc/keypadlinc LEDs in sync with each other. Normally ISY handles this perfect but when one directly controls a device with HomeKit, it will not update the other switches in the scene. For example... I have a hallway with two switchlincs. One actually controls the light while the other is hooked up in an insteon scene and is linked together. So if I phyisically turn on/off the light from either switch it works fine. If I tell Siri now to turn off the hallway it does not update the other switch. KeypadLincs are even more troubleshome. The developer if homebridge-isy is looking at solving with special scenes that are controlled via homebridge but it gets confusing with dimmer control. I have fixed/solved this using triggers/programs in ISY - while not pretty, it works.

 

[JimmyHook]

I'm confused why people believe you need multiple HomeKit apps. For setup, sure. Once I had my thermostat, lighting, switches, and room sensors I just use one app and Siri for everything. I used to use Home, but it didn't work well with air quality. Home is otherwise the app Apple would make (but they don't need to, that's the point). Now I use Eve for everything.

 

[asergioam]

I use myHome - Home Automation por Joerg Wissemann. I think it has everything home app has and plus iBeacon triggers. And it 2/3 of the price

 

[Peepo]

I use myHome - Home Automation por Joerg Wissemann. I think it has everything home app has and plus iBeacon triggers. And it 2/3 of the price

Thanks for letting us know. I'm going to purchase and try.

My favorite looking app was smart home app but it is buggy and has issues with insteon dimmers for some reason. Home app is sorta too simple interface.

I just tried and has issues with my insteon dimmers. Seems to send the dimmer signals too many times. Have seen this problem and home is only app that works correct. Think is issue with homebridge and isy only. Also crashes homebridge so it is doing something weird. I'll contact dev.

 

[name99]

Some comments:

- The setup for HomeKit devices is really CRAZY SLICK, and I hope Apple makes it compulsory for all future devices. It works so much better than the ten different variants of Bluetooth pairing that I've had to use for various other devices (Automatic, Healthkit devices, BT speakers, etc). These range from the simply a hassle "go into BT settings, press this button here on the device, wait for that to happen on the phone, ..." to "does not freaking work until the tenth time you try it, constantly varying something or other" that I had to experience with my SmartScale.

- I was disappointed that (out the box) my device could not be used from outside the house. At some point I assume I'll have a reason to pick up an Apple TV (perhaps because I hit a critical mass of HomeKit devices) and I look forward to this then working.

- The article did not mention (and I still don't know the status of this) whether a HomeKit device is guaranteed to work (as part of the HomeKit "contract") with multiple iOS devices. I am thinking of, for example, his and her iPhones, or my iPhone and my iPad. When I tried to experiment with this, something in the setup process on the iPad (I can't remember exactly what) got me scared that I was going to break the connection with my iPhone, so I put that idea on ice until I could get a definitive answer (which unfortunately this guide doesn't provide).

The device I got, as an experiment, was an Elgato Eve Room. I'm basically happy with it as a thermometer (it is kinda cool to be able to ask your Apple watch "what's the temperature in my bedroom" ). I'm especially happy that it generates long graphs of temperature over time, which I used to test that various insulations I added to the bedroom were working. However the iPhone app for displaying this temperature over longer than about three days is sub-optimal and I hope they fix the UI in the next release.

The humidity tracking I don't really care about. That never seems to change where I live, in California.

The air quality tracking is interesting in that it shows just how much the dust level rises (MASSIVELY) when you vacuum, or when you drill a hole in the wall, and how long it takes to fall to normal (at least 6 hours after drilling; about eighteen hours after vacuuming). I also hoped to use it to see if it can detect mold (or at least the presence of noxious smells and how they change with time) at a friend's house, but we haven't yet engaged in that experiment, so I don't know how well it would work for that.

 

[Peepo]

@name 99
HomeKit works with multiple IOS devices. Just log into same iCloud account on all your devices and make sure the keychain is enabled. I do think that on my iPad (can't remember exactly) that it didn't work with HomeKit right away until I downloaded and ran a HomeKit app first (one of the free ones like Eve) before it worked. Now I can use Siri on iPad also. I could add my wife by sharing her in settings in my iPhone but haven't tried this yet.

 

[eggnof]

I completely agree, Apple should have released a HomeKit app with release of the platform, and I really wouldn't be surprised if we see an official one in the future. However, in the meantime I'd highly recommend checking out the app "Home - Smart Home Automation". Its basically the HomeKit app Apple should have released, it gives you one central place to control all HomeKit devices and set up Groups/Zones/Scenes/Triggers. Its great for devices like Hue that don't offer grouping in their native app, and it really extends Siri's usefulness with HomeKit.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/home-smart-home-automation/id995994352?mt=8

 

[sulliweb]

iOS absolutely needs a Home app. Each HomeKit device's app is widely different from one another, with some offering some HomeKit features, while others missing key settings like rooms and groups.

Unsurprisingly, they often conflict with one another and it's a headache getting everything to work as it should. This is the complete opposite of what HomeKit was supposed to achieve.

A Home app would allow you to register all your HomeKit devices, create rooms in your home and group objects. It would allow you to write custom Siri commands and set up scenes. HomeKit hardware makers could then release plugins that would appear in the Home app once the device is registered. That way, you would be able to use just one app for all your HomeKit devices and everything would play nice with one another.

I agree, except, the point of home automation should be never to have to open an app. While a Home app would (hopefully) allow better interaction between the user and devices and between devices from different manufacturers, without some sort of backend system you'll never get the true automation that you see from companies that are doing more traditional home automation...

And honestly, I'm not a huge fan of all these WiFi home automation devices. They end up adding clients to consumer based WiFi system that can't handle the number of clients (airtime usage of WiFi) needed for true home automation unless you add a bridge like Hue bulbs do (which adds another box sitting around).

That's why I think traditional home automation systems will win out in the end.

 

[Peepo]

I completely agree, Apple should have released a HomeKit app with release of the platform, and I really wouldn't be surprised if we see an official one in the future. However, in the meantime I'd highly recommend checking out the app "Home - Smart Home Automation". Its basically the HomeKit app Apple should have released, it gives you one central place to control all HomeKit devices and set up Groups/Zones/Scenes/Triggers. Its great for devices like Hue that don't offer grouping in their native app, and it really extends Siri's usefulness with HomeKit.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/home-smart-home-automation/id995994352?mt=8

What happens when a manufacturer comes out with some device that Apple's HomeKit App doesn't support or recognize? Since HomeKit is fairly new, Apple is probably waiting for the device types to stabilize before releasing a generic app.

I do also agree with other posters that Home Automation doesn't really need an app. I don't have an app for my Insteon ISY994i for my iPhone other than the 3rd party Mobilinc which is not very good really.

 

[name99]

@name 99
HomeKit works with multiple IOS devices. Just log into same iCloud account on all your devices and make sure the keychain is enabled. I do think that on my iPad (can't remember exactly) that it didn't work with HomeKit right away until I downloaded and ran a HomeKit app first (one of the free ones like Eve) before it worked. Now I can use Siri on iPad also. I could add my wife by sharing her in settings in my iPhone but haven't tried this yet.

Thanks for the answer. After investigating this, I'm afraid my attitude has reverted from "Crazy slick to setup" to "the usual Apple web services clusterfsck that will maybe get fixed in three years...or maybe not".
It's not clear if the idiocy here is 100% percent Elgato's, 100% Apple's, or some mix, but the bottom line is I cannot get this to work.
Step 1. Try to pair Eve app on the iPad with the Eve Room. Nothing happens ever.
Step 2. Read around. Elgato help seems to indicate things should "just work". Obviously they don't, not enough that their app actually works. So try to use Siri. Says there is no available device.
Step 3. Elgato help says something very unclear that might possibly be interpreted as meaning "Nothing will work if you have our app running on a second iOS device". Which kinda defeats the whole point of wanting to see the Eve graphs on a larger screen, but OK, let's delete the app. Siri fails in exactly the same way.

Obviously I have all the relevant devices hooked up to the same iCloud account (because I am a normal human being) and running iCloud Keychain (because I am a ormal human being). Elgato says something like "it sometimes works better if you use the name@icloud.com version of your AppleID, to which I say "fsck that. It's bad enough that Apple can't get their act straight with these Apple IDs and keeps giving me a new one every few years, first @Mac, thenn @me, then @icloud? I have better things to do than play some stupid game of running around all my devices changing the default AppleID on the hope that some voodoo like that might, possibly who knows, fix a problem."

So we seem to be back to the SAME PROBLEM THAT AFFLICTS EVERY DAMN SERVICE THAT APPLE LAUNCHES.
Apple wants to present the illusion of a single unified ecosystem that works between your watch, phone, iPad and Mac; but they seem incapable of ever actually testing even the most obvious failure modes of this, and UTTERLY uninterested in providing some sort of overall console that would show you how your devices are enrolled into various services, what is failing, and why.

I swear, sometimes I think Google or MS will get to usable UI before Apple managed to get to usable personal cluster.

 

[Peepo]

Thanks for the answer. After investigating this, I'm afraid my attitude has reverted from "Crazy slick to setup" to "the usual Apple web services clusterfsck that will maybe get fixed in three years...or maybe not".
It's not clear if the idiocy here is 100% percent Elgato's, 100% Apple's, or some mix, but the bottom line is I cannot get this to work.
Step 1. Try to pair Eve app on the iPad with the Eve Room. Nothing happens ever.
Step 2. Read around. Elgato help seems to indicate things should "just work". Obviously they don't, not enough that their app actually works. So try to use Siri. Says there is no available device.
Step 3. Elgato help says something very unclear that might possibly be interpreted as meaning "Nothing will work if you have our app running on a second iOS device". Which kinda defeats the whole point of wanting to see the Eve graphs on a larger screen, but OK, let's delete the app. Siri fails in exactly the same way.

Obviously I have all the relevant devices hooked up to the same iCloud account (because I am a normal human being) and running iCloud Keychain (because I am a ormal human being). Elgato says something like "it sometimes works better if you use the name@icloud.com version of your AppleID, to which I say "fsck that. It's bad enough that Apple can't get their act straight with these Apple IDs and keeps giving me a new one every few years, first @Mac, thenn @me, then @icloud? I have better things to do than play some stupid game of running around all my devices changing the default AppleID on the hope that some voodoo like that might, possibly who knows, fix a problem."

So we seem to be back to the SAME PROBLEM THAT AFFLICTS EVERY DAMN SERVICE THAT APPLE LAUNCHES.
Apple wants to present the illusion of a single unified ecosystem that works between your watch, phone, iPad and Mac; but they seem incapable of ever actually testing even the most obvious failure modes of this, and UTTERLY uninterested in providing some sort of overall console that would show you how your devices are enrolled into various services, what is failing, and why.

I swear, sometimes I think Google or MS will get to usable UI before Apple managed to get to usable personal cluster.

I remember it took some sort of step to get my iPad working on HomeKit but I can't remember exactly. I believe that I had to run a HomeKit enabled app on the iPhone and it was not enough to just login the iCloud account. You have obviously done this but what you may want to try is another app for HomeKit like the free one called iDevices just to see if it helps.

Also verify in your iPad settings that there is a HomeKit setting. Also look in Settings, Privacy, HomeKit and make sure the app is enabled.

 

[Alrescha]

Try to pair Eve app on the iPad with the Eve Room. Nothing happens ever.

Then it sounds like something is fatally broken on Elgato's end, and until that is fixed you (and Apple) have no hope of making HomeKit work since you do not have a working device to start with.

If Elgato is anything like Philips Hue, it all can (and should) work independently of HomeKit and if it is not then you are dead in the water.



A.

 

[aristobrat]

Never tried HomeKit on my iPad before. Downloaded the Eve app and it instantly saw my two Ecobees (and the three extra room sensors) plus the Belkin WeMo outlet and Insteon devices that the Homebridge is proxy for.

 

[brucewayne]

As someone that is trying really hard to like homekit, I can understand the frustration that name99 and others have expressed.

Take my setup for instance. Ecobee3 with 7 external temperature/motion sensors, Philips Hue hub / 3 multi color bulbs, Lutron Caseta Hub with 5 remote and wired dimmers and 6 pico switches, 2 iDevice switches with power monitoring, and 2 iHome switches.

I bought the Ecobee3 home kit model last summer, set up all of the parameters for my heat pump, then paired it to homekit using the Ecobee app. Right away the Eve app showed temperature and motion in all rooms. All is well.

Added the iHome switches at Christmas time for trees and outdoor etc. Named them and paired them to homekit using the iHome app. Instead of 'Christmas Tree' and 'Christmas Outside Lights' that shows in the iHome app, the Eve app shows them as 'home switch xxxxx' and 'home switch yyyyy'. I renamed them in Eve, and it 'seems' to work fine.

A few days later I run across the iDevice switches at Lowes, which have a night light and energy monitoring. Pick up two and go through the procedure of replacing the 'Christmas Outside Lights' iHome switch with the iDevices switch (so I can monitor how much the lights are costing me to run). Knowing that homekit isn't going to allow two switches named the same, I removed the iHome switch first using the iHome app. The iDevices app fails to pair the switch (this part turned out later to be flaky firmware that resolved after an update), but eventually I get to the part of naming the switch 'Christmas Outside Lights' and get a 'This name already used' error. So even though the previous switch is removed from the system with iHome app, and it doesn't show in the Eve app, something is hanging onto the old switch name. Did it happen when i renamed the switch in Eve? Who knows, but I don't have time to mess with it so I named the iDevices switch 'Holiday Lights Outside'

With the holidays over, I move the 'Holiday Lights Outside' switch to the Garage to monitor the battery maintainer on my S2000. 'Holiday Lights Outside' doesn't make sense anymore, so I rename it 'Garage Switch'. Or at least I try to because again I get a 'name already used' error. So now I'm stuck. I don't have any switches or rooms labeled Garage...

Could it be that the 'Garage' ecobee sensor is causing the issue? I went into the Ecobee menu (on the thermostat) and renamed it 'Workshop' and suddenly I can add the Garage Switch name. So now this doesn't make sense because it is one room, why should i have it named twice. What happens if I add other devices, then what do I call them? Oddly, The other iHome switch was moved to my office for the desk light. It's called 'brucewayne's office light' and the ecobee sensor is named 'brucewaynes Office', so why didn't I have a similar conflict? Again, I don't have time to mess with it, so I leave it as is.

My wife has long complained about the single light switch in the bedroom so after investigating a few options, I pulled the trigger on some Lutron Casetas. This required a hub to link with homekit, and I sprung for the pro model so I could also control it with roomieremote (now called Simple Control). This setup without issue and all seemed well.

I figured, while I'm on the homekit train, lets try out the Philips Hue system. Another hub on the router and i have nice pretty colorful lights in my Family Room and bedroom nightlight. Individually it works well.

So here I have another 'hole' in functionality. The caseta system uses small remotes called Pico which can be mounted to the wall or nightstand or whatever and paired to the inwalll/onwall dimmer switches to provide another point of control. Except since the switch pairs to the lutron hub, it has no way to 'communicate' to do anything else, for instance, allow the favorite button to dim the caseta lights to a certain level and turn on the hue bedroom nightlight. Now you say, why should I expect it to since its a closed system that communicates with homekit? And you would be right, I shouldn't. Except that Simple Control Sync app can monitor the caseta system for pico button presses, then run a macro to control the philips hue bulbs (which are also controlled independently of homekit by Simple Control) !! If there was one app that truly tied HomeKit together it would be so simple!

So in order to do something simple, like have a button on the wall set a scene between lights from 2 manufacturers, I have at least 4 points of possible failure (Hue hub, caseta hub, router, simple sync running 24/7 on my mac) . So far it has been reliable but if I have a problem where do I start troubleshooting?

This was working well for a week before I decided that I would redo the whole thing to alleviate the room labeling issue. I decided that if I use the Eve app to setup rooms first, I won't run into the issue of conflicts. By the way i downloaded the $15 Home app which has more flexibility, but really didn't solve any of my issues.

So i unpaired everything from each app. I deleted the apps from all of my iPads and iPhones. as a precaution I reset all 3 of my AppleTV3s (because who knows which one was linked to Home kit, one of them, all of them?). I left the ATV4s alone because I wasn't going to redownload all of those apps. I used mac filtering on my router to force the switches and hubs to specific IPs so I could keep track of them (and also help with issues in Simple Control). Then I used the Eve app to setup rooms first, then added the thermostat and caseta and hue hubs. I named the sensors in the other rooms 'Garage Sensor' 'Bedroom Sensor' etc to hopefully avoid future conflicts.

Next up the iHome and iDevice switches. Plugged them in, started to pair, oh crap, i need to aim the camera (or type in the number for each one). Where is the number? on the back side of the plug! So rather than start the pairing over again, down to the basement to open the slowly filling storage tub called 'HomeKit accessories' to find the boxes that they came in, so i could pull the sheet of paper out, so i could scan the damn number!

So... I have everything more or less working in harmony. Except now, what app do I use to control all this? The Eve app doesn't show power usage statistics from the iDevice switches. The iDevice app doesn't show temperature from the Ecobee sensors. iHome app doesn't really like anything but its own switches. The Home app shows many blank 'Custom' values, is illogically laid out, and has cryptic messages like 'The hive is humming along' (???). The Lutron and Hue apps only control their own devices. Siri works, as long as you get the syntax in the exact order. And I have my phone on me. And/or my watch is within range of my phone.

I don't dislike homekit, but as name99 said, it is as if Apple didn't actually test all these products together in a real life scenario. Especially the need to scan a number that at that point in the pairing process is hidden between the switch and the wall. You could say that I made it more complicated by renaming and repurposing switches, but wouldn't I run into the same issue if the switch failed and had to be replaced? Do I feel confident that I could go on a business trip and my wife could figure out all of the above if there was a problem? It’s one thing if a flappy birds app doesn’t load on her iPhone and quite another if the bedroom lights keep turning off because Siri is getting confused.

75% of the issues and conflicts could be resolved by Apple creating a HomeKit app in the same vein as the HealthKit app. 15% could be resolved by making the Apple TV a full homekit hub that can communicate directly with the caseta dimmers switches and hue lights (the $49 Wink and Staples hubs can do this) instead of requiring individual homekit compatible hubs for each product. The other 10% could be solved if the companies that made this stuff had a larger lineup of products so we wouldn't need as many hubs. For instance, Lutron has many other lines of products that more or less could be added to the caseta system with minor changes (radio RA and Maestro use similar control technologies). But even though Caseta has been out for years, they have no plans to add a fan control. If you want to buy some $800 motorized window shades they have you covered though.

I have purchased every generation of Apple TV since the beginning and I have been stuck with this hobby of Apple’s because I’m already way too deep in the Apple ecosystem. Simple things like waiting 8 years to release an app store, releasing the ATV4 without standard apps like podcasts and keyboard support, or even compatibility with Apple’s own remote app that the 3 previous generations work with is telling me that Apple is just playing around while they work on cars or VR headsets or designer watchbands or whatever.

My main concern is that Apple is just going to let this project stall and I’m going to have a house full of stuff that will still work individually but with nothing to tie it together.


Anyway, thats quite a lot more than i expected to write and it's late so hopefully I was coherent. If anyone has questions about the homekit products above let me know and I’ll try to help.

 

[Alrescha]

I don't dislike homekit, but as name99 said, it is as if Apple didn't actually test all these products together in a real life scenario.

I have no inside knowledge, but I view HomeKit as a protocol that allows two (or more) separate infrastructures to communicate together. Mostly, we want Siri to be able to control our devices, but that is not all that is possible.

If one infrastructure (name99's Eve) is not working, there is nothing that HomeKit can do to fix that. HomeKit is the long-distance circuit between two cities - if you can't make local calls, long distance isn't going to work for you either.

My own experience with HomeKit and Philips Hue has been very good. Once in a great while Siri will give me an error, but the problem is always temporary.

A.

 

[Easttime]

We have Nest thermostats and protects that have worked great with the Nest app for two years. All I want is a couple of wireless on/off wall switchesto control our porch lights. I don't want dimmer, would not likely use Siri, and I could put up with a second app for the switches. But I am having trouble finding something that simple. Take about a confusing consumer space!

 

[brucewayne]

I have no inside knowledge, but I view HomeKit as a protocol that allows two (or more) separate infrastructures to communicate together. Mostly, we want Siri to be able to control our devices, but that is not all that is possible.

If one infrastructure (name99's Eve) is not working, there is nothing that HomeKit can do to fix that. HomeKit is the long-distance circuit between two cities - if you can't make local calls, long distance isn't going to work for you either.

My own experience with HomeKit and Philips Hue has been very good. Once in a great while Siri will give me an error, but the problem is always temporary.

A.

I hear what you are saying, but Homekit is being billed by Apple as more than just a link between products. For instance, requiring manufacturers to include the HomeKit chip and conform to certain standard and the prospect of all of these items working together.

One example. I have an Apple Watch, Withings Blood pressure monitor and Withings Scale. All of these devices can take my pulse, and regardless of the source HealthKit takes that data and merges it into the heartrate Graph.

Both Elgato and iDevices make a switch that monitors power consumption. The Elgato Eve app will monitor power consumption from its own device, and the iDevice app displays data from its own device. But without a 'HomeKit' app, there is no way to see this data all in one place.

Similarly, the ecobee cannot use data from Eve weather for outside temperature readings which may be more accurate than the 'local' weather it is pulling to determine how to set the thermostat.

Maybe I'm expecting too much, but if Apple put the same thought and energy into HomeKit that they have into HealthKit it would be far more useful than a way for me to control my lights via Siri

I agree with you that individually each product works well with HomeKit. It's when you start expanding that things make less sense.
[doublepost=1454562977][/doublepost]

We have Nest thermostats and protects that have worked great with the Nest app for two years. All I want is a couple of wireless on/off wall switchesto control our porch lights. I don't want dimmer, would not likely use Siri, and I could put up with a second app for the switches. But I am having trouble finding something that simple. Take about a confusing consumer space!

If you just want a simple on/off switch, I would recommend the iHome SP5. The latest firmware update has made it extremely reliable for me, and Home Depot is selling them for $29 each.

 

[Alrescha]

I hear what you are saying, but Homekit is being billed by Apple as more than just a link between products. For instance, requiring manufacturers to include the HomeKit chip and conform to certain standard and the prospect of all of these items working together.

As may be, but that does not address my point: If the device maker's own app can't talk to the device then there is nothing that HomeKit is going to do to fix that. Railing at Apple is pointless. It's not a HomeKit problem*.

A.

* Which is not to say there is no problem with HomeKit, we simply have not gotten that far yet.

 

[brucewayne]

As may be, but that does not address my point: If the device maker's own app can't talk to the device then there is nothing that HomeKit is going to do to fix that. Railing at Apple is pointless. It's not a HomeKit problem*.

A.

* Which is not to say there is no problem with HomeKit, we simply have not gotten that far yet.

The way I read name99's issue, it is working correctly on the iphone but not on the iPad which is on the same iCloud acct, and that trying to pair to the iPad directly doesn't work (which it wouldn't because it's only needs to pair once to HomeKit ). Maybe name99 could clarify.

And that's my point. If you are using one device and one product (like your hue) then things work as expected. It's when you expand to multiple iOS devices controlling multiple HomeKit products that it's easy to have problems without a clear path to troubleshoot. Which is why Apple needs to develop their own HomeKit app (like HealthKit) to tie it all together.

 

[Alrescha]

It's when you expand to multiple iOS devices controlling multiple HomeKit products that it's easy to have problems

I agree in principle. I appear to be one of the lucky ones: one iPhone, two iPads, no issues.

nb: I may be spoiled, in that Hue app on all platforms can talk to Hue devices irrespective of HomeKit.

A.

 

[brucewayne]

I agree in principle. I appear to be one of the lucky ones: one iPhone, two iPads, no issues.

nb: I may be spoiled, in that Hue app on all platforms can talk to Hue devices irrespective of HomeKit.

A.

That is one area that i never had an issue, any iOS device that is on my iCloud account works well, and sharing with my wife's iCloud account works without issues as well.

I would love if the Wink hub became homekit compatible - that would simplify things a lot and allow access to a lot more products.

I picked up a few more (white only) hue bulbs and I haven't decided which platform I like more. The Philips Hue system is easier to configure and really can take the place of any light bulb since they come on after a power cycle. Setting a scene with Broncos colors and using IFTTT to flash the lights when they scored got some funny reaction during my suprbowl party. The Lutron Caseta system has an advantage in that they can work with the lights I already have and the wall remotes still control the lights even if the hub is unplugged.

 

[jotwee]

I completely agree, Apple should have released a HomeKit app with release of the platform, and I really wouldn't be surprised if we see an official one in the future. However, in the meantime I'd highly recommend checking out the app "Home - Smart Home Automation". Its basically the HomeKit app Apple should have released, it gives you one central place to control all HomeKit devices and set up Groups/Zones/Scenes/Triggers. Its great for devices like Hue that don't offer grouping in their native app, and it really extends Siri's usefulness with HomeKit.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/home-smart-home-automation/id995994352?mt=8

You obviously have never heard of
„myHome - Home Automation"
https://appsto.re/de/pmoC_.i

Otherwise you would have recommended that app!

 

[parseckadet]

Wow, this is a massive thread for just two pages. I've been playing with HomeKit via homebridge since this last weekend and I have learned a couple of things that others might find useful.

First, about the whole naming thing and the Eve app. I found this bit of documentation from the Home app interesting:
http://selfcoded.com/home/help/faq.html

Notice that there are TWO names for the device. Which one does the Eve app display and modify? That's right, the name that ISN'T used by Siri. Who's to blame for this mess? I say both Eve and Apple. Eve because they clearly didn't bother to understand and test the differences here, and Apple for not properly documenting their API (though maybe they did and Eve couldn't be bothered to read the documentation).

Second, I would like to address the comments about how an app shouldn't be needed. I agree that, day-to-day an app shouldn't be needed. The ideal in home automation is that your home responds to your actions in the way you would expect without frustration. I don't want to open an app, or even talk to Siri at all. I just want the lights to come on when I walk in the door. The problem is, how do you set things up so that the system knows things like "these three lights and one motion sensor are in the kitchen"? An app makes setup possible. The ideal is that you spend time setting everything up and then never touch the app again. But then again, our homes; their contents; their inhabitants (you have guests, babies, get new pets, etc.); our attitudes, expectations, behaviors, schedules are constantly changing. It stands to reason that how our homes react to all of this will evolve over time, and as such an app of some sort will always be needed.

 

[douglsmith]

You may want all the lights in the house to start turning on at sunset, something that can be automated with a trigger.

As much as I'd love to trigger scenes to happen at sunrise and sunset, I'm not seeing those as options for triggers. Before or after sunrise and sunset are constraints that can be added to a trigger, but they don't seem to be available as triggers by themselves.

 

[amjustice]

As much as I'd love to trigger scenes to happen at sunrise and sunset, I'm not seeing those as options for triggers. Before or after sunrise and sunset are constraints that can be added to a trigger, but they don't seem to be available as triggers by themselves.

Not an option as of yet unfortunately
[doublepost=1458574386][/doublepost]Throwing this in here if anyone wants a video overview of what is homekit. I think most everyone on this forum knows the basics but definitely will be digging in deeper on future videos. Would love some comments in this video of other stuff you would like to see me cover and get into: