Homekit and SmartThings: The Latest Discussion

[JDRoberts]

So there are now three motion sensors that can sort of work with HomeKit. I’ll be trying all three and can see more specifics once I actually get them. Meanwhile:

One) Hue motion sensor. Battery operated ZLL device. We have four of these and really like them. They include a lux sensor, but that is only used to filter when the motion is reported . These can only be used to trigger hue lights attached to a hue bridge. You can then have other HomeKit devices like Lutron switches come on because a hue light came on, but there is a slight lag. So at our house, the table lamp comes on first, then the overhead light comes on a second or two later. $40

Philips Hue Smart Motion Sensor (Installation-Free Exclusive for Philips Hue...

A community member has created a custom DTH for this, so it can be used when the motion sensor is connected directly to the SmartThings hub, although then you lose the ability to use it with the Hue app.

[OBSOLETE] Hue Motion Sensor (beta) (no hue bridge)

I have just finished building a Device Handler for the Hue Motion sensor and thought I would share it with the community. Note that this is very much beta and rather potatoe quality code as its my first device handler but it is working for me. I will happilly entertain suggestions and improvements. Motion Detects motion and illuminates a red LED on the device Sleeps for about 60 seconds before sending a no motion response Temperature Seems Accurate Battery Works but likely not calibrated very well Illuminance Measurement Returns a value that changes based on lighting, However I am not familiar with lux measurements and have nothing to compare it to for calibration. I get around 160 with normal indoor lighting and about 40 in my dimly lit bedroom, but I think that is wrong

Two) eve Elgato motion sensor. This is a battery operated Bluetooth device. should be able to trigger any HomeKit event because it counts as a “security” device (the companion contact sensors can’t trigger events because they aren’t in the security category). Works just fine to trigger any HomeKit device. The first battery powered motion sensor for the HomeKit platform. It’s Bluetooth, so the range is limited – – it has to be within about 40 feet of the iPad acting as the Homekit control center. $50

https://www.amazon.com/Elgato-Wireless-HomeKit-technology-Bluetooth/dp/B01MAV39M8

Three) iHome multisensor. Can report temperature, humidity, lux, sound, and motion and use those to trigger any HomeKit event. Wi-Fi plug-in device with a USB cable so you can position it somewhat. Says it can definitely trigger any HomeKit event-- but that turned out to only be true for the motion sensor.

It does report sound, light, temperature, and humidity, but you have to use rules within the iHome app for that and the only devices that can be triggered from it are iHome pocket sockets. Those pocket sockets are directly compatible with smart things, so this is a motion sensor that could trigger both a smart things event and a HomeKit event. To be able to trigger from the temperature/sound/humidity/or lux levels, however, you would need to use the iHome pocket socket as a go-between. $80.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LZUSJ26/

Any of these could be used to turn on a Phillips hue bulb and then have that coming on trigger something in SmartThings, but there would be a definite lag of several seconds for any follower devices other than the original Hue. (Or, of course, could just be used as a parallel means of control for hue lights attached to a hue bridge.) So might work for some use cases, not others.