Homey Bridge Sensible Residence Hub Overview

The Homey good hubs have been round for years now, and I lined the launch of the unique Homey Professional again in 2019.

Homey has been attempting to be the panacea of good dwelling fragmentation lengthy earlier than the Matter was a factor. They’re arguably one of the best resolution for anybody utilizing a combination of good dwelling applied sciences with their dwelling.

In idea, the brand new Matter commonplace is meant to do what Homey has been attempting to do for years. Nonetheless, to date, my expertise of Matter has been a bit lacklustre.

Till Matter good points higher traction, Homey appears to be the best way to go if you need your good dwelling units to all work with one another in unison.

Athom introduced the reasonably priced Homey Bridge at CES 2022, however has solely not too long ago began delivery it.

Additionally they have the Homey Professional 2023, which is on the market for pre-order and is a big improve from the older generations. Homey Professional may even ultimately assist Matter and Thread, which ought to, hopefully, make it one of the best good dwelling hub in the marketplace.

Homey Bridge vs Homey Professional

For the Homey Bridge, you’ll nearly definitely should subscribe to Homey Premium as this may allow limitless units vs the 5 you get on the free plan.

Cell App / Net App

You possibly can management your Homey through a cellular app or an online interface. Functionally, each the cellular app and internet interface appear to be the identical. You’ve got all the identical tabs.

The cellular app is helpful when I’m including units and fundamental management of the units inside my community. I discover the online interface vastly superior for all the pieces else. It’s so a lot sooner organising flows and customising your community when working from an enormous display with a mouse and keyboard.

The online interface can be superior when wanting on the insights interface, which graphs the utilization of all of your units.

Sensible Residence Manufacturers & Units that aren’t supported

Homey has integrations for an enormous vary of good dwelling manufacturers. I feel I counted over 60 apps accessible when wanting on the apps for the conventional Homey, and you’re going to get extra with the Homey Professional.

Homey Professional has entry to neighborhood apps, and these are the place you’ll find the extra obscure manufacturers.

It’s simpler to record what they do not have, and sadly, they are some things lacking that I would love.

• TP-Hyperlink Tapo is probably the primary one, they’ve Kasa, so it’s irritating there isn’t a Tapo.
• Eufy Safety and Eufy Residence are solely accessible for Homey Professional.
• Arlo.
• Reolink.
• Airthings – they’ve an app for it, however it is just for Homey Professional and never the brand new mannequin and the app does not assist the Airthings View Plus.
• Sensible Life – used for white-label Chinese language good dwelling units (I’ve a sensible energy strip).
• Tuya – Is simply accessible on the Homey Professional.
• Ecovacs – Homey Professional solely.
• Luke Roberts Lighting – Homey Professional solely, although it is a little bit of a distinct segment product.
• Hunter Douglas / Luxaflex PowerView good blinds is Homey Professional solely.
• Warmth Genius / Genius Hub – which admittedly is a little bit of an obscure good heating model. Tado is the primary choice inside Homey.

Itemizing all of these manufacturers makes me realise what a multitude my good house is.

Matter not supported

One massive omission with the Homey bridge is that it isn’t Matter enabled, and it additionally doesn’t assist Thread, nor will or not it’s upgraded to assist these.

In idea, Matter assist would resolve a whole lot of the issues with unsupported units that I’ve listed above.

I feel the almost definitely cause for that is that Athom and attempting to push customers to get the superior Homey Professional.

Homey Professional will not have Matter or Thread at launch. They’re anticipated to be rolled in Q2 and Q3 of 2023, respectively.

Integrating Homey Bridge with completely different good dwelling ecosystems

Whereas the above record does make it appear to be there’s a lot lacking, most of these manufacturers aren’t important for my good dwelling, and I received a whole lot of units efficiently built-in.

Nonetheless, it isn’t excellent and relies on every particular app and the underlying know-how it makes use of. Simply because a model is supported, it doesn’t suggest all of the merchandise inside that model will likely be supported.

I additionally wasn’t in a position to full the mixing with among the units I take advantage of, although I’m certain if I put some effort into problem-solving I may repair these.

Philips Hue

Fortunately the Philips Hue integration works nicely. It was straightforward to pair up, simply log into your Hue account and hyperlink it. It’ll then import all of your mild and you may place them into your rooms.

Sadly, it does not seem to import any movement sensors or switches that you’ll have.

The performance just isn’t fairly pretty much as good because the Hue app. The color choice is extra fundamental, and responsiveness is slightly slower, however total it’s glorious.

You’ve got all of the triggers and occasions that you’d count on for organising flows.

With Philips Hue, the lights do not get grouped collectively as they do with the Hue app. If you wish to set off all of the lights in a room without delay, you might want to arrange a move.

TP-Hyperlink Kasa

TP-Hyperlink Kasa additionally labored completely. Once more, you simply log in together with your TP-Hyperlink account and hyperlink up the methods.

For Kasa, I’ve a number of of the Kasa HS110 vitality monitoring good plugs, and the Homey app conveniently exhibits the present vitality utilization.

It’s irritating that Tapo just isn’t working, as these merchandise are cheaper than Kasa. I’m pretty certain that Kasa is slowly being discontinued. Most up-to-date product launches have all been beneath Tapo.

The move choices are good, as you’d count on you’ve the on/off choices, however you may as well set off occasions primarily based on the ability utilization.

Aqara / Zigbee

Issues get slightly extra sophisticated with Aqara. Homey does not join with Aqara through an API in the identical means as Hue or Kasa. The Homey Bridge is a Zigbee and Z-Wave hub, so that you subsequently pair up the Aqara units straight with the hub.

The issue right here is that the Aqara units must be programmed into the Homey system for them to work correctly. You’ve got a lot of Aqara units to select from, however not all of them. From the units I’ve, I wasn’t in a position so as to add the Sensible Radiator Thermostat E1 or the brand new Sensible Video Doorbell G4. Nonetheless, the doorbell is not even Zigbee, it is WiFi.

You technically can add the E1 thermostat, however it exhibits up as an unrecognised Zigbee gadget.

Yale Entry

I used to be in a position to join my Yale Linus good lock, and this enables me to lock/unlock my door it additionally gives some helpful suggestions on the battery state and all of the occasions. Nonetheless, it does not say which person has locked/unlocked the door.

For this, I can arrange flows when the door is locked/unlocked and in addition for the battery alarm.

Netatmo

I’ve had the Netatmo Presence floodlight digicam working for a couple of years now, and that is the one digicam I used to be in a position to combine with Homey.

It does not do a lot inside the primary app web page, however it may be used for some respectable triggers in your flows. You possibly can arrange triggers for human, automotive, and animal detection after which connectivity occasions 

Dana Lock

I’ve the Ultion Sensible Lock, which is principally a Danalock V3 that has been built-in with the full-door {hardware}.

SwitchBot

Initially, with SwitchBot, I did not have a lot luck. I attempted to pair the WiFi-connected hub, and no units confirmed up. Re-trying a couple of days later, I used to be in a position to get the SwitchBot Hub 2 imported into my system, and this additionally gave me entry to the second temperature and humidity sensor I had.

For the flows, the hub solely had choices for temperature and humidity. There have been no choices for the buttons or IR distant.

Sonos

Sonos works as you’d count on. When you log in and hyperlink the system, you achieve management of any speaker inside your account.

You even have an in depth vary of triggers and actions accessible with the move settings.

Dyson

For Dyson, I’ve the Dyson Pure Cool Tower Fan, however the choices with the Dyson app are the 360 Heuristic robotic vacuum, Dyson Cool, and Dyson Hyperlink.

I used to be in a position to get it working with the Dyson Hyperlink choice. Nonetheless, it solely gives temperature and humidity relatively than indoor air high quality.

Residence Assistant

I did not have a lot luck getting Residence Assistant to work, however I additionally did not put a lot effort into working it out. With this, you might want to present the IP and port of your Residence Assistant set up.

I wasn’t in a position to get it to work with my native IP and port or the distant entry URL you need to use with Residence Assistant. I did not strive port forwarding as I do not actually wish to expose my LAN units to the web.

Plex

I wasn’t in a position to get Plex to work for some cause. I assumed it required me to have distant entry working correctly, however this did not appear to repair something. I simply received an error saying, “No Working URL To Plex Discovered”.

Wiz Related

For Wiz, you might want to go into the Wiz app, then settings and integrations, allow the Homey integration and enter the code supplied.

I do not actually use any of my Wiz lights in the meanwhile, however you’ve all of the settings you’d count on for a sensible mild.

Withings

The Withings integration is fascinating and has plenty of potential. I’ve the Withings Physique Cardio scales and the Sleep Monitoring Mat. It additionally works with blood strain monitor and smartwatches.

Particularly, you possibly can set a move set off for whenever you fall asleep or get away from bed. This looks as if among the finest automation triggers chances are you’ll wish to use.

Web page 2 for Flows, Worth and Various Choices and the Conclusion

Initially posted on mightygadget.com – Observe on Twitter – Instagram – Fb – Mighty Gadget Newest Evaluations