HomeKit and Indigo

Posted on
Tue Jun 10, 2014 11:57 am
jay (support) offline
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HomeKit and Indigo

We've received a lot of questions concerning Indigo and HomeKit. Read the next post which explains why we can't directly/officially support HomeKit (short version: Apple's licensing won't allow us to).

However, there is a reverse-engineered open source project called Homebridge that allows you to control some Indigo devices from HomeKit apps, including Siri. One of our 3rd party developers is maintaining the Indigo Homebridge plugin for that project.

There is also an Indigo plugin that streamlines the use of Homebridge called HomeBridge Buddy.

[UPDATE 6/13/2017] Apple has announced that it's now possible to do software encryption, which was one of the reasons why Indigo couldn't be a bridge. Unfortunately, the licensing terms still haven't changed so we still can't create a software bridge between Indigo and HomeKit.

Jay (Indigo Support)
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Posted on
Sun Sep 21, 2014 1:12 pm
jay (support) offline
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Re: HomeKit and Indigo

After researching HomeKit as thoroughly as possible, it has become clear to us that the type of HomeKit integration with Indigo we would like to see is not something we can provide currently. There is quite a bit of confusion over what HomeKit does exactly and the level of integration that is available to software controllers such as Indigo.

Our understanding is that HomeKit is not a home automation system but rather an attempt to unify direct control of devices in the home. As most of you know, home control, or the act of directly controlling various physical things in your home, is certainly one aspect of home automation. But turning on a light via your iPhone/iPad is only a part of a complete home automation system. So, from that respect, HomeKit is not a replacement for Indigo in the same way that iRule isn't.

HomeKit is a couple of things: first, it's an iOS Framework that apps can use to manipulate HomeKit compatible devices (they call them accessories). HomeKit accessories are stored in a central/shared iOS database that is managed through any client app that uses the HomeKit Framework. So for example, you can use client app A to discover an accessory and add it to the HomeKit database, and then client app B can tell that accessory what to do. Or vice versa. This leads us to Siri integration - we believe, under-the-hood, Siri acts as a special HomeKit client app, so it can directly tell HomeKit accessories what to do. This is an important distinction because it means that neither client app A nor client app B is "using Siri to control the device". Rather, Siri is using knowledge of the central/shared HomeKit database to control accessories.

In addition to the iOS HomeKit Framework that apps can use to control HomeKit devices, Apple also has a program (MFi) under which device hardware manufactures can get their devices HomeKit approved/certified. This covers not only smart devices (accessories), such as HomeKit certified lights, thermostats, etc., but also appears to include HomeKit bridge devices that allow non-HomeKit devices to be treated as HomeKit accessories. While we would love for Indigo to be a HomeKit bridge so that all your Z-Wave, INSTEON, X10, and plugin based devices can be treated as HomeKit accessories, this is not currently possible as Indigo is not a standalone hardware controller that can be MFi certified.

In conclusion, based on our research, it will not be possible to provide Siri control of Indigo devices nor will it be possible to bridge Indigo devices into HomeKit as accessories. We are understandably disappointed by this, but we will continue to evaluate HomeKit as it evolves and will continue to look at other possible ways we can directly or indirectly integrate with HomeKit.

Jay (Indigo Support)
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Posted on
Tue Jun 13, 2017 9:01 am
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Re: HomeKit and Indigo

Update June 13th, 2017

After the HomeKit announcements, we contacted Apple regarding the ability for Indigo to bridge Indigo devices to HomeKit. Here is the reply:

MFi (and HomeKit) remains a hardware accessory program, and software authentication is merely an alternative to existing hardware authentication mechanism ("authentication coprocessor") that's presently required within a HomeKit-enabled hardware accessory. Software authentication doesn't expand HomeKit beyond the hardware accessory realm.


So, while one of the obstacles for Indigo to become a software bridge have been removed, Apple's licensing program will still restrict us from building HomeKit into Indigo.

Sorry folks... :(

Jay (Indigo Support)
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