Why Hubitat or why no more?

đź’¬ Lounge
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Hi everyone,

I’ve been passionate about smart home systems for many years. My journey started in 2016 with a Zipatile, followed by a Homey, an Eedomus, a Hubitat C7, and most recently a C8 Pro. First, I’d like to thank the Hubitat team and this community for creating a platform that has provided me with a stable and reliable smart home experience.

I’ve particularly appreciated Hubitat’s stability and performance, which have been key strengths. While I found the dashboard somewhat challenging to style and less visually appealing, it didn’t prevent me from achieving my automation goals. That said, I’ve encountered certain challenges, including limited support for devices in Europe, slower adoption of new standards, the absence of Thread radio, and some aspects of the company’s communication strategy.

After evaluating several options, I’ve decided to migrate to Apple Home, which has become increasingly compelling with its integration of Thread and Matter. With multiple Apple TVs, HomePods, or HomePod Minis, the system offers redundancy—if one controller fails, another takes over seamlessly. Thread has proven extremely stable, and nearly all my devices now support Matter (mostly from the German company Eve). Their TRVs, for example, work flawlessly, and I’ve had no issues with any other Matter devices.

In terms of automation, while the initial setup was a bit complex, I don’t feel I’m missing anything. The native Home app doesn’t expose all HomeKit features, but combining it with Shortcuts, Controller, and the Eve app enables incredible functionality. The dashboard is well-designed, and with tools like HomeDash, Controller, or Homerise, you can create custom dashboards—or even design your own with Viz Designer.

Camera support has also been excellent. I’ve tested cameras from Eve (still to be fully installed) and an Aqara doorbell, and they work well.

For me, HomeKit with Matter provides stability comparable to Hubitat, fulfills almost all my needs, is future-proof, and is easy to maintain (or find experts for).

As I complete my migration, I plan to sell my old equipment, including Z-Wave TRVs, Z-Wave window contacts, Zigbee window contacts, bulbs, hubs, and other devices.

Thank you again to everyone in this community for your support and insights over the years!

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If you want to limit yourself to Matter devices and HomeKit, feel free to do so. Matter is still in its infancy; there will be growing pains. If you are willing to work through them, wonderful.

Hubitat is a mature platform. It can work with platforms such as Lutron Caseta, Phillips Hue, Matter, Z-wave and Zigbee. I have nearly 200 devices connected to my Hubitat Pro 8. The only device I have that does not play nice with Hubitat is my Hunter SimpleConnect ceiling fans. The connection is anything but simple.

Having choices is good. It seems you have made your choice; I have made mine. I hope both choices have a good result.

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What have you been able to automate with HomeKit and are you using any third party tools for automation (do any exist?) or using the built in Home app? I had found the automations in Home to be very basic and limiting, similar to Alexa. I forget what I was trying to do exactly, but it was something that could easily be done with a pretty simple rule in HE, but I could not do it in Home.

As for the Home app dashboard, I think anyone who has used them would agree they are top notch. Thats why I have all my HE devices shared to Apple Home, if I need to manually control a device that's where I go (or voice control).

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I second that.

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I would hesitate to refer to any solution as future-proof.

Although I suppose if one is going to tie oneself to a single tech company for the implementation of their automation needs at home, it’s a pretty safe bet that Apple won’t disappear for the considerable future.

But as someone who seems to have a very clear grasp on what your needs and priorities are, there is probably a risk that decisions Apple makes in the future with respect to the Home App, the underlying HomeKit architecture, Matter implementation, etc. will not align with your goals.

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None are perfect. I use all of Hubitat, Home Assistant, and Control4 along with Apple Home and Alexa. Each has its place. Hubitat is the most capable automation platform for people who don't want to be programmers IMO. Good luck, Apple Home is good if it suits your needs.

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You might want to take a look at
https://controllerforhomekit.com

They are trying to build better automations

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It’s a pretty interesting app.

It allows for some customization of the UI beyond what the Home app allows.

And the option to backup configuration settings is nice.

I have not tried to use it as my primary means of interacting with Apple HomeKit on my phone. But it’s certainly interesting to mess around with.

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OFF TOPIC:

Discounting how many of those are "plugged in"...whenever I read a line like this my mind instantly goes to thinking about keeping up with even just a third of that number of batteries.

I guess because I don't do a lot of lighting automation these "big device populations" always makes me think of the performer trying to keep a bunch of plates spinning on the Johnny Carson show.

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So true. I have 40 devices that report battery level plus another 10 pico remotes that don’t report.

Your post prompted me to think about the strategy for managing them…

14 leak sensors: replace all batteries when the first gets low. Maybe once every 1-2 years?

13 shades: recharge all at once when first gets low. Roughly every 6-12 months.

4 locks: replace all at once when first gets low. Every 6-9 months.

All others: Replace with mains powered where possible. Otherwise, replace when device activity check reports them as low.

If I could go back in time, I would wire the house for powered blinds and contact sensors.

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STILL OFF TOPIC:

The thinking behind my post prompted me to slow down on the impulse buying of new devices. I now ask, is this REALLY necessary to secure property, monitor/protect equipment, save energy, or automate work ...or am I buying it because it's cool.

Maybe 75% of the devices I have in place now DO meet those requirements and are, in my mind, critical components. Cool is still cool, but I find the increasing complexity of the environment and the battery rounds not worth it. I've actually decommissioned stuff after going out to change a battery.

EDIT ADD: And in thinking about the OP's comments, Hubitat has been great for the reliability required. It's keeping up a "reliable environment of devices" that has been the greatest point of failure and why I am a proponent for BUILT-IN Hubitat features that could help us manage/oversee device health, vulnerabilities, mesh connectivity, and battery/power use.

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STILL OFF TOPIC:

The shades and locks are the most popular additions we've made to the smart house. The leak sensors have been invaluable twice. Overall the pain is worth it.

Built in management would be super helpful. I wish we had the ability to automatically monitor all battery devices rather than having to add them to device manager or to a dashboard. Homekit does this OOTB and Home Assistant has a community solution.

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Like this? Built in Notifications app.

image
image1039Ă—256 14.9 KB

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How is that "kind of device" list not alphabetical? I've looked at it before and never managed to scroll almost to the bottom between lock code and tamper sensor looking for battery.

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List sorting has historically not been very consistent across various platform apps. Have to remember a lot of built in apps have a champion so to speak. So one dev might find an alphabetical list important, and others may not pay attention to it at all when making an app.

The one that drives me nuts is the z-wave firmware updater, so hard to find the right device in that list which seems to be totally random order.

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Ha, yes. I mumbled a few curse words about that one just this morning.

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I also ran into that last night. Weird.

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That looks perfect! Installing it now.

Thanks a ton

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Hi there,

I don’t fully agree with the perspective shared. While that may hold true for the US market, the situation is quite different in Europe, where the range of compatible devices remains relatively limited. For example, my Spirit TRVs worked flawlessly with the eedomus system but have been less reliable with Hubitat. Over the years, I’ve advocated for broader support for TRVs, but unfortunately, my needs have not been fully met. As a result, I’ve decided to explore alternatives.

The rise of Matter devices is particularly noteworthy, with impressive growth in options. European manufacturers such as Eve and Bosch, as well as French brands like Netatmo, offer reliable solutions that integrate seamlessly with HomeKit.

That said, if Hubitat works well for you, I would encourage you to continue with it, as I would do the same in your situation. Personally, I’ve had many positive experiences with Hubitat, but like many users, my frustrations stem from a handful of recurring issues and a perceived lack of responsiveness to the needs of European users. For instance, HVAC systems in Europe differ significantly from those in the US, and as heating and cooling are central to smart home setups, this divergence presents unique challenges. Posts about difficulties with TRVs highlight this discrepancy. Since beginning my migration, I’ve noticed significant improvements—no more overly warm or freezing rooms, and my window contacts now work reliably without requiring additional Zigbee plugs. The Thread network I’ve implemented mirrors my previous Zigbee setup and performs flawlessly, and my Hue bridge, now Matter-enabled, has been equally reliable.

While I’ve found that some HomeKit devices still lack Matter equivalents, the ongoing updates to support Matter give me confidence in the platform’s future. I plan to keep one of my Hubitat controllers (I currently own three) for my hobby room, and I continue to hope that Hubitat evolves into a more Europe-friendly system. One major advantage of Matter is its flexibility: it allows devices to migrate across systems and even be controlled by multiple hubs simultaneously.

Wishing you all the best in your own smart home journey.

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I had a similar experience during my early exploration of the system. One important thing to note is that while HomeKit as a platform is incredibly powerful, the default Home app offers very limited functionality. Like many aspects of the Apple ecosystem, it’s designed for simplicity and accessibility, catering primarily to casual users. At its core, it’s essentially an “if this, then that” system—for example, “if I push this button, then activate that scene.”

However, with the latest app version, there’s a way to unlock much greater potential through Home automation shortcuts. By scrolling to the bottom of your automation settings and selecting “Transform to Shortcut,” you gain access to a much more advanced interface. This is where the simplicity of Apple fades away, revealing a powerful, albeit more complex, system. That said, this functionality comes with a steeper learning curve, requiring patience, experimentation, and a bit of trial and error.

One limitation persists: the Home app only supports a single trigger event, such as “if the back window opens.” To create more complex automations with multiple triggers, you’ll need to use third-party apps such as the free Eve app or the paid Controller for HomeKit app. These tools let you edit automations and add multiple conditions. For instance, I was able to configure a rule like: “If any window in my living room closes, and all others are also closed, then set my TRVs in that room to heating mode.”

Another limitation of the Home app is that it only allows scene activation. For TRVs, this often means setting both a temperature and a mode together. However, my preference is to adjust temperature based on the time of day and presence, while controlling the heating mode via window states. Using the Eve app, I gained granular control over these parameters, accessing specific features rather than being constrained by global presets.

While this might sound complex—and admittedly it is—it’s not so different from navigating various apps or capabilities in platforms like Hubitat. Once everything is set up, it simply works. It’s just unfortunate that Apple opens up HomeKit’s full feature set to third-party developers but doesn’t provide an advanced mode within its own Home app.

No system is perfect, and creating complex automations always involves a learning curve, practice, and some trial and error. But once you’ve mastered the process, building sophisticated automations becomes second nature, and you can set them up in minutes.

If you need more precise advice I'm willing to share my experiences with you, but I think that here is not the right platform to do it.

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