HomeKit with Homebridge

Hi,

has anybody here played around with Homebridge to connect non-HomeKit devices to HomeKit?
I have installed Homebridge on my Synology Server as a Docker installment to have Logitech Harmony, Sonos and other devices being available in HomeKit scenes.

Any experiences here?

Yes, I use Homebridge to bridge my WeMo switches to HomeKit.

(And I wrote a private plugin for another device)

In general this works fine. My main issue is after a power outage; the Raspberry Pi that runs Homebridge boots faster than the WeMo switches get back online, so Homebridge does not see them. I then have to SSH into the Pi to solve that.

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I wonder if you could write a program for the Pi that would start Homebridge X minutes after a restart (long enough for everything else to get back online).

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Maybe, but that’s probably incompatible with my current Start on Bootup setup.

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So, I have been dealing the last some days with Homebridge to connect my Sonos, non-hue bulbs, Tado (Thermostat) and bunch of other home automation devices into HomeKit. The more I work with Homebridge and HomeKit, the less I am excited about the HomeKit App so far.
Though Homebridge is quite a bit of fumbling around to get it running (I am using a Synology docker to run Homebridge) - once you have the idea of the various plugins and understand the terminology behind it, you begin to make progress quite quickly, which I found to be limited then by the HomeKit App itself.

Homebridge, however, provides a almost endless resource of plugins to do lots of different things :wink:

Are you using any alternative App to the HomeKit App ?

@Sven: I am running my home automation devices in a similar environment. I use 6 Eve Energy plugs that work natively in HomeKit. Apart from that, I have two Fritz Thermostats and one more AVM FRITZ!DECT 210 plug. The Fritz devices do not work with HomeKit, but I also use Homebridge running in a docker on my Synology NAS in order to integrate those products with HomeKit. It works just great.

Sometimes, I use the “Eve for HomeKit” app. Mostly, I stick to the official Home by Apple. For the most part, I interact with my devices using Siri via my HomePods, though. Only if Siri will not work for some reason, I interact with Apple’s Home app.

I have also considered buying Home 3 by Matthias Hochgatterer. It has excellent ratings and a long history of constant development.

I did not take the plunge yet.

Somewhat off-topic:

Recently, I have gotten weird results with two plugs. Both are called “Light” and are being setup as being lights. One is located in bedroom, the other one is being located in the living room. Both are Eve Energys. A week ago, Siri started telling me that “something went wrong” when I told “her” to switch on the light in the bedroom or the light in the living room. Funny enough, nothing went wrong. Everything worked fine. 3 days ago, Siri stopped telling me anything about those two lights. Now, when I tell Siri to switch the light on, the light will be switched on, but I will not get any comments at all. This only happens with those two “lights” and it does not change, if I change their name.

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Yes, I use Home 3.

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I just discovered a worse issue: when this happens all of the triggers/actions related to accessories provided by Homebridge are thrown out of the HomeKit automation rules.

I have to manually add them again…

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So, after some weeks of traveling I finally get to the point to add some thoughts :wink:
Thanks for all your replies - interesting comments.

After having set up most of the Plug-Ins on my homebridge on the Synology, I have thought about switching the homebridge to a Raspberry Pi. While traveling I have ordered a Pi 3 B+ which I am right now learning to install and also doing an online SysAdmin course to manage Linux. The problem with these things is, that one leads to another and to more work. The good thing though is, that I can use these learnings also kind of for my job.

I have taken a look at Home 3 and seriously consider to use that app - seems to be much more flexible than HomeKit, thanks for the advice, @rob. However, what you write about the triggers and actions:

is worrying - all the time adding the stuff manually is even worse, as it is not related to the homebridge if I understand you correctly. Sounds like because the WeMo are booting faster up, they appear as new devices to HomeKit.

Meanwhile, I am also looking for compatible window blinds - IKEA seems to be releasing some. However, I am really convinced about IKEA quality but at least they are automated. the other ones I found are starting at 1.500€ per window and we are talking about 8 windows … so it is IKEA :joy::joy:

I am also integrating my Sonos and try to set up scenes, which treat the Sonos and my HomePods simultaneously - which does not always work, sometimes it does, sometimes not.