Migrate from HomeBridge

🧰 Built-In Apps and Drivers HomeKit
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So now that HE HomeKit is out of beta and will support locks and garage doors (YAY!!!) I'm ready to transition from HomeBridge. Does this sound like the right sequence of events for the least problematic path?

  1. Delete the old HomeBridge Bridge from the Home app.
  2. Disable HomeBridge in HE.
  3. Add the native HomeKit app in HE. Configure to include all devices.
  4. Add the new bridge (HE) in the Home App.

Sound about right? Any missing steps for success?

I'll still be using HomeBridge to make an Amcrest camera into a HomeKit compatible Camera. Other than that I'll be all native to HE.

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Are you using the amcrest for motion or simply to put on a tile in the dashboard? You can create a shortcut on your home screen to view the camera's direct url feed. Format will be http://user:Pwd@ip:port/cgi-bin/mjpg/video.cgi?[channel=]&subtype=1

Dunno if that helps in your journey or not.

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I actually do use that method to put the camera in the HE dashboards. But, the HomeBridge Amcrest FFmpeg plugin gives access to the camera from Home on iOS/MacOS and interestingly TVoS devices.

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Anyone with any other input on the steps to transition from HB to HE HomeKit?

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Not sure if this is something you may be interested in, I use Scrypted to get my cameras into homkit.

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I remember trying it back when I settled on HomeBridge. Don’t remember why. Bad performance? Poor documentation? I was too dumb to figure it out? Maybe all of those. Don’t remember. Would you recommend it over HomeBridge? Why? I’m not married to my current solution.

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FWIW, you don't have to remove HomeBridge before adding HomeKit. When I did the transition, I kept HomeBridge up until I was done. This allowed me to confirm that everything worked prior to removing HomeBridge, and made it easier to confirm arrangement and configuration of devices on the various pages in the Home app without having to screen shot everything.

Btw, you didn't say which HomeBridge app you are using, tonesto's version or dantapps' maker version. If you are using the maker version, you might need a soft reset and restore at the end to clear everything out after removing the app from the hub.

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Thanks for this thread. I just followed this advice and swapped from tonesto's version to the built in version and it went without a hitch. The one thing that caught me a bit by surprise was the fact that the native integration won't use devices linked via hub mesh, so I had to install two instances - one on each hub. To simplify things I had created mesh versions of everything on my first hub and I use that to drive a single Alexa, Google, and Homekit. Not a big deal to undo that for Homekit but I am curious why the native version doesn't work with mesh devices.

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Scrypted allows your camera to show up as homekit secure video, which gives face, person, animal and package detection. The down side to this is you need a iCloud+ account.
Set up security cameras in Home on iPhone - Apple Support.

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That surprises me too. I have the same arrangement. LAN based integrations are on an Aux hub which means that all my Kasa and Lifx devices will have to come from a second instance of the HomeKit app. Weird. Is this the way it's supposed to be everyone? (haven't taken the plunge yet, busy day for me.)

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OK. I confirmed that this is the case based upon other threads in in the community. This is not mentioned in the HomeKit integration doc in the documentation site. I think this should be updated with this pretty important info.

Ref: HomeKit Integration | Hubitat Documentation

@bobbyD

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I cannot personally speak to Lifx, but it isn't the case for Kasa. My Z-Wave, Kasa and custom driver devices are all in a single HomeKit instance with 2.3.6.136.

Previously LAN integration devices were not allowed at all, so perhaps what you saw in those other threads was related to that prior restriction.

[Edit: Sorry if I misinterpreted your note. Mesh devices are not supported with HomeKit. If your LAN integrations are on a different hub than your current HomeKit, then yes, you will need a HomeKit instance on the hub where the LAN integrations are. You kinda want this anyway, as it's a faster and more efficient to have the hub communicate directly with HomeKit.]

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Well, I guess I'll find out. Hopefully tomorrow.

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What isn't mentioned? If you mean the fact that locks, garage doors, etc. are supported, the documentation is in fact correct and has been updated since the release of platform 2.3.6.

You'll see it now says "most devices are supported" (technically, it still needs a capability the integration can use -- that's why it doesn't quite say "all") and the previous list of unsupported devices has been removed.

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That mesh devices don't work. At least per @kewashi

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Perhaps @bertabcd1234 can update the docs.

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I'm following now. :smiley: Just don't know if Hub Mesh devices were intentional given most other LAN devices are allowed to work, but I'll note that for now...

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@gopher.ny ?

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Thanks all for tracking this. It isn’t a big deal but it should be captured in the documentation for sure.

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What camera(s) are you using? I have a fairly old Amcrest IP3M-941 which works well through the HB ffmjpeg plugin. Per this video Scrypted has some very specific requirements. IE 1080p, H.264 and AAC.