What is your HomeKit Setup? What do you want to add?

[amjustice]

What is your current HomeKit Setup?
3x ConnectSense Smart Outlets* used mainly for lights, have also used them in the past for Christmas tree and fans.
10+ Philips Hue Light Bulbs of various types and Hue Gateway for HomeKit
5+ Luton Switches and Gateway - Used for overhead lights in my kitchen, foyer and outside lights
Schlage Sense Door Lock

What do you still want to add?
Automatic Blinds. I think these ones from Lutron are super nice but very expensive still
More lights, adding these slowly as they make sense
Other locks in the house
Hunter Fan. I will definitely be ordering one of these when it comes out.

What future device do you want that doesn't exist yet?
I want automatic sliding doors like in the Jetsons... And everything else cool they had. Where is my Rosie?

*Full Disclosure, this is my companies product that I helped create. Since we work in this industry though I am surrounding myself in as many HomeKit devices as I can with the goal to make the experience as good as possible for our customers.

 

[xraydoc]

I have a well-integrated Wink automation system with an Amazon Echo. I have app & voice control over my Hue and Cree lights, and my Lutron in-wall dimmers and lamp modules, and app control over door locks (Quikset), Nest thermostat, NestCams, Nest Protect V2s, and Garage Door (Chaimberlain).

I'm actually quite happy with how it works presently. I have great multifunction shortcuts via the Wink app (supports Apple Watch) and excellent Alexa voice control over virtually all the house lights (on/off/dim). And the Echo does great for voice-controlled music.

I also have a ConnectSense outlet module via HomeKit (and an AppleTV) in to which the Wink hub is connected in case I need to reboot it from outside the house (fortunately haven't yet needed to).

Should Wink go out of business, I'll migrate fully to HomeKit. The Lutron and Hue lights already support HomeKit, as does of course the ConnectSense outlet, so the important stuff is already covered. The Nest equipment is smart enough that I rarely have to fiddle with it, so HomeKit integration for that isn't essential. The only other thing that would need replacing would be the door locks and garage door module - though there's currently only one option for door locks and none for garage doors AFAIK.


I do want to add 4 connected ceiling fans though and several Lutron blinds as well.

 

[Alrescha]

I have Hue lights in all rooms except the bath, and an original iPad mini in a dock serving as my Echo clone. The mini is centrally located so I can talk to it from just about everywhere (if nobody is playing music).

I would like to add HomeKit-based triggers via some app that supports them. The Hue app does location-based and timer triggers so there is no big rush.

A.

 

[I am Sampson]

I have 19 colour hue bulbs/strips (plus 2 taps and a surface RT as a light switch).
I wish Siri worked with hue properly (I need at least 3 attempts to get it to respond most times so it's never used now), so fixing that would be my first priority.

I'd also like to add ibeacons to control hue.

Further down the line I like the idea of a thermostat, however I'm UK based so can't get the ecobee and without being able to control each rooms temperature I'm not sure it would really add many features over the built in boiler timer tbh.

In distant future a HomeKit curtain puller device would be great for each room!

 

[Alrescha]

I wish Siri worked with hue properly (I need at least 3 attempts to get it to respond most times so it's never used now), so fixing that would be my first priority.

I generally have no issues with Siri and Hue, so there is hope.

A.

 

[amjustice]

I have a well-integrated Wink automation system with an Amazon Echo. I have app & voice control over my Hue and Cree lights, and my Lutron in-wall dimmers and lamp modules, and app control over door locks (Quikset), Nest thermostat, NestCams, Nest Protect V2s, and Garage Door (Chaimberlain).

I'm actually quite happy with how it works presently. I have great multifunction shortcuts via the Wink app (supports Apple Watch) and excellent Alexa voice control over virtually all the house lights (on/off/dim). And the Echo does great for voice-controlled music.

I also have a ConnectSense outlet module via HomeKit (and an AppleTV) in to which the Wink hub is connected in case I need to reboot it from outside the house (fortunately haven't yet needed to).

Should Wink go out of business, I'll migrate fully to HomeKit. The Lutron and Hue lights already support HomeKit, as does of course the ConnectSense outlet, so the important stuff is already covered. The Nest equipment is smart enough that I rarely have to fiddle with it, so HomeKit integration for that isn't essential. The only other thing that would need replacing would be the door locks and garage door module - though there's currently only one option for door locks and none for garage doors AFAIK.


I do want to add 4 connected ceiling fans though and several Lutron blinds as well.

Sounds like a nice setup! I have a bunch of non HomeKit stuff as well that I will have to inventory and post below here soon. Thanks for supporting ConnectSense as well, I appreciate your business. Please feel free to DM me if you have any feedback on our product.

 

[ckurt25]

We have a handful of Hue lights and over the weekend we installed a Schlage Sense lock and the Ecobee 3 thermostat. The thermostat is working great but I don't seem to be able to connect to the lock from work today. I didn't try testing the lock by shutting off bluetooth on my phone yesterday. Schlage says it should be in range but I've heard of issues with it. It was working great via bluetooth though.

I'm going to be adding a 2nd (and maybe 3rd) Apple TV to the mix so maybe that will help. One will only be about 10-15 feet from the lock.

Oh, we also have a few of the Hue dimmer switches. One thing that bugged us when we started using them (in the bedroom) was when you wanted to run in / out of the room real quick and grab something. If you forgot your phone and/or had to wait for Siri it could be a pain. The dimmer switches are life savers.

 

[amjustice]

I didn't try testing the lock by shutting off bluetooth on my phone yesterday. Schlage says it should be in range but I've heard of issues with it. It was working great via bluetooth though.
.

As far as I am aware the lock is bluetooth only. If you wanted to be able to use it remotely it would have to be right near your Apple TV.

 

[ericgtr12]

I have 11 Hue bulbs, mix of color and white, 4 WEMO switches and 2 WEMO plugs, all of which I use Amazon Echo to voice control. In my case, Siri cannot compete with the speed, ease of use and accuracy of Alexa. I do have a MyQ garage door opener and Nest thermostat that I have to use their respective apps for, although there is a an Amazon Echo IFTTT for Nest which works pretty well.

 

[amjustice]

I have 11 Hue bulbs, mix of color and white, 4 WEMO switches and 2 WEMO plugs, all of which I use Amazon Echo to voice control. In my case, Siri cannot compete with the speed, ease of use and accuracy of Alexa. I do have a MyQ garage door opener and Nest thermostat that I have to use their respective apps for, although there is a an Amazon Echo IFTTT for Nest which works pretty well.

I have an echo but haven't dove into their home automation stuff. I need to get my Hue bulbs hooked up to it.

I think where HomeKit has some edge over some of those other devices is the ability to control and manage everything under one app.

 

[ericgtr12]

I have an echo but haven't dove into their home automation stuff. I need to get my Hue bulbs hooked up to it.

I think where HomeKit has some edge over some of those other devices is the ability to control and manage everything under one app.

Unfortunately, Homekit does not support my WEMO nor IFTTT, it's also harder to use vocal commands with than Echo. I would hook it up and give it a try, far more convenient than both Siri or the Philips Hue app which is frankly terrible. With Echo you can group them, while mixing and matching. For example, I have both WEMO and Hue controlling lights in my living room, once they're discovered by Echo, you can put them all into a single group named living room. Then just tell Echo "turn off living room" and they're all controlled with one command.

Don't get me wrong, I've always had high hopes for Siri and still do, but they are really behind the curve on this.

 

[amjustice]

Unfortunately, Homekit does not support my WEMO nor IFTTT, it's also harder to use vocal commands with than Echo. I would hook it up and give it a try, far more convenient than both Siri or the Philips Hue app which is frankly terrible. With Echo you can group them, while mixing and matching. For example, I have both WEMO and Hue controlling lights in my living room, once they're discovered by Echo, you can put them all into a single group named living room. Then just tell Echo "turn off living room" and they're all controlled with one command.

Don't get me wrong, I've always had high hopes for Siri and still do, but they are really behind the curve on this.

You can do many of those similar things with HomeKit, they have the same concept of rooms, zones, etc. Re: IFTTT there are rules and Triggers in HomeKit which doesn't have the big ecosystem that IFTTT has. I think these type of things will come in time.

 

[Alrescha]

Then just tell Echo "turn off living room" and they're all controlled with one command.

You can do this with Hue and Siri, it is just that the Hue app has yet to take advantage of it. If you download Elgato's free Eve app, you can create homes, rooms, zones, and so on and control them all with Siri.

A.

 

[amjustice]

You can do this with Hue and Siri, it is just that the Hue app has yet to take advantage of it. If you download Elgato's free Eve app, you can create homes, rooms, zones, and so on and control them all with Siri.

A.

Yeah any of the apps that support the full list of devices will allow you to do that. He would have to have the newest gateway for Hue in order to work with HomeKit.

 

[chuyn]

We have Hues in our living room, an ecobee3, and the August smart lock.

All of our other lights are controlled by Insteon switches so I'd like to try out their HomeKit hub sometime, or homebridge. I haven't heard many good things about Insteon's current HomeKit hub, so I'm waiting for an update to it. Would also love to add automatic blinds too.

amjustice... question about the outlets. Any plans for outdoor outlets? I've seen only a couple exterior outlet modules. Insteon has a single plug model, and I believe SmartThings has a dual-plug model... but none with HomeKit support.

 

[amjustice]

amjustice... question about the outlets. Any plans for outdoor outlets? I've seen only a couple exterior outlet modules. Insteon has a single plug model, and I believe SmartThings has a dual-plug model... but none with HomeKit support.

Nothing to announce yet but something we are looking at. @chuyn iDevices has a Outdoor homekit outlet that is already on the market. You can find it here. I don't have any experience with it so I can't tell you if its good bad or otherwise. If you have an immediate need for an outdoor plug though I would check that out.

 

[ckurt25]

As far as I am aware the lock is bluetooth only. If you wanted to be able to use it remotely it would have to be right near your Apple TV.

When I'm home and access the lock via my iPhone it's the same distance from the lock as the Apple TV. They're about 20-25' away from the lock. Over the weekend I'll move the ATV into another room which will end up making it about 10' away from the lock. I'd be extremely disappointed if that doesn't do the trick.

 

[amjustice]

When I'm home and access the lock via my iPhone it's the same distance from the lock as the Apple TV. They're about 20-25' away from the lock. Over the weekend I'll move the ATV into another room which will end up making it about 10' away from the lock. I'd be extremely disappointed if that doesn't do the trick.

Experiment with it, if you turn off your wifi connection on your phone you should be able to test it while you are still on the house you should be able to tell if it works.

 

[brianbunge]

I currently have 11 of the white Hue bulbs, a Hue Switch for the bulbs in the living room, 2 of the Hue Bloom lights and two WeMo light switches. The WeMo switches are in the kitchen which has a fluorescent light, and the master bath which has 3 bulbs over each sink and a ceiling mounted light fixture. I'm using the Home for HomeKit app currently and I think it's pretty good. I'm considering getting an Echo to control the Hue bulbs and WeMo switches.

I'd also like to add some sort of door lock as well as a HomeKit enabled security system if possible. I'm mainly wanting a front door sensor, two window sensors, a camera or nothing sensor and whatever is used for the siren. Most systems I've seen have a base with the siren built-in. But so far none of them seem to be HomeKit or Echo compatible from what I can tell.

 

[amjustice]

I'd also like to add some sort of door lock as well as a HomeKit enabled security system if possible.

I have the Schlage Sense and its very nice, highly recommend it!

 

[brianbunge]

You know, this may sound silly, but the one thing stopping me from installing one of these locks is the fact that we have two deadbolts on our door. We live in an apartment complex and there's the regular door lock and a separate deadbolt above it. Other than being added security it's also there as a bit of a convenience so that when the maintenance guys come around they don't accidentally walk in on you if you don't hear them knocking. I'd have to remove this deadbolt in order to install the lock because of the proximity to the regular lock on the inside of the door. My wife has grown fond of having the extra lock...

 

[Arran]

I want Apple TV integration with the watch:

"Hey Siri: Play the next episode of Mad Men on Netflix in the family room."

Because I can never find that minuscule Siri remote in the dark! And when I do find it, there's a 75% chance I'm holding it the wrong way

 

[amjustice]

You know, this may sound silly, but the one thing stopping me from installing one of these locks is the fact that we have two deadbolts on our door. We live in an apartment complex and there's the regular door lock and a separate deadbolt above it. Other than being added security it's also there as a bit of a convenience so that when the maintenance guys come around they don't accidentally walk in on you if you don't hear them knocking. I'd have to remove this deadbolt in order to install the lock because of the proximity to the regular lock on the inside of the door. My wife has grown fond of having the extra lock...

Yeah its hard to make those kinds of serious modifications in an apartment complex. I think the August Smart Lock is good for Apartments because its not as intrusive of an install then a full on lock like the Scalage

 

[brianbunge]

I'm not even sure if the August would work, but it might. Having said that, I've converted canned lights to pendant lights, I've hung TV's on the wall and run the cables in-wall, installed a Nest thermostat, etc. I figure if I'm going to be here for at least 2 more years I might as well make it more "homey" for my family and myself.

 

[xraydoc]

Adding to my post above. Amazon and Wink recently added Echo control of any Wink-compatible thermostat, including the Nest, so I currently have voice control over my thermostat. I just tell Alexa what temp to set (though the Nest usually knows anyway).

And apparently, Amazon and Nest are bringing Nest control to the Echo even without a Wink hub by the end of March.

I've also recently set up IFTTT triggers via Echo to control my Harmony remotes. So I can now say, "Alexa, trigger living room TV" and she'll turn on the TV for me, set the channel to CNN and set the Hue lights in that room to TV-watching mode.

I've pre-ordered two Echo Dots to bring voice control on-the-cheap to a couple other rooms where a high-quality music speaker isn't necessary.