Ikea's Trådfri Smart Plugs Can Be Purchased in the US and UK, But HomeKit Compatibility Isn't Available Yet

[nitramluap]

who wants a gateway? the beauty of HomeKit to me is not needing gateway. almost everything in my home is smart HomeKit compatible now and not a single gateway

For lights it makes sense to have a gateway/bridge if they're operating on their own network (ie. Philips Hue with ZigBee).

I'm happy that my 50 Philips Hue lights and associated devices (motion sensors, etc) all form a mesh and talk to each other on their own network. They're not dependent on, nor do they clog up, my WiFi network.

 

[weckart]

Don't forget...

Pear cider? Isn't that called perry in English?

 

[camsoft]

The Trådfri smart plug can be purchased for just $9.99 (or GBP9.99 in the UK), which is much cheaper than other HomeKit-enabled smart plug options on the market.

Cheaper maybe but it isn’t HomeKit-enabled and sounds like it will require a hub. There other other just as cheap devices on Amazon.

 

[Lill-Q]

Ah yes, USA and UK, the only 2 ****ing countries in the world. Sure, Ikea is a global company from Sweden and these devices also exist in a ******** more of countries, but who cares about those, right?

Relax, the plug has already been out in other countries for a couple of months now, be happy for the many people living in the US and UK.

By the way, the IKEA devices run on ZigBee. Far better than running it on WiFi smart home things, which don’t inherently extend the range and clog the network.

 

[pocketscience]

Does anyone know if these are homebridge compatible?

Yes, checkout NPMJS.com - there's a few plugins for the Ikea gear.

 

[bLackjackj]

So they are just your normal standard smart plugs. Why even mention Homekit?? Seriously, they will probably be Homekit enabled at the same time as RING, which has been saying they are working on Homekit compatability for 2 years!

I have to agree with the previous poster,..STOP mentioning Homekit Compatibility coming soon if NOT AVAILABLE.

 

[Lill-Q]

So they are just your normal standard smart plugs. Why even mention Homekit?? Seriously, they will probably be Homekit enabled at the same time as RING, which has been saying they are working on Homekit compatability for 2 years!

I have to agree with the previous poster,..STOP mentioning Homekit Compatibility coming soon if NOT AVAILABLE.

The rest of their line is HomeKit compatible, the plug integration was ready to be released when they discovered some issues and had to delay it.

 

[Vjosullivan]

Will Homekit compatibility be retroactive? There's no mention of it in the article.

 

[Lill-Q]

Will Homekit compatibility be retroactive? There's no mention of it in the article.

Yes, as it’s not related to hardware but software.

 

[rumormiller]

I got one of these Ikea smart plugs for £9 in the UK, pretty cheap I think. You have to pair a controller to a gateway £25 if you want to use an app such as Home or Ikea Tradfri because the devices use a Zigbee mesh network and only the gateway can translate between Zigbee and Wifi. The controllers say remote, motion sensor can pair to up to ten devices, and if you use the app the devices don't have to be in the same room. I have three smart bulbs in the living room and one smart plug in the upstairs hallway. The remote is in the living room and only switches on the light bulbs as I've assigned the smart plug to another room. Currently only the bulbs are recognised in the Home app. If you have an Apple TV or iPad at home you can control your HomeKit devices when you're away from home. That's the real benefit of having HomeKit support. So far it all works well apart from the gateway needing a quick power off/on cycle every couple of days when the app can't connect. The remote and devices together work perfect 24/7.

It was all a bit of a mystery to me a week ago, but quickly becomes easy to use.

 

[gsmornot]

Actually, regarding Ring - one of their ex-employees popped on Reddit and did an AMA and gave the most reasonable explanation as to why it wasn't released: it's broken, and they still (recently) cannot get it to work well enough between their hardware and Apple's HomeKit. The specific problem wasn't mentioned, other than it's buggy and not ready.

Now that Amazon is the parent company or Ring, it puts further development even more in doubt. The thawing of Amazon/Apple relations in regards to sales on Amazon.com makes things even more cloudy.

Yea, I'm not sure they are mad anymore. Have you seen that Apple Music is now available on the Echo? I could see a partnership in the future where Amazon depends on Apple for music supply. Its a service Amazon provides as part of Prime but may be more cost effective for them if they partner with Apple for that part.

On the subject of this thread and for the general reader, I have two hubs already. Lutron and Philips Hue. Adding another hub is doable but they are stacking up a bit. I have a switch dedicated to hubs and have an open port but its a bit annoying they each use something different. I would like to add my garage doors which you guessed it, requires a hub.

 

[Kynmore]

I’ve got 3 plugs already and a hub / bridge, hopefully I won’t have to wait to long for support
[doublepost=1543521798][/doublepost]
Same

How is the pairing with Hue and the trådfri plugs? Is it as annoying as their switches?

 

[Rookie42]

Cheaper maybe but it isn’t HomeKit-enabled and sounds like it will require a hub. There other other just as cheap devices on Amazon.

Interesting... do you think there are other homekit enabled smart plugs for a similar price? I'd be interested to know which one(s) can do this.
[doublepost=1543596841][/doublepost]

This article is missing that in order to use these outlets you also need a wireless switch ($10) to pair with the gateway. I bought 4 outlets before I figured this out. So a simple setup is a total of $50 ($30 gateway, $10 outlet, $10 switch). While I hope for HomeKit support, tapping another app isn’t that bad. #21stCenturyProblems

If only that were all it is missing!
I saw the comment about "needing" a hub... strictly speaking, that's not true as all Tradfri kit will work "out of the box" just so long as you don't want to use the app or have timed controls in place. If you just want a lamp which is remotely controllable from the remote "steering" device, then you can achieve this without the hub at all.

However - you're absolutely right, in order to get any Tradfri device working on the hub, you must have at least one steering device, and without the hub, you cannot implement timers or integrate with HomeKit.
If, on the other hand, like me you already own a hub and at least one steering device, then you're good to go!

The issue I have with not having HomeKit support is that the timers on the Ikea app are pretty basic, and I can't add the Ikea outlet to my HomeKit scenes like "Good Night", which is irritating. Nor can I get voice control through Siri.

I am hopeful that Ikea will get the HomeKit support running soon... but I held off buying any Tradfri kit until they'd sorted it for the lighting. I didn't realise until after I bought two outlets (without the accompanying steering devices) that I would only be able to control them through the Ikea app... Now I check for firmware updates every couple of days to see if they've released the update.
[doublepost=1543597083][/doublepost]

For lights it makes sense to have a gateway/bridge if they're operating on their own network (ie. Philips Hue with ZigBee).

I'm happy that my 50 Philips Hue lights and associated devices (motion sensors, etc) all form a mesh and talk to each other on their own network. They're not dependent on, nor do they clog up, my WiFi network.

Is that true? Do the Philips Hue lights form a mesh network? I thought they all had to be within signal range of the hue hub?
[doublepost=1543597424][/doublepost]

who wants a gateway? the beauty of HomeKit to me is not needing gateway. almost everything in my home is smart HomeKit compatible now and not a single gateway

While I agree with you... in principle... do you not count the ATV as a hub? I know it's a great deal more than a hub, and I guess you could say it's not a hub, it's a STB with hub abilities... but do you see my point?

TBH - I'm not sure why people are concerned about hubs. I guess if you have 6, then that soaks up a lot of ports and possibly physical space... I have three at the moment (Tado, Tradfri & Hue), and I wouldn't really want to have to have more if I can avoid it. Plus, of course I have the ATV which I'm using for HomeKit!

I was pretty impressed by the Elgato Eve plug - I bought one on Amazon prime day earlier this year... no extra hub, just works, simple installation... you don't even need their app... although that's pretty good too.

 

[Smith288]

I’ll wait till HomeKit is available. I’ve seen way too many broken promises from home accessory makers that intended to add HomeKit but didn’t.

No kidding. Looking at you B-Hyve...

 

[RMo]

Does anyone know if these are homebridge compatible?

Sort of, but that question doesn't quite make sense. The Ikea Trådfri Outlet, like the rest of the product line, uses ZigBee for its wireless communication. This cannot communicate directly with your home TCP/IP network, Bluetooth, or any other method for direct HomeKit integration, hence the need for a gateway/bridge (the Ikea gateway, Hue Bridge, or similar). They speak ZigBee, connect to your LAN, and provide a path between the two. That's how the existing HomeKit support works for Ikea's bulbs.

So, you can use these with HomeBridge. But that's more of a question of your ZigBee controller, not the outlet itself. I have one paired to Hubitat (a Z-Wave/ZigBee home automation hub) and have mine added to HomeBridge via third-party code there. You could do something similar with SmartThings or any other path you can get to HomeBridge.

 

[Marshall73]

Will Homekit compatibility be retroactive? There's no mention of it in the article.

Like their bulbs before they will require a firmware upgrade. Annoyingly you needed their bridge and remote to do this before their bulbs could be added to Philips hue and the ikea bridge ditched.

 

[SemperMac]

Even more radiation in the home, „wonderful“!!!

 

[Alan Wynn]

Actually, regarding Ring - one of their ex-employees popped on Reddit and did an AMA and gave the most reasonable explanation as to why it wasn't released: it's broken, and they still (recently) cannot get it to work well enough between their hardware and Apple's HomeKit. The specific problem wasn't mentioned, other than it's buggy and not ready.

Their VP of Special Projects gave a much more likely reason at CES last year: they want to own all the customer data and Apple will not let them have that as a requirement.

Now that Amazon is the parent company or Ring, it puts further development even more in doubt. The thawing of Amazon/Apple relations in regards to sales on Amazon.com makes things even more cloudy.

I cannot imagine it ever happening, but who knows.

 

[nitramluap]

Is that true? Do the Philips Hue lights form a mesh network? I thought they all had to be within signal range of the hue hub?

They sure do. It allows me to have 50 bulbs, 5 switches, 1 dimmer and 7 motion sensors across my home inside & outside (and ‘through’ concrete floors) with one hub and they all inter-connect.

WiFi bulbs make little sense unless you only have a few and Bluetooth? No thanks. Until Bluetooth can form some sort of similar mesh it’s going to remain a PITA for home devices.

 

[friedmud]

who wants a gateway? the beauty of HomeKit to me is not needing gateway. almost everything in my home is smart HomeKit compatible now and not a single gateway

I'm the opposite of you I _love_ gateway/hubs... why? Because a hub is easier to replace than tons of lights/switches/doorbells/locks throughout my house when a protocol changes.

I already lived through one big change: I had Hue before Homekit was a thing. When homekit came along we were able to buy a new hub... and instantly upgrade our huge Hue installation.

Let's just wait and see what you think when Homekit2 comes down the pipe. I'll upgrade my 3 hubs (Hue, Lutron and August)... and then I'll be on the new standard. How's that going to work with each of your individual devices?

Finally: I've found that hub-based hardware is far more reliable. Hue and Lutron in particular are rock-solid and fast.

Anyway: everyone always complains about "hubs"... but I think there's more upside to them than down.

 

[Rookie42]

They sure do. It allows me to have 50 bulbs, 5 switches, 1 dimmer and 7 motion sensors across my home inside & outside (and ‘through’ concrete floors) with one hub and they all inter-connect.

WiFi bulbs make little sense unless you only have a few and Bluetooth? No thanks. Until Bluetooth can form some sort of similar mesh it’s going to remain a PITA for home devices.

Intreresting! Thanks for the info.

Yeah - I completely agree with you on the WiFi/Bluetooth part... there just isn't the range, apart from anything else. Using Zigbee frees up bandwidth on Wifi, of course, and can also use different and potentially more reliable frequencies too (depending on region)! I just didn't know it also created a mesh, but that's pretty handy!

 

[Solomani]

Sylvania already makes a smart plug that is HomeKit compatible out of the box. And it works wonderfully…. I know, I'm also using their HomeKit "hub-free, gateway-free" Smart+ bulbs.

The nicest thing about Sylvania's HomeKit products is…. they work directly and are controlled directly by your Apple device's Home app. Yup. No need to install some 3rd party app as an intermediary controller.

Of course, both the bulbs and the smart-plug also work with an "Apple HomeKit hub" (which is something like an AppleTV or a HomePod) to enable advanced automation features. It sorta annoys me that Apple has not already enabled Macs to function as HomeKit hubs. Since they are stationary BIG Apple hardware, they would be perfect candidates to act as a HomeKit hub/gateway.

Sylvania's smart plug is not "cheap", I must admit. It retails for around $30-33.

 

[Paultmaine]

HELP, I’ve bought a tradfri gateway and 3 plugs, what else do I need to make them work ?

 

[Rookie42]

HELP, I’ve bought a tradfri gateway and 3 plugs, what else do I need to make them work ?

You have two options at this point - either buy (if you didn't already) the remote control* (known by Ikea as a "steering device), or use the Ikea Tradfri app on a smartphone or tablet. Either will allow you simple on/off control of the plugs. You can group them, or control them individually.

If you use the app, there's also the ability to set timers to switch any or all of the plugs on or off at predetermined times of day. This timer functionality in the Ikea app is fairly basic, but does allow for various timer options with separate on and off times and choice of days of the week for each pair of on/off times.

When (if) Ikea manage to get the HomeKit compatibility working, you will also be able to use HomeKit (if you're set up) to control these plugs.

*NB: You "must" have at least one steering device to get any Tradfri devices working at all... if you're using the app, you can then move things around, so don't "have" to have more than one if not using them for controlling each and every Tradfri device on a day to day basis. But that then means relying solely on the app or homekit (when this service becomes available) to control the plugs or other Tradfri device(s).

 

[Lill-Q]

if you're using the app, you can then move things around, so don't "have" to have more than one

You can move all of the devices away from the remote “steering device” if you so choose. That way you can use the remote to control something else, like lamps or blinds, if you should choose to buy some in the future. The remote is simply to make the initial connection between your device and the gateway (if they are not already connected, which they are when bought in bundles), after that the remote can be thrown away, as far as the gateway is concerned, and the devices can be controlled solely from the app or HomeKit.