Hi Friends! I have a Raspberry Pi set up as Homebridge server with only one plugin: “homebridge-ring”. I have my alarm and 3 cameras set up in HomeKit through this plugin. 2 of my 3 cameras show me video snapshot previews in the HomeKit notification on my watch and phone when the camera detects motion. The third does not. What’s weird is, ALL 3 of them show me previews on the Ring app notifications. I cannot figure out why the third one doesn’t work. As far as setup is concerned, it’s set up just like the other 2.
It’s more work, and a bigger learning curve, but if you anticipate more growth in devices, I would switch to Home Assistant.
It is basically a superset of HomeBridge and other one-function gateways/translators, is growing rapidly, and has a huge amount of community and now industry support.
You can start just using it as a “get older non-HomeKit devices into HomeKit”, but grow into using for so much more.
Most people that get into HA find they do almost all their device support and automations in HA, and use HomeKit just for interactive UI and Siri voice support (when it works- when Siri works ).
Just having a built-in configuration backup feature will convince after the umpteenth time of having to rebuilt HomeKit from scratch to get rid of nagging problems/bugs that won’t go away.
Totally free, no monthly fees, no special hardware.
It is a learning curve, will take some time to grok, but basic setup is every close to plug-and-play now.
Not for average consumers, but definitely the ultimate “power user” tool for smart home systems now.
I don’t think Home Assistant is a great option for me. At this point, my only non HomeKit native devices are Ring. As I’ve been replacing stuff I’ve been buying native HomeKit.
Since I posted this, the notification for the problem camera has been randomly showing the image I would think it’s a connectivity issue, but I would also think that kind of issue would affect both Ring and HomeKit. As I understand it, the HomeBridge Ring plugin is just passing on to HomeKit what it’s getting from Ring. At least, that’s what it appears to show in the logs Also, I put a wifi extender in my garage less than 6 ft from the camera. The Ring app shows a great connection, as good as both of my other cameras.
Y’all talk me out of buying a new camera I see an Aqara outdoor camera that’s better in every way (because it’s newer) than my Ring and it’s only $35!
).
Also, I put a wifi extender in my garage less than 6 ft from the camera. The Ring app shows a great connection, as good as both of my other cameras.
I see an Aqara outdoor camera that’s better in every way (because it’s newer) than my Ring and it’s only $35!