Homekit integration for Indigo?

Posted on
Mon Sep 27, 2021 8:15 am
vtmikel offline
Posts: 628
Joined: Aug 31, 2012
Location: Boston, MA

Homekit integration for Indigo?

Hello-

I wanted to open the question on the forums about the eventual possibility to integrate HomeKit devices with Indigo. That is, taking a Homekit supported device (or perhaps one that is not supported but has a HomeBridge plugin), and being able to read state, and control the devices in Indigo as a HomeKit client. I'm curious what this community thinks is the most likely path for if and when this will happen, either in a Apple-supported way, or via an unsupported way.

What got me thinking about this is that Homebridge has the UI plugin with a web-based dashboard allowing you to control devices. Granted, this only works for Homebridge devices, and not your entire HomeKit. As I understand it, they implement the HAP protocol: https://github.com/homebridge/HAP-NodeJS. Does anyone know if this can be used to control your entire HomeKit setup?

Another possibility would be if Apple continues to bring Shortcuts to the Mac, and integration with HomeKit is possible that way.

Why do this?
Clearly, there may be HomeKit devices that are introduced that the Indigo community would like to have and integrate into their existing Indigo solution.

Another benefit I thought of was: HomeBridge has one of the healthiest plugin communities out there, and this could allow for a HomeBridge plugin to be used in replacement of a Indigo plugin. For example, the Nest plugin for Homebridge supports Google logins and is much better supported than our own Indigo plugin.

Interested in the thoughts of others on feasibility and best technical approach. And, how well the HomeKit API will map to Indigo's device profiles.

Posted on
Mon Sep 27, 2021 10:45 am
jay (support) offline
Site Admin
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Posts: 18200
Joined: Mar 19, 2008
Location: Austin, Texas

Re: Homekit integration for Indigo?

vtmikel wrote:
in a Apple-supported way


In terms of an Apple-supported solution, it will require one of two things to happen:

  1. Apple changes the HomeKit licensing to allow software bridges. Given that it's been many years and there has been no movement on this front, it seems unlikely.
  2. Once the Matter technology stack ships then everyone seems to expect that HomeKit devices can be upgraded to support the official Matter implementation (I have doubts but we'll see). Since they claim that the entirety of Matter will be open source, it should be possible to build that capability into Indigo somehow. Lots of unanswered questions, and that's not expected to happen until next year (and then it will take time for vendors to update/ship Matter capable devices), so this isn't going to happen in the short term. Also, keep in mind, there have been many MANY attempts at a common smart home technology stack, none of which have panned out. So it's really going to be a wait and see game for us.

Jay (Indigo Support)
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