So, I just setup a couple of devices on Apple Home. It's great!!! But... we have a bunch of Alexa devices in the house, so now I'm wondering how people are using the Homekit integration?
All of my automation through HE just work. So we really only use Alexa to turn lights on, for example, or to trigger our nightly "shut down the house" automation.
The one thing I can think of is that maybe Homekit will be better with geo-location stuff? *Turn on the garage light when I arrive home, etc.)
Either way, I think this is a HUGE move for Hubitat, and I'm really happy to see the innovation.
I use it mainly in the car on CarPlay. Also presence, which so far has been very reliable. Also with the Home Screen the missus can just open the one app whether at home or away. Easier than opening HE app, then select dashboard. Or at least for her.
To me it’s just another method to control devices. We mostly use Echos in the house but not outside. I can tell my watch or phone to turn on the patio string lights.
Honestly coming from the original SmartThings the Hubitat App is painful to use / useless for my needs. Hub Connect has made things easier however the new SmartThings isnt' my favorite so I never use it
HomeKit integration is awesome, I can control all my switches, and its FAST.
HomeKit lets you set up rules for turning things on / off but I'll continue to use hubitat for that and use this only as a way to turn things on/off.
Siri has been doing a awesome job with controlling lights by voice command.
My biggest complaint is if a light in the house is turned off HomeKit doesn't refresh that status quickly, HUGE delay. I've also mentioned this before, I wish I could see my non-zwave contact sensors.. I literally just converted all the doors and windows in my house to wired.
In terms of interoperability, homekit integration is pretty much the same as alexa. Instead of saying alexa, you say siri. It's main use is for devices that can't be connected directly to hubitat. Like echo, you can build rules on homekit that are tripped by virtual switches on hubitat to do things. Other's big happiness factor is that they like the homekit dashboard much much more than Hubitat's dashboard. For me that doesn't matter much as I prefer automation to remote control. I may enable the geofencing for it as it's much better. My main use though for speakers is for multiroom audio and my wife adding stuff to Anylist. So for the sake of sanity we're switching to Homepod minis and selling all our echos. (All 4th gen if you're interested)
In addition to voice control and support for some devices Hubitat doesn’t integrate with, the Apple Home app makes for a pretty nice dashboard if that’s how a user (or some family members) like to interact with their smart home devices.
I switched from Alexas to HomePod minis. The main reason was for presence.
Using Hoobs, the Hoobs plugin Hubitat Tonesto7 bridge, the HA plugin Homebridge v2, the Virtual Presence with switch HA device driver and some automation in the Apple Home app, I have near perfect tracking of who is home and who isn't. I'm hoping HA can add the Presence device to their HomeKit integration.
The other thing is for a user interface. Everyone has the Home app, so they have control of things from anywhere. Plus, "Hey Siri" via HomePod or their iPhones.
Our house is mostly Echo Dots. Have a couple Googles. We are mainly control vs automation. I have some automation, but our lifestyle is so disjointed nothing ever seems to be the same from day to day.
I used to be a die hard Android fan, but changed to Iphones a year or so ago. Like them so much better. Also both of us have Ipads and watches. So I'm a big fan now of Apple.
We hardly ever listen to music. Even in the car we never have the radio on. I play guitar and sing. Have been in a couple bands over the years. Still jam twice or more a week. But just don't listen to music that often. (Other than the obligatory Thanksgiving day listening to Alice's Restaurant. ).
Our car doesn't have Alexa built in, but does have the CarPlay. Thus I can push a button and say Hey Siri and control things in the house. Helpful for us.
As the main Interface/Controller for me and my wife. Great UI and so great to have it on the lock screen. I now only use the HE app when I need to dig deeper, see a graph or get to my hub.
I also use Homebridge for my Lock and Garage as the Garage Carplay interation is pretty awesome (Button shows up when you are getting close to your house).
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