HomeKit and home automation

Apple General
#41

Picked up a Hue kit on sale but the main thing I want it to do is ask Siri to set a light to go off x time, it won’t do.

I can set a timer from within the app which will do it but there is no way to set a scene or Siri shortcut to do so.

Unless I am missing something I can set sunrise/sunset or a time of day but not an amount of time.

We let the kids have their lamps on for a while to read etc before bed and be great to just set via Siri but not possible, hopefully iOS 14!

Been looking into HomeKit items lately and there is not much choice compared to Google/Alexa unless you set up Homebridge.

#42

I managed to get a couple of smart plugs. Design is very similar to the Eve plugs but a fraction of the price. If you want those and don’t already have some, its probably worth keeping an eye on Cygnett, but they are currently out of stock, alas. I was going to buy more, once I had established that they are good.

As an aside, I actually use the EVE app to control my devices, rather than Homekit, the design of which I find a bit clumsy. Its free on the app store (iOS, no idea about MacOS) and you do not need to have an EVE device. Its called Eve for Homekit, and pulls all your info from Homekit once its all set up. Works well, IMO.

4AF08634-DC45-4B9F-9E4C-2CF3042D9963
4AF08634-DC45-4B9F-9E4C-2CF3042D99632224×1668 371 KB

Ignore the labelling… please :slight_smile:

#43

That’s interesting - I can control my Hue lights with Siri without a problem - I can get them to change colour, dim, turn on and off etc. Is it because you need a bridge for it to work? I’m not sure but I have a bridge. You can set timing in the Home app using scenes I think, to trigger them, and then set how long you want the trigger for.

#44

I’ve got a few of the Brilliant smart plugs (similar to those Cignet ones) which turn on the carport lights and the fish tank lights. For the fish tank they are a timer, but can also be used to manually turn them on/off after hours.

At the moment we are in the midst of a pile of renovations and I’ve picked up a bunch of DETA smart switches from Bunnings for $50 - $60 depending on how many switches you get. With modern house wiring they just drop in with no additional wiring (unlike what I said many posts ago, although these are new switches not the cheapo’s and are Australian certified which is nice and all).

https://www.bunnings.com.au/deta-grid-connect-smart-double-gang-touch-light-switch_p0098812

These tick the boxes I want as they are 100% a normal switch, anyone can turn a light on/off BUT you can also yell into the air and turn them on as well as remotely turn them on/off or set timers. So grandma can still turn lights on when she visits and I can still turn off the lights the kids leave on.

They only support Google/Alexa which is fine since we are a Google Home House with many mini’s a home Hub and a Home Max. Setup was crazy easy using Grid Connect which then connects to Google Home and being backed by Arlec and a couple of other names give me at least some confidence that the service will be around for a while. (Although back of mind I know I’m reliant on a 3rd party to keep my voice controls working. It would be nice if you could install custom firmware and have a locally run server to control them without relying on the outside world…)

We have also put in a new door and new Smart Lock. Out goes a Samsung unit which did NFC (although not with Apple devices) and PIN and in with a Schlage Smart Sense unit:
https://www.schlage.com/en/home/smart-locks/sense.html

Now this one does work with HomeKit. Setup for this was a little more fiddly and took a couple of attempts, but once it’s running it’s pretty cool. I can ask Siri to unlock the door by talking to my watch which means the door is then open by the time I walk from the car to the door. It’s worth noting that if your watch it setup with Apple Pay with wrist detection and auto lock it will just work. The phone needs to verify FaceID (or maybe just be unlocked) before it will accept the command. The only downside to this lock (in my couple of weeks of use) is that it doesn’t have a sensor to know when the door is closed which means auto locking is a timeout. Ours is set to the maximum of 4 minutes which has been fine 99.9% of the time, but there has been once or twice the door has “locked” while it was open.

There is a WiFI/Bluetooth bridge that can make this work with Google (or Alexa), but then I would have to get my phone out, unlock it and go to the Google app and then tell it to unlock the door. So HomeKit fits this particular workflow better.

I think we now have something like 14 lights which are smart controlled with about the same number to go if I wanted to go all out… although maybe I don’t need smart controlled toilet lights (except for the magic “turn all lights off” command which is oh so nice when leaving the house and not having to wonder which lights the kids have left on). I estimate it’s about another $1,500 to get most if not all the switches upgraded including parts and labour.

#45

I have the bridge, I can turn lights on/off and dim.

I just need to set a scene or shortcut that’s can I can trigger via Siri that will turn the lights on then after x time (say 15 minutes) turn light off.

Contacted Philips and they advise not possible at this stage and to use timer in the Hue app. Searching around reveals the same answer. Thought a timer for a light would straight forward!

#46

In Home app, under Automation tab at bottom right, you can choose automatically turn off a device after a set time after it is turned on?

For example, my garage light comes on when I open the door or motion sensor picks up movement but it turns off after 15 min.

#47

I have the option for “Any time” but no option to set a time, During the day, At night both give times before or after Sunset. Specific times which is a time of day.

Perhaps the sensor allows the timer option.

#48

Reviving this thread because my need for a smart lock for the front door has become rather urgent. I had a fall, recently, and it took ages before I could get up… I was not wearing my Apple Watch at the time (it was on the charger in another room, as was my phone) so I was pretty much stuck with doing it myself. So, I decided that I’d never be too far from Siri again, and that I needed a lock on the front door which could be opened remotely by me, and which could also be coded for friends and medical/ambulance people, just in case…

Everything else has been put on hold, because now, my front door lock seems to have mis-aligned tumblers and from time to time (daily, in fact) it just refuses to open at all, key will not turn in the lock far enough to unlock the door, it takes a bit of jiggling to get it to work, or else I just give up and leave via the internal door to the garage, and out. So the lock will need to be completely replaced.

Are there yet any smart locks on the market which would allow opening via watch? Otherwise I’ll be talking to Siri, I guess. Siri is probably the most relevant because if I am on the floor and my neighbour comes to help, I’d need to tell Siri to unlock the door.

The lock should have a key override too, just in case. Probably prefer a battery operated one, rather than wired, but either way I would like to have whatever I’m to get, in hand, before I book a locksmith.

REcommendations?

#49

I currently use the August Lock.

I’m about to upgrade to Yale locks. Both August and Yale are Homekit compatible.

I’m going with Kas locks for my outdoor gates as they are weatherproof (but unfortunately not Homekit or Homebridge compatible).

#50

Ok, an update to my Homekit integration smart home journey.

You will recall that I managed to get my gate, garage, indoor cameras, lights, locks, power points, sensors, sprinkler, and curtains onto HomeKit.

You may also recall that I couldn’t find Homekit-compatible doorbells (Ring), CCTV (Hik), alarm system (Paradox), heating/cooling (Rinnai) or fireplaces/ TVs (SwitchBot) - all these using separate apps.

Well, well, well… I have finally jumped on the Homebridge bandwagon - on recommendation by a friend, I bought myself a Hoobs unit (see here: https://hoobs.org) which is a ready-made Raspberry Pi Homebridge server, and I’ve managed to connect EVERYTHING to Homekit now.

So my home alarm system is in Home. The heating/cooling shows up as a thermostat in Home. All the Ring doorbells and my CCTV show up as livestream cameras in Home. It’s fantastic! Ring doorbells also integrate fully, with doorbell ringing on the phone and all your HomePods, and the Ring motion sensor working in the Home app as well.

I highly recommend Hoobs if you’re interested in Homebridge. It’s mostly plug-and-play although you may need to get into Terminal for the server occasionally, and dwell into JSON script. But it’s fun.

Anyway, just thought I would share.

#51

Is there a problem with August? Mind you I stopped considering it when I realised it attaches to your existing lock, mine needs replacement so I’d be having to buy a new lock and the August.

Which Yale?

#52

August is fine. August does go on top of your deadlock but you tend to have to replace it as not all locks are compatible.

Yale Assure.

#53

LOL, well mine is not even compatible with my keys at the moment. Yale sounds good, I see that theres a keyed option so I’ll likely go with that.

#54

I replaced my Samsung smart lock (which was totally stand alone) with a Schlage Smart Sense unit last year when we replaced the front door. It is homekit compatible too. It’s the only thing we have on homekit, all the lighting is running through Google Assistant because that’s the path we went down (Grid Connect is pretty cool and affordable).

The Schlage unit apparently works with google too if you buy a bridge (which didn’t seem to be available in Australia last year and I haven’t looked since). But since we have AppleTV’s and all use iOS devices and watches it sort of works well since you have your phone/watch with you when you are outside and want to unlock the door. It also has a keypad so you (or others) can get in without needing homekit and/or working internet. There is also a key as backup should you need it.

The only downside (which might not solve your problem)… It doesn’t unlock the door if your device is locked… so if you just talk to your phone from across the room (or if your phone picks up your voice rather than the watch for no apparent reason even though the phone is in your pocket… just saying) it says it can’t unlock the door until you authenticate by unlocking the phone. Probably a good security feature to stop randos yelling in your window telling the device to unlock the front door. Mind you, I don’t know how it works with an HomePod?
I assume my watch ‘just works’ because it’s unlocked and stays unlocked thanks to wrist detection because it’s setup for ApplePay.

Really though, it’s pretty handy, you can set different PIN’s for different users and see a history of who opened the door when. You can even schedule times, so that cleaner can only open the door on a Tuesday between 9 and 12 say.

https://www.schlage.com/en/home/smart-locks/sense.html

1 Like
#55

My lock situation became urgent, basically can’t get out of the house (to the front) except via the garage. I have a locksmith coming on Monday (he was supposed to come yesterday, GRRR) to just replace the deadbolt. I think if I can, I’ll be going August, but as an interim measure will have a wall key lockbox installed and give the ambulance service the code.

[edit] August lock ordered, now fingers crossed that the new lock is compatible, otherwise I’ll be having to go through the process yet again. Although, I could probably deal with switching it out, myself.

#56

I think that’s a real risk - you don’t want people shouting from outside your house unlocking doors.

2 Likes
#57

I totally agree, it’s one thing to start your radio playing or to turn the lights on, another entirely to open doors to gain access.

Interestingly, Google Assistant works most of the time for me, recognises my voice so can access my music playlists, calendar etc. But my Wife has no end of issues with it simply not hearing her at all or not recognising her voice. No idea why the same setup works so well for one and not the other? Male voice vs female voice? Acoustics of different voices? Id say I just project my voice better… except I can be in another room and talk relatively quietly and it can work vs her yelling at it.

#58

Hey @Erwin, I know this thread is old, I’m interested in your experience with the ismartgate, I’m looking all over the web and can’t find a “best” for a garage door device that works with HomeKit.
Chamberlin seems to be the most popular, but does appear unreliable, I like the reviews I’ve seen on ismartgate, though would love a first hand opinion if you don’t mind.
Thanks in advance for any advice you could offer.

#59

I’ve had really good experience with iSmartGate - I have a garage version and a gate version. The garage version is easy to install - you connect the coloured wires to the coloured clips at the top of most garage controllers. There is a garage door sensor that is dependent on the orientation of the sensor, that you stick to the garage door. I can recommend.

1 Like
#60

Also, I managed to add the Kas locks to Homekit using Homebridge using their web API. So once again, everything is back in Homekit again, thanks to Hoobs and Homebridge.

1 Like