[OBSOLETE] Hello, Home HomeKit (and Siri!) control via homebridge

SmartApps & Automations Community Created SmartApps
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Have homebridge talk directly to your hue for color and dimming support.

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Hue now works much better thank you. Which now leaves me with 2 switches in Smartthings that Siri does not recognize as switches. Not to mention the relay for my garage door…

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I ran a test tonight with a Raspberry Pi (my 15 year old let me borrow his) and using the Eve App. I was able to pair and control a fan, my fireplace(dry contact sensor), a switch, a dimmer, and a Wink bulb. One note; Siri “could not find my fireplace” if I said “Turn on fireplace”. If however, when I said,“Turn on THE fireplace”, it worked every time. I would call that a success!

Now I just have to “get my own” Raspberry PI as my son says… Then I’ll have Siri controlled lights.

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It’s done! For $45, I bought a Raspberry Pi 2, case, power, and micro SD card. My 15 year old tinkered a bit but got me set up :smile: I did make two changes to make things more convenient;

  1. I had my son set the PI up to auto-start the task upon reboot.
  2. I am using the Eve App from the App Store. After installing my switches and fans (40+ devices), I was able to arrange them in rooms, types, zones and function. I also added a few scenes. I can now say things like, “Turn on Living Room Lights” or “Turn on All Fans” or “Get Ready for Bed”. Wow.

Hate to say it but I no longer desire an Amazon Echo. Siri is running things now

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Is there an updated “How To” document to do this? The first post gets it started, but skimming through, there are updates about not having the dev account, etc. It keeps changing. Also what is the Eve App? I’ve got a pi and experience with linux, but need more than what is here.

Update: I googled “nfarina/homebridge” and started reading there. I found that the EVE app is the “Elgato Eve” app. I’ve read the readme.md from that GitHub site, and I get it now.

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The original posts state that it is required to have a developer’s account. This is because at the time of writing, there were no HomeKit apps available. You need three things to make this work:

  1. HomeBridge running. Here is the link to the GitHub (credit jnewland). This needs to be compiled on a Linux platform. Some people run it on a Mac or Linux server. I chose a Raspberry Pi with a Linux build. The instructions on the GitHub site do a pretty good explaining how to download and install the code and get things running. The only thing that is different is that you don’t need an Apple Developers account or BetterHomeKit (see step 3).
  2. Smart App Running. Here is the link to the GitHub (credit jnewland). This is needed to generate the JSON configuration for your hub (you will select the devices you want to include; currently supporting switches and bulbs). You will need to copy the output and paste it into the correct file (per instructions followed in step 1)
  3. HomeKit App. Now that there are HomeKit apps out there, i.e. apps built to run HomeKit hardware; Phillips Hue, Eve, etc. you no longer need a developer account to be successful. I randomly chose the Eve app because it is free, has cool features, and doesn’t require Eve Hardware. Do a search on the App Store for “HomeKit” and you can see your options. With steps 1&2 completed, you should be able to add HomeBridge and see all the devices you selected in step 2. I found that in order to “get things working”, I had to change a setting in the Eve app (move a device to another “room”, etc), but after that point everything has worked without issue.

Hope this helps! I spend last night getting to know Siri’s “personality”. So far so good.

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Thanks so much for that! I edited my post above, and was starting to get it. Your reply really heps, thanks.

It would be nice if the first post in this thread could be updated to help those like me with the most current info. This was very hard to understand, and your post completely cleared it up (for me at least).

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Is there any difference between the ‘jnewland/homebridge’ and the ‘nfarina/homebridge’ code on GitHub? The nfarina seems more current in that it no longer references needing an Apple development account.

Edit: It doesn’t look like the nfarina version needs a smartapp. It only references the homebridge server and an IOS app like Eve. Can anyone chime in on that?

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Technically it doesn’t because it supports more than just smartthings. If you only want home kit support for you nest thermostat or hue bulbs. no smartapp needed. if you want to control your lights through smartthings… smartapp needed. Basically all the smartapp does is give home kit access to your devices in smartthings.

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So the app is the JSON API one? I added that smartapp already but I did not create the homebridge server yet.

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yes
20 characters and stuff

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Ok, I’m really close! I’ve got a lot done. I have a Ubuntu sysstem to the point where I do the ‘npm run start’ and I need the config.json file.

I’m confused about what is next. I have JSON API smartapp, but it doesn’t do anything when I try to launch it. I have EVE on the phone, and choose “add accessory”, where it says iCloud Data sync in progress, try again later.

How do I get a valid config.json to have homebridge launch and run? What are the next steps?

Thanks in advance

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You have to copy it from the jsonapi smartapp into the config.json file

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I was missing that. I had the JSON API smartapp. Thanks.

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Let us know how it works out :smile:! I’ve had mine up and stable for 3 days. I never even open ST app any more. I let Siri do all the work. :blush:

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Thanks, so I got the default config.json that had the “Good Morning”, etc… How do I add all my “things”? Everything connected, I have both the EVE and the Insteon + app seeing the Homebridge server.

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Just use this SmartApp to produce you JSON https://github.com/jnewland/SmartThings/blob/master/JSON.groovy and you’ll have all your switches

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Thanks, I have the JSON app installed, but it doesn’t do anything. I tap it and it does nothing on the phone. If I re-look at the config generated by the Hello Homebridge, it only will list the routines Good Morning, Good Night, etc.

Should I uninstall and reinstall the JSON app? Does a functioning JSON app result in the generated config to be much larger?

Sorry to be a pain, I’m so close!

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Yes; reinstall from the link in my previous post. Once installed look at it through the app. Select the switches you want to include. The select config. Copy the text output to the new JSON file.

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Can homebridge be run off of a Synology NAS? Particularly with the node.js package published by Synology?