I needed 2 different Homekit instances. Since I couldn't do that with one hub I dug out an old C5 and solely used it for a second Homekit instance. Worked good with a couple gotchas. Hub mesh items can't be used in the Homekit integration. So some virtual devices and some mirroring was required.
Got to reading on this forum about Homebridge. Did some research. I have an older Windows 10 mini computer that is set up to run my TV Channels server. That was all it has been doing. Wondered if Homebridge would run along side of it. Sure enough, no problems.
Installed the HE user Hombridge app. Got everything up and running. Retired the C5, so that means one less piece of hardware.
Now, here's what I have been seeing.
HE Homekit integration won't allow Matter devices. Homebridge does.
Homebridge has faster responses. Not enough to be significant, but noticeable.
Yes and no. But to me if I would choose to do the initial pair with HE then I can no longer use it in HomeKit. Just because it doesn’t need to be done to me isn’t a valid reason not to allow it. I can’t see what it would hurt to be able to do it in either direction. Now being as how I have no idea of the underlying programming, maybe there is a programming reason it can’t be done. Just my opinion.
If Hubitat adds the ability to share a Matter device pairing code with other platforms, then that problem goes away. For now, it is easier to just always pair Matter devices with Apple Home first, and the share the Matter pairing code from Apple Home with Hubitat. Not ideal, but not that big of a problem really.
One possible reason for Hubitat to restrict which types of devices can be shared using Hubitat’s HomeKit integration is that they are trying to comply with Apple’s requirements for Apple Home/HomeKit certification.
Another possible reason to not provide a Matter to Apple HomeKit protocol converter (I.e. the feature you’re requesting) is that Matter is an ever evolving standard, with new capabilities being added regularly now. As such, some Matter devices might not translate very well into Apple HomeKit devices.
Just an FYI - Apple renamed their home automation platform as “Apple Home” instead of “Apple HomeKit”. HomeKit is a communications protocol, like Matter, Zigbee, Z-Wave, etc… Thus, Matter over Ethernet/WiFi, Matter over Thread, HomeKit over Ethernet/WiFi, and HomeKit over Thread are all protocols + their transport layer. Apple Home is capable of directly communicating with any/all of the aforementioned device types. However, only native Matter devices can be shared from Apple Home with another Matter controller, like Hubitat, Home Assistant, Google Home, and Amazon Alexa.
That’s not what happened. If I remember correctly, during Beta testing for Matter, it caused a loop between Hubitat and HomeKit. Hubitat decided to limit sharing of Matter devices to prevent it.
This makes perfect sense. Since Matter devices can be shared amongst multiple Matter Controllers (e.g. Apple Home and Hubitat), many users will most certainly do this. If Hubitat then allowed Matter devices to be shared back to Apple Home via HomeKit, Apple Home would have two of the same device paired to it - one via Matter and the other via HomeKit. This would be messy, to say the least!
That certainly would not be good. But if you first paired in Home, then shared in HE. Or vice- versa, there would be no reason to pair back in the other direction I wouldn’t think.
