Flic Hub integration

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#1

I just purchased my Hubitat it looks interesting. Been on ST for a while and wrote some DH and SA for ST so looking forward to giving my HE a try when I get it.

I was a beta tester for the Flic Hub (flic.io) and they are making a great product. They tried to reach out to ST to integrate their hub with ST but as you might guess ST showed no interest and didn't help them get their hub integrated. Flic has a great team over there and I think they would easily integrate with HE. Flic buttons have a great form factor. I always wished they were Z-wave but now with their HUB that isn't an issue anymore.

Anyone else interested in this integration?

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#2

Absolutely, I received my Flic Hub a couple of weeks ago and have setup a few buttons. I use IFTTT for them to talk to the Hubitat Hub and control devices.

Would be great if I could take that step out of the equation. The less hops the better.

#3

Flic supports HTTP and so does Hubitat.

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#4

I don't see how this helps. Flic lets you make an HTTP call out. Hubitat lets you make HTTP calls out. Unless Hubitat has an API so flic can call that API how would the http protocols of these two devices let me integrate them without the need for a third party like IFTTT?

SmartThings provides an API and I have integrated my Flic Hub by writing a raspberry pi based local server in my home which accepts the local http requests from the flic hub and passes them onto the Authenticated SmartThings API. Trying to get the authentication working in Flic Hub wasn't working so I created this middle server. It works fine.
Since hubitat runs local, if it had an api that also worked local I could remove the requirement for the middle server and just make calls from flic hub to the hubitat.

If that seems to insecure even though it is inside my LAN then a better approach would be if flic and hubitat worked together to make a formal integration. Like Phillips Hue, SmartThings etc.

I agree, I don't like IFTTT, it fails too often for me.

#6

Sorry, not a developer, but I do recall seeing posts that webCoRE would allow you to do it. Did you ever get started with webCoRE? I'm not a user of it, but it has been ported to Hubitat and sounds to be as powerful and helpful as it was in ST.

#7

No worries. Not even a user yet. Hub is on it's way from Arizona still :slight_smile: I never used webCoRE or CoRE on SmartThings. I was a Rule Machine user. As a developer I chose to write my own SmartApps instead because I had total control that way. 90% of my ST implementation is Custom DH and Apps. I wrote my own FlicHub integration with ST and was hoping to avoid that for HE. I am sure I can find ways to hack around the integration I was just pointing out that this would be a good product to implement a full integration if possible. I may even work on one myself once I get the hub and start seeing what it is capable of letting me do.

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#8

You probably will be able to just move your groovy code to Hubitat, making just a few changes. There is a thread that I believe was started by @EdwardN, but I can't for the life of me find it at the moment. It explains the things that need changing right off the top. I'm sure one of the other owners has it marked and will re-post the link.

Here's one of the thread on webCoRE for Hubitat.

#9

I am aware of this as well. But I never said my Flic implementation was using groovy code. SmartThings actually exposes a web based API that is authenticated. Flic can make authenticated calls but I had a lot of issues getting that to work so I hacked a solution by writing a server that accepted unauthenticated calls (made on my local network) and passed along the authenticated request to the cloud. However since HE runs locally already I think it could either expose an api itself or it could just work out an implementation with the flic hub.

So basically I am aware of my options to get this all working I was just thinking that it would be nice to get a fully integrated solution into the platform so future users would just have it when they purchased both a HE hub and a Flic Hub. Again much like HE has already done for the Phillips Hue Hub.

I need to look into webCoRE more but the point here is I would like to avoid the WEB. HE is a local network Hub, that's one of it's main advantages. Flic is also a local hub. There is no need to go out to the web to have them integrate with each other.

#10

Others have gotten webCore to run completely local by moving the "web" components to a local server. It is detailed in the thread @SmartHomePrimer mentioned above as well.

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#11

I could be wrong here but I believe that the ‘web’ / cloud portion of WebCoRE is only used as an editor for the creation of the pistons, once that’s completed they run locally on Hubitat. So if you did integrate using WebCoRE it would run locally.

I suspect however that this won’t be the best way to proceed ...

#12

Here you go. It is a WiKi post, so please feel free to update the original post with other tips and tricks as you find them.

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#13

for the lazy :slight_smile: ... what is the advantage of the flic hub over something that connects to hubitat e.g. the lightify switch which offers 2 buttons and can be used directly with RM to control almost anything?

TIA

#14

For me it was just something new to try... but they do come in handy. They are a small wireless buttons that can be placed anywhere. I use IFTTT to talk to Hubitat and then have just about anything I want happen in webCoRE. Think of them as a replacement for the cheap Xiaomi zigbee buttons. I have a few spread around for when I need something to happen quick without pulling out my phone or when it's not appropriate to talk to Google. Can place them under kitchen cabinets, on headboard, even in your car...they come with sticky backs and even little visor clips.

IE. Use for arming and disarming security sensors at night. One click to arm, double click to disarm if the dog has to go out. Fast and simple compared to opening up the dashboard and finding the right tile to click. Also nice and quiet in the middle of the night, no talking to Google or Alexa when everyone is sleeping.

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#15

new and cool is always important :slight_smile:

i used to use the xiaomi buttons the same way with webcore in ST ... then switched to using the lightify 2 buttons instead. they direct connect to the hub and dont have any delays when pushed. i really like how they can be configured to be either wall mounted, switch mounted or be standalone like a little remote. i have at least one of them in every room of the house. like the wife has one on her nightstand to set the room to asleep. there is one in the living room to set/unset movie mode. another one to set the bedroom to locked state and turn on mood lights. stuff all over like that.

#16

I started with flic buttons when they used your phone but they disn’t work well since others couldn’t use unless MY phone was near by. The hub fixed that. I like the form factor of the flic buttons, they are small and nicely designed. Zwave and zigbee buttons are large and expensive. I managed to get most of my flics for around $20 which i feel is the right price point for a simple button.

In tried fibaro butons at $50 each but they are designed poorly and stop working quickly.

I have 2 aeotech wallmotes which is very nice but also a little expensive. I like that they are rechargable so save a lot on batteries.

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#17

at $20 or under i would probably buy a few but only if it was standard zigbee and didnt need a hub. :slight_smile:

#18

But since that doesn't exist... :slight_smile:

#19

two buttons for $25 :slight_smile:

#20

I forgot to mention I don't have a strong zigbee mesh network. I have two smartthings presence sensors and one smartthings plug I use to extend the signal for these presence sensors. That's it. The rest of my home is all zwave. zwave buttons are usually $50 or more.

I also don't like the form factor of these buttons you referenced. They are not bad but much larger than the flic buttons. The flic buttons are the size of a quarter. They are really very nice. I begged them to make a zwave version but they didn't, I think battery life on zwave is an issues. Zigbee is better on battery life but nobody has created one small enough that I like and I would have to put in more repeater zigbee devices in my home to make the mesh work well.

Originally I made my own flic hub from a raspberry pi because flic made a library and released it open to easy implementation. It worked great but occasionally went offline. Flic made this hub so I git in early on the indiegogo and am very happy I did. They made a really nice hub. I was in the beta and they were very smart folks working well with us. The hub they made is tiny and covers most of my home. I am glad I bought it.

#21

Price says $29.99 when I openit....but not a bad price.

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