Use Indigo to control HomeKit-enabled devices?

Posted on
Wed Jan 11, 2017 3:50 pm
billearl offline
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Use Indigo to control HomeKit-enabled devices?

I would like to control a HomeKit-enabled device, such as the upcoming Incipio four-outlet Smart Power Strip, using Indigo and AppleScript from my iMac (macOS Sierra).

Currently, I control some Insteon on/off modules using an Insteon 2413U via Indigo and AppleScript, but the Incipio Smart Power Strip is a tempting alternative.

Is there way to do this now, without using Siri?

https://9to5mac.com/2017/01/04/incipio- ... wer-strip/

Posted on
Wed Jan 11, 2017 4:06 pm
jay (support) offline
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Re: Use Indigo to control HomeKit-enabled devices?

AFAIK, it's not possible for anything outside of a HomeKit app on iOS to control a HomeKit native device. The SDK for doing so only exists on iOS.

There are other options with other technologies however. I'm not positive that that particular one is supported by Indigo yet, but it probably wouldn't take a lot of work to get a definition in for it once someone has one.

[EDIT] Indigo does support controlling the 4 controllable outlets. Aeotec implemented the energy monitoring very badly so it will require some custom programming to get that part working (it's on the to do list but no ETA).

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Posted on
Wed Jan 11, 2017 6:39 pm
billearl offline
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Re: Use Indigo to control HomeKit-enabled devices?

Thanks, Jay! I'll try the Aeotec Power Strip (and Aeotec Z-Stick, Gen5).

Posted on
Thu Jan 12, 2017 3:48 am
durosity offline
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Re: Use Indigo to control HomeKit-enabled devices?

billearl wrote:
Thanks, Jay! I'll try the Aeotec Power Strip (and Aeotec Z-Stick, Gen5).


If you want the best of both worlds you can get the Aeotec Power Strip and then setup HomeBridgeBuddy (viewtopic.php?f=204&t=17405) which would let you control that power strip via siri.

Computer says no.

Posted on
Thu Jan 12, 2017 11:02 am
billearl offline
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Re: Use Indigo to control HomeKit-enabled devices?

Thanks, I might give that a try too, although I'm a bit old-school when it comes to verbally conversing with an electronic device (so far). For now, I use Butler menus to run AppleScript scripts to do my bidding.

Posted on
Tue Jan 24, 2017 5:47 pm
billearl offline
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Re: Use Indigo to control HomeKit-enabled devices?

Just to follow up, I switched out some Insteon on/off modules for the Aeotec Power Strip (and Aeotec Z-Stick, Gen5). I'm happy with the results so far, and switching seems faster and cleaner, and possibly more reliable.

I noticed that the Aeotec Z-Stick has to be reconfigured if it's unplugged, and then replugged, which is really a non-issue for me since I don't intend to unplug it. It didn't work with the one USB3 hub I tried it with. Also, the Z-Stick light flashes constantly because, apparently, it is not intended to be used plugged in, which is an Indigo requirement.

Posted on
Tue Jan 24, 2017 6:37 pm
jay (support) offline
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Re: Use Indigo to control HomeKit-enabled devices?

billearl wrote:
I noticed that the Aeotec Z-Stick has to be reconfigured if it's unplugged, and then replugged


It shouldn't - what did you have to do to reconfigure it? And is it a Gen5 stick or the older Series 2?

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Posted on
Wed Jan 25, 2017 12:47 am
billearl offline
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Re: Use Indigo to control HomeKit-enabled devices?

It's a Gen5. The reconfigure consisted only of resetting the Serial Port to "usbmodem1411". Connection type is the default "Local (physical)". It's plugged directly into my iMac. Shutting down and restarting the iMac causes no loss of the configuration setting.

After my previous post, I also had to re-sync the power strip, but that hopefully was only a one-off, not surprising for a new setup.

Posted on
Wed Jan 25, 2017 10:14 am
jay (support) offline
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Re: Use Indigo to control HomeKit-enabled devices?

Odd, it should have remembered the serial port. Try it again for us - just unplug the stick, wait a couple of minutes, then plug it back in and see if it automatically reconnects (as it's supposed to).

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Posted on
Wed Jan 25, 2017 1:49 pm
billearl offline
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Re: Use Indigo to control HomeKit-enabled devices?

Thanks, Jay. It worked correctly this time. Perhaps insufficiently charged right out of the box on the first attempts?

Posted on
Wed Jan 25, 2017 3:24 pm
jay (support) offline
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Re: Use Indigo to control HomeKit-enabled devices?

Let us know if it happens again.

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