Im New to Hubitat and i wish i started with it years ago

Why Hubitat Elevation
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I have been using Apple HomeKit for years. in the beginning it definitely did things that no other automation hubs were doing. As i progressed with my automations i found more and more things that required external controls like with home-bridge. I would always need to do something with schedules to constantly check the status of a device or timers to accommodate for things that needed more time like leaving a light on longer than the motion detection would allow for.

After getting this C8 Hubitat a few days ago i see that all these limitations were just HomeKit blocking functions. For example, Hubitat exposed the motion retrigger setting that i never had access to. I have also found many more devices that features were un available in HomeKit and home-bridge.

The dummy timers and scheduled events that i used to need from home-bridge are no longer needed. Since now i can do it right in the basic rule.

For example, i used to have a scheduled event that flipped a switch every 5 minutes. When that switch flipped i would check the temperature and do an automation based on the results.

now the hue temperature sensor updates every 5 minutes by default. If i check if the temp goes above x it does the automation. ie. turn on a light. if i turn off the light it will stay off. now with Hubitat if i turn that light off the automation will turn it back on since the temp is still over x.

To me the rules logic seems to work exactly the way you would expect. it prevents the need for extra rules and virtual devices just to make something happen or check on a value.

The only issue i have is all the BLE devices i have can only be automated from within HomeKit. to fix the stability of the BLE devices i got multiple HomePods in the beginning. i can see how that would not be required since there are devices that use mesh tech.

The biggest improvement is speed. with HomeKit/home-bridge and 6 Apple TV/pods it would take as much as 10 seconds to turn on a light after you walked into a room.

Since i have migrated all the motion devices and lights to Hubitat they turn on instantly.

I have replace almost all of my BLE devices with devices that support matter. My objective is to use HomeKit only as the user interface. All automation will be from hubitat.

If anyone ever questioned if they should migrate away from HomeKit to Hubitat i would say the answer is definitely!!!

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HomeKit makes a good Dashboard for lots of people. Everyone has a "way" that works best with their expectations. HomeKit is one.

It happens that I don't use Dashboards and none of my family would want to. We are all of the opinion that if you have to dig in a pocket to open a mobile app and tap stuff.. then what in the world does "automation" mean? :smiley: :smiley: While not a unique view, it's just one of many. The opposite extreme to me is people that just want remote control. They want to talk to the ceiling or to their wrist and have magic happen. I am certain that a huge majority of the Remote Control people are simply unaware. If they knew what was possible, they'd want it. Next are the people that believe something better is possible, but don't think they're up to the task.

Welcome to the Hubitat Community. My total system is larger than a single hub:

HomeAutomationAsASystem

Not that I think anyone should get that mesmerized by home automation, just suggesting that there's a lot of potential in Hubitat that you have tapped into. :smiley:

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I’ve settled in a similar place. I was intending to be all-in on HomeKit but realized I’m better off using HomeKit as a front end. Hubitat now does all my heavy lifting.

After a year with Hubitat, I’ve realized a few things. In the HomeKit community things like Lutron are put on a pedestal due to their reliability. It’s because HomeKit users are acclimated to devices sometimes “not responding.” What if your whole system can be as reliable as Lutron is for lighting? I mean crappy devices exist but if you stick to good brands and reliable protocols (I’m 80% z-wave now and planning to increase that) then you will enjoy the reliability difference!

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Lutron's got a pretty big following here for the same reason. Depending on who you ask, Z-Wave is hit or miss. I don't see any of that with Lutron. Just rock solid performance.

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