Hi all, I am a brand new user here because HomeKit integration is in beta and I am a Homekit user. I am hoping that my new HE can bring in some devices that are not native to HomeKit. I reviewed your getting started tutorials and I am kinda lost. I have added some public apps and I have the Hubitat app on my iPad. I found my way to your devices list and the first device I want to add is not in your public list of devices. So I went to the community list of private devices and I found the WeatherTech tempest Links. There is a separate link for the Tempest and one for the API. Can somebody please explain to me which one I should be clicking on? When I click on the first link which says Tempest I get several other links such as clicking on the code link. I am not a coder so I’m sorry if I’m in the wrong forum, but that was 800 lines of French to me. And then I scrolled down and clicked on the Get a token link. That brought me to a page to login to my Tempest account which I did. It was a new interface as it was accessing my Tempest account within hubitat. However, I could find no place to add it into my Hubitat devices, or to bring it into HomeKit. Can somebody please explain to me if I am looking for an app or am I looking for a device? And am I looking for an API or a driver? I’ve tried Hoobs and homebridge and both were too complicated for me. Am I wrong in thinking that hubitat should be for the masses? There is just no good direction here that I can find.
Some follow up questions are: can I bring the mirroring app into HomeKit? Will I be able to use the rules machine for HomeKit? Or do I make rules in Hubitat and export them to HomeKit? I don’t think I can do that, as most of my devices are for HomeKit. Is this really the only way to get help or is there a direct hubitat employee that can help me? Or have they pushed all support to other users kindness and generosity? Sorry just a very frustrated user here. Thank you for any help you guys can give.
BTW, there are 117 pages on the Tempest link. As a new user, do I need to read all of that entire thread to get access to the Tempest device?
I didn't find "weathertech" but I did find "WeatherFlow" and "Tempest" -- is that what you mean?
I'd suggest starting with Hubitat Package Manager (HPM). Start with this Forum post because I think it's now the simplest way to get it installed.
HPM is a community created tool that eliminates all of the issues you describe.
The recipe I pointed to will help you the FIRST time. After that, a large number of the community created code is installed via HPM. But realize it's just a tool to get the code into your Hubitat hub. After that you can USE the code. When you add a device, you can change to use a community created driver, or maybe it's the only choice. You can use HPM to add code you use once and remove.
Once HPM is installed use Install and then search by Keyword to find the Weatherflow code you're looking for.
Also, most custom drivers and apps have their own threads on here started by the creator. If you have questions about a specific one, that's a good place to start.
Thanks for steering me. I’m sorry, but your instructions leave me with the same problem. I see three links to click on, and I have no idea which one of the three takes me down the path of success. I have tried all three and at some point down loaded a zip file onto my iPad. I now have no idea where to find it or how to install it. Sorry to be so stupid but is there anyway you can break this down a little more specifically for me?
Hubitat might make $50 per hub sale after they pay for the cost of the hardware, assuming you paid list and didn't get the $99 sale price they sometimes offer. They can't hold the hands of new users. Even if they had a support staff and wouldn't need to have programmers do that, it would still cost them everything they earned from you to give you even an hour of tech support for free.
I'd love to see them be able to provide consulting services for this kind of thing, but you'd need to be willing to spend at least $50/hr for this or it wouldn't be profitable for them. Would you be? I have a friend who paid professionals to automate his house, and spent well over $10K on it, and still has to pay every time he asks them to change something. But there aren't many people with budgets like that.
Hubitat is for people who enjoy doing this as a hobby. The reason everyone on this forum is friendly and helpful is because they enjoy what they're doing and want to help other people have fun with it too. But if you don't enjoy the "figuring out" challenge, you have the wrong product for your needs.
Unfortunately, there might not be anything out there more suitable. It's a very immature market area with too many good "standards" but not enough "best practices". Right now, if you want to make this stuff work, you have to have lots of money or lots of time and interest.
Your going to find the community is where your going to get your answers. Sometimes some Hubitat employees will chime in, but the community itself is the major strength of Hubitat. I recommend starting small. Get a few bulbs and sensors working. Room lighting, basic rules, simple automations are a great place to start.
Once you get the hang of it dip your toes into rule machine. Thats the app that sets Hubitat apart. It can do just about anything you can think of, plus crazy and weird stuff that only genius/insane nerds can think of, lol.
I think @rlithgow1 is a superfan of the tempest, maybe he can help you.
Also, this brand new video seems to be made just for you. He actually covered basically every homekit question you asked, weird timing!
OK, I've created a Video that shows the step by step on an Empty hub. I wiped one of my hubs and show the Installation of Hubitat Package Manager and then using it for the first and second time.
Thanks sesummers and all for the explanation. I have a few thoughts:
Now that you guys have explained to me that this is a community for hobbyists, therefore the product is also a hobbyist endeavor. I feel the website should be more upfront in explaining that. Prior to purchasing my HE I obviously explored the website to see what the capabilities were. Nowhere in the marketing for HE does it advise or warn that this is a product for people who want to configure and code, AND want to explore and patiently learn how to do this as a hobby. I do not fall into that category, I am just a results oriented consumer. I don’t care how the sausage is made, I just want my sausage. So you have helped me understand that this product is not intended for my usage and I have to determine whether to stick with it here or return it. Thank you for clarifying it for me.
That being said, I would gladly pay $50 an hour to do a phone consultation with an experienced user. I have a feeling it would take somebody who knows what they’re doing about 20 minutes to guide me down the road of the difference between an API, device, app, driver, etc. I’ve done this before as I paid $50 for a consultation with Hoobs. However, that went nowhere as the consultant was very arrogant and wasn’t a friendly, eager to help solution provider.
A lot of my frustration over trying to use Hubitat is that the third party programs for non-native devices to be brought into HomeKit is not as user-friendly as the Homebridge menu system. With Homebridge/Hoobs, all you have to do is enter the product name and it gives you clean links so you know exactly which one is what you were looking for. In this community when I search for a product, I get a link that could lead me to a thread of discussions that might have the original program posted at the very front from the Developer, but it could be followed by over 100 pages of more notes and links and updates and that is just too daunting for a new user to sort through when all I want to do is download an app to make it work in My Home kit environment.
My problem with community support systems is that it is a volunteer system. I have found that my complex problems never get complex responses. I have seen this in Reddit and other technical forums. I totally understand it as nobody is under obligation to understand the full details of my projects. I just find that in almost every case the suggestions from friendly community members never apply to my issue and usually it’s because I can see that my long paragraph of the problem was not thoroughly read. This leaves me with very low responses in terms of quality of support.
A good example would be the link that was posted for me for the YouTube video. I had already watched it days ago. I just watched it again thinking there was something I missed. It’s a 30 minute video and I have seen several videos from this channel before. I really enjoy his content. However, his video does nothing to address the problems that I am having and anyone who read my post would see that.
If anyone is interested in a paid consultation, please message me. Thank you.
To be clear, that was one person’s perspective. FWIW, there are professional integrators on this community who use Hubitat for their clients. I don’t think they’d consider themselves to be hobbyists, or the hub to be a hobbyist endeavor.
It’s a remarkably powerful tool for home automation. Which Homebridge is not. The vast majority of us are here because we use Hubitat to automate our homes, and not as a means to get switches and dimmers into our phones for them to be controlled.
I can’t remember the last time I had to control a light switch by any means, or adjust a thermostat even to switch between heating and cooling modes. Or lock/unlock a door, or push a button to control my garage door.
Hummm, hummm, Items 1, 3, and 4
where oh where has some of that been expressed (and oft refuted) before....?
Sorry, can't see how to make that gif smaller. LOL
EDIT: Follow up to OP. Despite all that (some valid points indeed), it's an accomodating platform...and if you give it some time, keep what you do SIMPLE, you'll grow to appreciate it in many ways.
Long paragraphs of problems are about the worst way (other than maybe semaphore or morse code) to ask for help. The harder you make it to read/understand what you are trying to do and the issues you face, the less likely you are going to get help. Sort of a GIGO issue.
As you may understand, we have a bunch of hub owners here happy to help, but you need to:
Provide clear & concise info
Short sentences/paragraphs and bullets help
Have patience
Understand that no HA system is going to fit everyone's needs and capabilities
You can use HE w/out doing any coding whatsoever, I have no idea how to code, never done it, never will. You will, as w/any system have to do some reading and thinking. If you feel you have dipped your toe deeper than you expected, maybe time to return or sell your hub...
I see my reply did imply that the product was ONLY for hobbyists - as has been pointed out, there are lots of pros using it too, and if your needs are simple, you don't have to be TOO much of a "hobbyist" to get it working.
But Hubitat the company is not in the business of selling professional installation services. They sell a piece of hardware with their software embedded in it (basically thrown in for free) and some basic maintenance services. But they also encourage and support this community that makes it possible for people like you and me to figure it out and make it work ourselves, without paying pros hundreds per hour to do it for us.
That might mean it's not the right product for you, but you might find that you've just jumped in too deep. You got Hubitat because of a feature still in beta, because you want to add a wider variety of devices, and you've already installed apps not provided with the Hubitat software. So I'm not surprised it's confusing. It's like you're starting a carpentry hobby by building a scroll-top desk. I started with the Caseta app, then Wink, then SmartThings, and then Hubitat. Each step added power and complexity, so it was incremental. I get that jumping straight into Hubitat would be harder. But I at least find it a good balance between the flexibility I need and the complexity I don't.
I hope I didn't ruffle any feathers with this post. Some of the replies are defending all of the amazing features that Hubitat offers and I agree with all of those opinions. I'm a Homekit user but it is VERY lacking in it's automation abilities and I am very hopeful to add lot's of big additions with Rule Machine, mirror, virtual everything etc.
But my first goal is to use HE to bring a few of my favorite devices into HK. I've received lot's of kind responses to this thread so thank you to the community for trying to help. Let me try to clear a few things up:
Sorry for the long paragraphs as I wanted to make sure you had all of my details so as not to send you down the wrong rabbit hole. Bullet points are a great suggestion for me to be more concise. Thanks.
I have read all of the tutorials and still none help me figure out how to import (my terminology) a private app or device. The Weatherflow Tempest is what I'm hoping to start with: - Do I click on the link for "Tempest" or the "API" link? Do I click on the 3rd link in that description? Or do I scroll down and read all 117 posts on the subject of bringing the Tempest into HE? Lot's of chat about changes to the code so where would I start??????
csteele - You are the kindest soul I've ever come across in a forum. You literally made a video specific for my needs. THANK YOU!!!!! However, it starts by saying empty hub. I already downloaded much of Sonos, Ecobee, virtual button and my ipad which are in my devices and apps. Do I need to delete them all and start from scratch? I followed along with your video but got stuck on import on "Download from URL". When I clicked on that nothing populated. Is it because my hub is not empty? Needless to say, I only got a few seconds into your video before hitting a roadblock.
Unless someone wants to contact me so I can pay for a consult to guide me through this I think I'll return to Homekit with my tail between my legs and wait for Matter to complete my smarthome - I think it's going to take Matter a long time before it is useful for consumers like me however.
I'm not convinced I'm following along.... Which qualifies as the blind leading the blind, I suspect.
I hope you took the step of pasting the URL. I know the video highlights the Clicks with those blue rings BUT there's no highlight on a Paste.
Notice the differences between these screencaps:
This is the screen when you click Bundles.. notice the Choose File button.. notice that when you click "Download from a URL, it vanishes and becomes:
Fundamentally it's a completely new set of options. Note that the blue rings appear on that "Insert URL to..." line.. note that a second later the video shows the URL has been pasted in:
THEN the Import button is clicked. If there's nothing in the URL field, clicking import does exactly that, imports nothing.
I hate to say it but matter will do nothing for you. You will still be limited to exactly what Apple offers for automation capabilities which sadly along with Google and Amazon is terrible.
Yeah, I think folks who believe Matter is going to really move the needle WRT knocking down all the walled gardens enroute to a smart-home utopia are in for disappointment.
I would be happy to be proven wrong though -- time will tell.
I notice that Snell's ( @snell ) community offerings are not in HPM, therefore installing HPM does nothing for that particular driver. @user3829 will be forced to use the many-click method for installing code manually... as documented. It's a good skill to learn, obviously.
