Hi everyone,
Is there anyone making a driver for Apple Tv?
I mean without going through a third party
Thank you
Warm regards
Donny
Somebody could create something if they wanted to (and people have tried in the past, but I'm not sure any such projects are still actively maintained). I'm not aware of any plans. Hubitat staff rarely announce their own plans for things like this beforehand, but given the types of devices they tend to concentrate on, I'd be really surprised (and does Apple even have an "official" API third parties can use for this?).
If you don't mind setting up HomeBridge, you can more or less do this already. On Hubitat, this doesn't require any custom code as one option works with Maker API, though there is a custom app for HomeBridge integration that some people use instead. But then, what you could do is create virtual switches or buttons on Hubitat, expose them to HomeKit via one of these methods, then create automations there (e.g., in the Home app) to control the TV or whatever you're looking to do based on events from these devices.
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oh... I see. @bertabcd1234 Thank you for your information
I know there is an API for controlling AppleTv vi IP. The custom installed automation systems (Control4, Crestron, etc.) have written interfaces for AppleTV. I haven’t seen one created for any other systems.
I run Homkit and Homebridge. You can setup Hombridge to access your AppleTV through HomeKit, but all you can do is play an audio message through the speakers.
Interaction between HomeKit and anything in the DIY realm is an elegant kludge. Homekit does not expose any devices it controls to any other device/controller. Homebridge let’s us expose HE devices to HomeKit. Homekit them can interact with the HE device through its own automations. You never directly control non HE devices in Homekit. Sorry for the diatribe.
HomeKit is designed to be the center of a minimalist automation universe. It controls things at a fundamental level. It doesn’t expose granular control over the devices it manages, even in the Home app on an IOS device.
For now we are relegated to IR control with little to no feedback loop. I wish there was better news.
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I’m curious, do you know if those are recent/continuing to get updates?
I would’ve thought even higher end systems like C4 get funneled through HomeKit at this point.
I think the best question is, what do you want to do to your Apple TV? Control the tv from hubitat? Or are you trying to integrate hubitat into the HomeKit system which can run off an Apple TV.
I highly recommend a homebridge setup if you use primarily Apple devices. I just set it up a few weeks ago and love it.
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Since there’s often more than one way to accomplish the same (or similar) thing with Hubitat, starting with the desired end result or proposed use cases makes the most sense when discussing a topic Ike this.
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There are current 3rd party drivers for several of these systems that give direct control of Apple TV. Here’s one.
https://www.intrinsicdev.com/brands/apple/
The custom installed systems all consider everything a device to control, so they may interact with HomeKit but they, like HE, do all automation possible in their own hub/controller.
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I agree @jtp10181. Always start from that vantage point. For instance, I wanted to use a door lock that only integrates with HomeKit or IFTTT. One of my fundamental principles is local control. HE and HomeKit can work completely local through Homebridge. IFTTT cannot. I also use it for presence based on our IOS devices. It is reliable, straightforward, and local.
I highly recommend having a Homebridge/HomeKit setup especially if you have IOS phones. It also makes a number of devices available to you (Eufy security camera motion) that are essentially HomeKit only.
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I wholeheartedly agree @marktheknife.
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not OP, but I’ll tell you what I want - I want to know the current status of the apple TV in either hubitat or node-red — play, pause, stop, etc. I really want my lights to turn on and off when I hit pause/play or stop. I have this working great with kodi, but not with apple TV. any ideas?
In a quick search of the node-red library I found a node for Apple TV 4th Gen and later.
flows.nodered.org/node/node-red-contribute-Apple-tv
It requires the node-appletv node.js module to be installed to function.
I haven’t used it, so I don’t know how well it works.
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I get a 404 when I try to open that URL .... but I found this one:
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Apple doesn't really integrate, even if there is some limited IP control. None of these apps will start a specific Apple TV app directly. (Savant is a little more advanced via a Siri integration.) The only way to start a specific app is via iOS app Shortcuts.
Roku is very much more flexible from a 3rd party control perspective. Most AV integrators will suggest Roku over Apple TV for this reason.
Very true. When dealing with Apple products we have to remember, in Apple’s mind they ARE the universe, not just its center.
FYI. I do use iPhones and Apple TVs. I just don’t try to do more than basic integration with HE.
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… but Apple TV has a much nicer UI. IMO 
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The Apple TV node-red integration gives me the only things I needed play/pause dependent lighting.
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I had played with the old apple-TV node without success — it had a bunch of dependencies that did not play well with my docker install.
I just tried to new apple-TV-x node and it initially seemed to work. It connected to my apple TV and triggered it to try and pair. however, it then completely crashed node-red and I had to delete the module via command line in order to get node-red to start. then go in via command line and run
npm install node-red-contrib-apple-tv-x
followed by
npm uninstall node-red-contrib-apple-tv-x
in order to get node-red to start without any errors.
at this point, I don’t know if it is just unstable with my setup or if I have leftover cruft from the failed install. It did seem to get me marginally closer to what I want though!
One way to do what you are talking about is to use homebridge. I use "Hoobs" because it's so much easier to setup and keep updated. If you aren't familiar with homebridge, it is the bridging software that bridges Apple HomeKit with other platforms and Hoobs provides a Raspberry Pi and OS platforms that it runs on. Plug and play with some minimal config. There is an integration app for Hubitat by Tonesto7 that is great (Use Hubitat Package Manager to install and maintain)
There is a homebridge plugin for AppleTV:
This exposes various states of AppleTV to HomeKit and you can build automations based on that.
I haven't used that plugin but it is definitely on my project list.
Another plugin that looks simple and useful:
Hope this helps.
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Now that looks like it has possibilities. @jrau272 give this a spin and let us know how it works for you.
