Apple HomeKit for iOS

It’s disappointing to still hear so late in the game that you don’t have plans to update the current hardware for HomeKit. I just bought a new (to me) home with an 11 zone system driven by a 15 year old controller. High on my priority list is to replace this controller with a modern controller. Homekit support is a must have feature for any new home automation devices I buy, so who ever supports this first gets my money.

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Noted :wink:

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+1

You could just create a HomeKit Compatible Bridge that would interact with Rachio Iro. That would make HomeKit accessible to your current owners. For your later, newer hardware, you could build the compatibility into the hardware.

Will that work over WiFi?

Still mass confusion! :wink:

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/future-proofing-smart-home-apple-homekit-compatibility/

I am unsure – my understanding is that the bridge must be able to communicate directly with HomeKit, but it can use wifi to communicate with the devices behind it. The bridge was designed to allow for greater integration. Hence a wifi product (Iro) can be controlled by HomeKit through the bridge.

I would need to do further research, but that is my current understanding.

zway already provides a homekit controller and it is fairly straight forward to write your own js plugins. one day when im too lazy to use the app ill write a plugin, but today is not that day.

Chiming in for home kit support too :slight_smile: +!

Yes, but that is a bridge between HomeKit and z-wave. Rumor has it that, for now, Wi-Fi devices like the Iro cannot be bridged to HomeKit. They must use a HomeKit-approved Wi-Fi chip for security purposes.

That could change in the future, but nobody really knows.

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+1

I was about to pull the trigger and buy it after having read so many positive reviews on Amazon. But not having Homekit support/integration is a deal killer for me. I’ll either wait till you all manufacture such a product or look elsewhere. I hope you all do it first because I love what I saw, including the made in the USA part.

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What do people hope to get out of home kit support beside the apple logo?

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@franz - that article you referenced is a bit old. Need to look for anything after last week’s Apple WWDC conference to get the latest info on HomeKit. They didn’t say much about it (unfortunately) but I assume this chipset would be needed to build a bridge to the IRO:

There’s this too…

“…Apple HomeKit certification requires a co-processor to handle device authentication. That co-processor is where the device’s encryption key is stored and handles the computing associated with encryption. It’s a nice concept, but the change in hardware adds time to the manufacturing process.”

and…

“I’ve reached out to many of Apple’s partners to understand how they will handle the issues that come with HomeKit compliance, but few agreed to speak on the record. Behind the scenes, grumbling about HomeKit has become a common occurrence as delays in finalizing the specification have led to uncertainty and delayed products. In public, most companies are toeing Apple’s line.”

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and one last one if you want the latest dev info overview of HomeKit:

https://developer.apple.com/videos/wwdc/2015/?id=210

Thanks for that, very interesting read :wink:

+1 on agreeing that the first company to support homekit will get my $.

Are we Apple Homekit ready?
They just pulled al their thermostats from retailers getting ready to make their big push.

No and the current hardware never will be.

+1

With all the new possibilities for home automation arriving on a almost daily basis these days, I still believe the core value of Rachio is flexibility. The ability to potentially mold to future product, from whomever creates them, is a nice asset.

That said, one needs to remember that the Iro in itself is Irrigation Automation. Automation that is very complex just as weather is. The push or need to link to any type of home automation systems that are mostly switches (on/off, open/close) is less important to making sure the Core Responsibility of Iro, apply water efficiently to a landscape, to be job one priority one. If I can access my Iro from anywhere in the world already, why is it so important to be apart of another system?

If the Rachio Iro can not irrigate my landscape without constant intervention, what’s the point of the controller?

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