Some major brands not supported .... any chance in the future?

[tbird412]

Just got set up yesterday, got my Hue bulbs all working, and a sensor working. But that's about the end of it for me. All my smart outlets are SmartLife. My cameras and doorbell are all Nest. My thermostats are Lennox iComfort M30 and E30. My vacuum is iRobot.

So basically I am just operating my hue bulbs. Which worked fine in the phillips app.

Any chance for some of these brands to be included in the future? I REALLY love the HE interface and the complexity and just honestly everything about it .... except that I cannot use it with anything I have other than a few Hue bulbs.

[bertabcd1234]

A lot of this is outside of Hubitat's control. For example, iRobot doesn't have an API for Roomba that third parties can use to integrate, even if that third party (say, Hubitat) wants to. See, for example: Open API availability for a Wi-Fi connected Roomba. | iRobot Customer Care. Google/Nest has a mixed history but was in a similar situation for a while, though I think things have improved lately (I don't use any of these products so haven't been following it that closely). I'm not familiar with your Lennox thermostat, but I suspect the situation is similar.

This situation is common with many vendors, especially if their products are Wi-Fi. There's nothing inherently wrong with Wi-Fi for most of these purposes, but it just happens that most of them are designed to work only within the manufacturer's own ecosystem. This is where Zigbee and Z-Wave products really shine. These are open protocols where most devices will work with a variety of different hubs. While Hubitat also works with a variety of LAN and cloud products, I'd say it's primarily a Zigbee and Z-Wave hub--and it does that very well. But regardless of protocol, if you want the best out-of-box experience, you'll want to consult the compatible device list (the majority of which are Zigbee and Z-Wave). If you're wondering about something you can't find there, searching or asking in the Community forum (here) is a good step; that list isn't exhaustive for even the built-in driver compatibility, but there are even more community drivers (and apps) that can help integrate more devices.

But even if you can't directly integrate with Hubitat, there are often workarounds. For example, Hubitat has integrations with Alexa, Google Home, and IFTTT. If your otherwise-closed device does, too, you can use one of those services as an intermediary. For example, if Alexa can start Roomba via an IFTTT routine, you could create a virtual motion sensor on Hubitat (even better IMO: a virtual motion+switch device so it can be turned "on" easily in Hubitat; Alexa doesn't support plain switches being used as triggers for routines, otherwise you could forget about this awkwardness), expose that sensor to Alexa, then use it as part of a routine to start the Roomba whenever that routine is triggered. Not the best, but it may be the most you can do.

If support for a specific device is important to you, I'd say reaching out to the manufacturer to ask for Hubitat support would be your best bet. There's nothing Hubitat can do if there's no way to actually do it, so hoping that enough people ask and the manufacturer considers it important is about all we can do (besides the above workarounds).

[672southmain]

There’s also the possibility of porting a user-written driver that works on the older, now-deprecated, SmartThings API, which is very similar to the Hubitat Groovy API. If you can locate a driver on the SmartThings forum, post back and someone might help you port it.

There is a Google/Nest user driver ongoing effort in these forums, and it works on many devices, There are some bright people collaborating on that, search it out.

[danabw]

Look here for the available Google Nest integration...as mentioned above HE can only do what other manufacturers allow, and it's limited right now for Google Nest products, requires a more complex setup, but there is an integration:

[Beta] Google SDM API - Nest integration

Google SDM API is an app with coordinating drivers for monitoring and controlling Nest devices from Hubitat Elevation. Some discussion of initial issues in early development is in this thread: Nest Developer access now live

If the manufacturers don't have an open API (and majority of Wi-Fi devices do not) then it's problemmatic.

[marktheknife]

@bertabcd1234

There's nothing inherently wrong with Wi-Fi for most of these purposes, but it just happens that most of them are designed to work only within the manufacturer's own ecosystem.

this.

WiFi outlets (and other devices that can connect directly to the cloud) just aren’t designed to be controlled by home automation hubs like Hubitat.

Having said that, I believe it’s possible to flash an alternative firmware on SmartLife devices. It’s called Tasmota, a search in the forum or on google should give you some more info to see if it interests you. I can’t recommend for or against it, since I don’t use WiFi devices for home automation. But there are Tasmota drivers for Hubitat written by community devs.

[tivomaniac]

Yoda Future

[danabw]

Unfortunately, when you get into home automation you quickly find out there are great open spaces full of compatible devices, but also many deep valleys of incompatiblity. It's not as 1-2-3 easy as the commercials make you think it will be.

Takes research and planning to ensure you have the right devices w/the right protocols/communication, w/the right hub/controllers. And most major brands don't really care if they can be integrated w/3rd party hubs like Hubitat and SmartThings, they want you in their ecosystem/apps, not wandering around elsewhere.

[erniemiller]

@danabw

And most major brands don't really care if they can be integrated w/3rd party hubs like Hubitat and SmartThings, they want you in their ecosystem/apps, not wandering around elsewhere.

This. Holy hell, this.

A while back I had a (great) A/V company install a flush wall mount OLED with a SnapAV WattBox in a can behind it. They gave me this ridiculous app:

I found out it had a telnet API and hacked this together: [RELEASE] SnapAV WattBox Driver - Code Share - Hubitat

Now I can control either outlet independently from Hubitat.

Where there’s a will, there’s (usually) a way, when it comes to integrations.

[danabw]

@erniemiller

Where there’s a will, there’s (usually) a way, when it comes to integrations.

Sadly for me, it also requires intelligence and the ability to code, neither of which I have in good supply. It's people like you who make that magic happen, thank goodness.

And my, what an amazing app they provided you. Must have taken them at least a half an hour to put that together.

[erniemiller]

Hah. I love any excuse to write some code these days. Hubitat’s been a godsend in that regard.

[tbird412]

Now THAT was a well written reply. Thank you! I am going to dive down this rabbit hole and see what I can do. I already used IFTTT a bit with my ST system. And even used some WebCore to make a little custom "I am on vacation I want you to randomly turn off and on lights at night" routine.

But I am very amateur in all of this so I have to dive down google rabbit holes to figure things out lol

[tbird412]

I checked out that link but am afraid that is way above my pay grade

[bertabcd1234]

@tbird412

I already used IFTTT a bit with my ST system.

Since you've used ST, I should also note that there's a community integration called HubConnect that will allow you to share devices between ST and Hubitat. So, if you have something that only works with SmartThings but want it on Hubitat, that's one way to make it happen. Of course, if that leaves nothing on Hubitat for you, then you might wonder why you have Hubitat in the first place, but if you haven't already discovered the benefits of local execution, you may soon--and while I think there are many advantages to Hubitat, that's probably my favorite compared to SmartThings. (But along those lines, note that HubConnect devices will need the cloud, like all custom apps and devices on SmartThings--and many stock ones too--do.) Again, Zigbee and Z-Wave do well here. But this may help for some more devices.

[dkilgore90]

@tbird412

My vacuum is iRobot

This App/Driver combines with the dorita980/rest980 npm projects to control iRobot vacuums and mops. I use it with my roomba i7, running the npm portion on an rpi4 (admittedly another device)

[danabw]

@tbird412

Now THAT was a well written reply.

You'll find that you will think that about pretty much all of @bertabcd1234's posts here. Damn smart, and damn good writer.

[tbird412]

I have an i7 but everything else you said is way beyond my skill level

[tbird412]

I looked at that HubConnect thing I think someone linked it in another thread I was browsing here. But I had no clue what to do once there. I found a download page for it but there were multiple things available for download and I have no idea what to do with them once I download them etc.

[neonturbo]

@tbird412

"I am on vacation I want you to randomly turn off and on lights at night" routine.

There are a couple community apps that do this. Both are available in Hubitat Package Manager, you should try it out if you have not yet.

Vacation Lighting. Anyone have it running?

Here is the beta version importUrl: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/imnotbob/vacation-lighting-director/beta/smartapps/imnotbob/vacation-lighting-director.src/vacation-lighting-director.groovy This is also available in HPM Note this is branch beta

[RELEASE] At Home Simulator

Introducing 'At Home Simulator' Turn lights on and off to simulate the appearance of an occupied home using YOUR normal routine. What does this do? This app is designed to give a lived in look based on your daily routine. This is not a random lights generator. Think about your normal daily routine and then program the lights to duplicate how you would normally move about the house. So if you get up at 6:00am but the sun doesn't come up until 8:00am, be sure to create a simulator that lasts at…

[BETA] Hubitat Package Manager

Ok I think this is stable enough now to release as a beta. This is a package manager for Hubitat that makes installing and managing your apps and drivers easier. It allows you to install an app (for example Ecobee suite that has 13 apps and 2 drivers) with "one click" instead of having to do each one manually. It also automatically checks to see if new versions of anything installed using this app are available. As time goes on I hope more developers will come on board (if apps you use aren't su…

[bertabcd1234]

@tbird412

I looked at that HubConnect thing I think someone linked it in another thread I was browsing here. But I had no clue what to do once there.

It's a bit confusing right now because the primary author apparently goes camping (totally offline) for more than half the year, and right before he left, the next major version, 2.0, was (and has remained) in release candidate phase, so it's hard to know whether you should start with 2.0 or the "stable" 1.6. I would go with 2.0 at this point, as I don't think any major changes are planned for its release, and it's the only version that works as-is with the "new" SmartThings app (in case you were a Classic user).

For 2.0, you'll want to follow its instructions, which differ slightly from 1.6 in terms of what you need to install where--and from where. This is the version you'll find at the hubconnect.to website you'll find listed somewhere in that thread. You'll need to register for a (free) account and download the HubConnect apps/SmartApps for Hubitat and SmartThings from that site and install as instructed. You'll also need at least the Remote Hub driver on every hub, both HE and ST. (Note that both of these apps and drivers/DTHs have different Hubitat vs. ST versions.) What other drivers you'll need where is a matter of where you share devices to, but if only sharing from ST to HE, the HubConnect drivers for the appropriate devices would just need to be on the Hubitat side. These can be installed manually as instructed (either all of them or just the ones needed; the SmartApp should tell you which specifically), but using Hubitat Package Manager to install and keep them updated is probably easiest. However, HPM will only have the drivers, not the apps, which still need to be installed (and updated, if needed) manually.

The fact that my explanation is that long makes it look harder than it probably is. If you've ever installed custom code on ST, it's not that different from most other things you may have done. If you haven't, the instructions, as long as you follow the v2 ones and not the v1.x ones, should have everything you need.