How easy is Hubitat compared to Wink?

I like Wink because it just worked. I didn't have to know much about how all this stuff worked and I could just add things I wanted. I have Osram bulbs, Arlo cams, Ring door bell, Kwikset locks, Quirky Egg Minder and Dome sensors. I could control everything (except the locks) with my Cortana speaker and yes I know most people use alexa or google. With all that said I am not going to pay Wink's monthly ransom and am thinking of going with Hubitat. Is it as easy as Wink was?

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Couldnā€™t compare. Their is plenty of apps that can make things easier. You also have lots of options to define things more at a granular level.

Looks at some Hubitat videos.

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Simple honest answer? No, from what I have heard about wink, definitely not.

Is it worth learning? Yes 100%
Is it completely complex and only a coder will get it to work? No, I don't code but I can copy and paste and you don't need to do that.

Are the built in apps easy to use and will they do what you had with wink? 100% and then some.

Hubitat doesn't hold you hand though you have to think about what you want to do, then follow the app though to do it. The community here will though and any questions as you start out will be eagerly answered.

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Totally agree. It's more complex but usable to anyone making an effort to do some research.
I jumped ship 2 minutes after i read the email from Wink. Received the HE on Friday and had 11 switches and dimmers (Leviton) switched over that night plus the mobile app running. Looks like i'll have 8 ihome oulets that will be casualties. However, I spent most of the day Saturday using the simple automation to get things going and research on new outlets and motion sensors.
As of now It's set up (we'll see tonight) and should run just like the Wink hub. The biggest difference i see is i'll spend more money because there are a lot more things you can do with the HE than the Wink :smiley:
My mind is blown at the possibilities this hub has. Also, the community here is thriving and they seem very helpful. Every thread i read had great comments, suggestions and possible solutions. :+1:

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Hubitat was created by former smartthings users to improve on its many downsides. After I heard about hubitat I dropped smartthings like a ton of bricks. That was about two years ago and I havenā€™t regretted it for a moment.

But I enjoy the DIY aspect of home automation and learning about how all this stuff works. I have no computer programming experience whatsoever, but like @BorrisTheCat I have spent a lot of time reading and asking questions to make use of the code and other workarounds developed by others.

If a simple out-of-box experience is a priority for you, take a close look at smartthings as well.

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I don't think these are supported in HE.

There is a community driver for this that uses IFTTT, but it won't work out of the box like Wink. Ring has thus far not allowed HE to join their partner program.

Pretty sure these are not supported.

Cortana still exists? :slight_smile: Did Wink have a native Cortana integration? I'm not aware of anyone using HE with Cortana. All I found was Cortana integration - #2 by michael.l.nelson which makes it sound like it doesn't exist yet. Someone would have to build that. Given how... unpopular Cortana is, not sure anyone plans to take that on.

As others have said, no it is not. There are a lot of apps and integrations to simplify things for you, but there will be a learning curve. If you're not somewhat tech savvy I think you'll struggle. I'd say with HE your statement "I didn't have to know much about how all this stuff worked" will prove untrue. You WILL need to learn a bunch more about how it works. It really is your call on whether or not it's worth it to learn. I like to tinker, I find it fun. If that sounds boring or scary to you, it might not be the best platform. If it sounds fun to you, then it probably is.

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Easiest way I found to use a Ring Doorbell with Hubitat is to use Amazon Alexa. Simply enable the Ring Skill on the Alexa app on your phone. Then use the Ring Doorbell as a trigger for an Alexa Routine. Within the Alexa Routine have it turn on a Hubitat Virtual Switch. Configure the Virtual Switch in Hubitat to automatically turn itself off (there is a setting in the Virtual Switch's device settings.)

Now you have a Hubitat Switch device that can be used as a Trigger in Rule Machine to do whatever you'd like. For example, turn on the front door lights at night when the Ring Doorbell detects motion.

I have been using this method for about 2 years and it works reliably and very quickly. IFTTT is too slow and not reliable enough.

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Agreed, gets a little more complicated if you want motion too.

I should have mentioned, not sure what Wink did but since ST had it, HE does NOT support video devices of any kind so Ring is just a button and motion sensor, there is no way to view the video in HE at this time.

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I think the honest answer is that no home automation solution that is capable is 'easy' at this time. It's the nature of the beast. You need to understand a little bit about how it works and how to help it to help you by investing in a little bit of self education for anything beyond basics. If you want to really kick the tyres you need to invest more in your understanding.

So it's easy to buy a remote that controls a plug in socket from Amazon, Wallmart, CostCo, eBay .. or anywhere. It's pretty easy to add a schedule to that device and get it controlled remotely via your phone, Alexa or Google Home. Want to switch on a light or send a notification if that device is turned on unexpectedly - a little more work and then you step into deeper integrations.

I have never used Wink but I understand it was one of the best for simple / introductory use - as is Devolo here in the UK. But to embrace home automation currently either means you are happy with what's possible 'out of the box' or you invest some time learning to advance the options or expectations within your home - and if those are advanced you need to invest some more time in your understanding of what's possible and how that might be implemented. Or alternatively use the free or paid services of someone 'in the know'.

Having basic control is easy - automation a bit harder and what you need depends on your aspirations. Hubitat Elevavation is a very capabable and affordable controller at all of these levels but maybe slightly less 'easy' than Wink - but very much worth the effort.

One other thing I should add is that whilst I'm not currently citing Hubitat's support as exemplary they are very approachable, but more importantly the community support is excellent - one of the best. The tech's saw the draw of HE very early on and now the community is filling with people migrating from other platforms, just like yourself. You'll get a lot of help from all these people and they will point you in the right directions to keep you on track and happy.

.. Another P.S. re-reading.. you're quite an advanced user with all those devices so you do need a capable controller. The one that slightly worries me for several reasons is 'Cortana' as I am not aware of how that integrated with Wink and I've never seen references to that for HE support / voice control. It's one of those 'we tried but not quite there yet' ... alternatives.

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I used the Wink app controlled devices from Dec 2013 to Feb 2019, and Wink hub connected devices from June 2014 to Feb 2019.

Hubitat is not as easy to setup as Wink was.

If you choose to go down this route, the end result exceeds what Wink could achieve by way of sophistication by many orders of magnitude. The transition will not be easy, but it will be rewarding. If you stick with it, in the end you'll wonder why you used Wink in the first place (I did).

Your Osram bulbs, Ring door bell, Kwikset locks and Dome sensors can be made to work with Hubitat - either using built-in drivers, or via community integrations, or as alluded to by @ogiewon (for the Ring door bell).

The Egg Minder is locked to Wink's cloud. I don't know if there is any community integration for Arlo cameras.

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I switched from Wink to Hubitat when they made the announcement on March 6 about the subscription model. The interface is not as "fancy" as Wink's was, but the amount of features I gained was massive.

In terms of interacting, you will need to build a dashboard. This is where you can lay out all your buttons for devices. I found myself spending the most time here to get things just right. It's not difficult, but the lack of a drag/drop made it a bit tedious. I recommend planning it out on something like Excel first, then building it in the dashboard.

In terms of adding devices, it's straight forward. Hubitat works with Z-wave, Zigbee, and LAN devices, so you will need to do the initial setup of installing the corresponding app(s). Literally just clicking a few buttons. After that you go to your devices, select the type you want to add, then start inclusion. Go to your device and trigger it and it'll pair. Hubitat has a great document about resetting and including devices if you don't have the old hub available.

I've been on the fence with Wink for a while now, and am glad they gave me the final straw to push me over. I've never been happier with my current setup. The local controlling makes devices respond a lot faster than it did on Wink.

The only thing is for some devices you may need to use alternative tools. I also have a Ring doorbell, and that's not supported in Hubitat at the time of this post. I was however able to use IFTTT to trigger some routines and achieve the same functionality I did in Wink.

Honestly, just do it. Once you get past the fancy specs and indepth it can do (which is not needed for basic usage), you'll see how intuitive it is and user friendly it all is. You'll also gain a lot more insight into your devices as Hubitat gives you more information than you'll most likely ever use while Wink didn't.

Do it, just do it...do it

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Even with Wink, you had to view the video in the Ring app. It would connect Ring, but it would give you a button to open the Ring app to view everything.

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This is true.

But the beauty of it is you are not limited to what your layout, icons, colors, or most anything else looks like, unlike Wink. It is nearly infinitely configurable.

I have gone through a few dashboard setups, I tried at first to duplicate Wink and have everything on one dash. Then I wised up, and did it by room, which is much better for me.

As a former Wink user, I do sometimes miss the clean look of Wink. But the power of Hubitat more than makes up for it.

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Ah wasnā€™t sure. Wanted to make sure I didnā€™t give the wrong impression. Smartthings shows it right in the app.

Have you checked out Smartly???
https://community.hubitat.com/t/release-smartly-v1-06-custom-icons-thermostat-re-design-custom-dashboard-link-labels-and-icons/36681

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Been using it since the beginning.

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if what you want is somethign simple that you can use voice as your primary way of control dont go to hubitat.

Well you could, but it would be pointless to buy a product like Hubitat unless you want access to zigbee and z-wave devices.

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I used IFTTT for my ihome outlets and they respond faster or as fast as they did with wink.

I'm jumping for the same reason. Already got the new Hubitat hub. I only have like 7 things at home, and Hubitat doesn't specifically name ANY of them in their supported devices list. So that sux. Man I miss X-10, it just WORKED for over 30 years for me, until I moved into a more modern home, with GFCI all over the place, blocking the signals. Didn't have a bunch of different technologies like zigbee and z-wave. le sigh