This category is an extension of the FAQ and is dedicated to quick questions and answers for specific topics. If you searched the community and couldn't find the answer to your question, consider posting the question in the subject line and add any pertinent details in the body. For more details on the FAQ please visit this post: FAQ - Hubitat Hello all,
I have completed moving as many devices that would transfer from the homebridge app to the homekit app. It was a fairly easy transfer, but there are some minor hicups.
First, I have both Lutron Light Switches and Philips Hue Light bulbs. The lutron switches transferred easily from homebridge to homekit, but the Philips Hue lights were incompatible. Is there a reason for this? It just seems odd to me. BTW, I am using the Co-Co-Hue app to monitor the Hue bulbs. Perhaps that has something to do with it?
Secondly, I have the Bod Home, and not the Bond Home Pro. I have three very nice fans, but the Homekit integration would not add the fans. It did, however, add the lights in the fans. Is this something that is being worked on?
Finally, Homekit will not add MyQ Garage Door. If I re-install the MyQ hub, that hub will happily add the garage door to homekit and still be deemed certified. However, if I try to use the hubitat with the homekit integration, its a no go. I am guessing this is some sort of licensing problem with LiftMaster, but is this something that might happen in the future?
Apple wants to be the center of the universe, so it requres that any devices that have native cloud implementations do a cloud-cloud integration directly with HomeKit. As part of the licensing criteria, Apple also does not allow perimeter security devices (locks, garage door openers, etc.) to be brought over on the local HomeKit connection.
HomeKit integrations are actually all local, by design. Both Philips Hue and Lutron Caseta support native, local HomeKit integrations.
Hubitat is working on obtaining fully Apple HomeKit Certification. As part of that certification, LAN/WiFi based devices are supposed to be excluded from Hubitat’s HomeKit integration, as those devices should be able to implement direct, native, local HomeKit integration themselves (at least that is according to Apple’s guidelines.)
Ok. MyQ is a WiFi based implementation, so it is not allowed under the licensing agreement with Apple. However, as you say, both Lutron and Philips Hue are local implementations, and I can migrate Lutron but not Hue devices. As an aside, I have Philips motion sensors, and the Homekit integration allows them to be integrated. Can I add the bulbs directly to hubitat. Then I can retire the Hue hub, and the quirky interface it implements. And what about the Bond Home fans.
Yea, not exactly sure why this is... Hubitat's HomeKit integration is still in BETA, though...
Not what I would recommend. Why not simply add the Hue devices to HomeKit directly via the Hue Bridge? It is incredibly reliable. I personally moved away from having bulbs on my Hubitat Hub, and instead use a Hue bridge for all of them. I like the features that having a Hue bridge brings to the table, like power restore bulb state.
I do have my all of my Zigbee motion, contact, and leak sensors paired to my Hubitat hub.
Agree. I don't see any difference between Lutron and Hue. Both have native Apple Home integrations. Both should be treated the same by Hubitat's integration. Seems the issue should be figured out sooner rather than later to avoid user expectation issues. @gopher.ny
I figured out why Bond Home is not included. Bond Home is a WiFi implementation. Therefore, out. The Bond Home Pro is almost $400, so I will be keeping my Hoobs device. I use HomeKit as a dashboard, since I cannot figure out what is going on with the Hubitat dashboard. It does not work well with the screen reader in the WebUI. But HomeKit does provide me with one very useful function. I can use Siri on my watch to open the garage door.
Hubitat's marketing material has been pretty clear that the HomeKit integration is meant to be a Z-Wave and Zigbee bridge. And that probably works for new Hubitat users. I think many existing Hubitat users overlooked the situation and hoped for the best. Running Homebridge is pretty easy, whether on a computer, NAS, pi, or HOOBS. I have to keep Homebridge running as there are some good plug-ins that are not in the scope of what I use Hubitat for anyway.
Before iOS 16.0, I used Hubitat to expose zigbee and z-wave devices to Apple HomeKit, and built up my automations on HomeKit. When 16.0 came out, a lot of third party apps that allowed greater flexibility in creating rules in HomeKit were no longer compatible. No more multi-condition triggers was especially trying for me. So I ditched all the rules in HomeKit, and rebuilt everything on Hubitat. And Hubitat, especially with the Rule Machine was a joy to work with. So Hubitat is my main ecoPlatform. The Rule Machine in Hubitat, also, allows me to write a single rule to replace multiple rules in HomeKit. This lowers the amount of time I spend testing and maintaining the rules structure. Further, I was able to create a state machine using modes in hubitat to control the lighting in the home through the day. So I would say that Hubitat has graduated from just being a bridge to being a very powerful ecoPlatform in its own right.
I’m in the same boat with HUE and HomeKit, I have all of my HUE on HomeKit through homebridge, don’t really see any advantage in having 2 instances of HomeKit integration running so I’m leaving it as it is.
Well, there are two reasons for me to use both types of exposing devices to homekit. The first reason is that the devices become Apple HomeKit certified. That may not seem important, but if I run into an issue or a bug in HomeKit, I can call Apple Support and receive help solving the problem. The second reason is a shorter path for the commands to travel. This reduces latency and the chance that a command gets dropped. Admiral Grace Hopper used to hand out fifteen inch long sections of wire. She said that these sections of wire was one nanobit of time. It took a signal one nanosecond of time to travel the wire. And they add up very quickly. In case you do not know who Admiral Hopper was, there is a little relay switch with an insect cruched in the relay encased in acrylic at the lab where she and I used to work for the Navy. The very first computer bug, and she found it. She worked at that lab way before my time, but that little insect is still there.
Hubitat's HomeKit integration is still in BETA, though...
