Zigbee support - Apple, Google pushing it now

Too bad that we can't use it ourselves. Apple continues to totally block software vendors from participating in HomeKit...

Yeah, it’s such a shame that.. I can kinda see why they do it but it is frustrating. That said C4W has done a magnificent job with HKB.. there’s a fair few things I’d love him to do with it at some point but in general it’s great as is... I’m not sure what Indigo being able to have their own variant beyond being able to slap a HomeKit sticker on the box which I’m sure would increase sales quite dramatically.. the jet does need replacing after that party last weekend.....

What is the future of support in Indigo for Zigbee devices? I just saw a SmartThings Zigbee motion sensor for $22.99. Best price I have seen for motion sensors. Is this device likely to be supported in Indigo? https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07F8 ... _473335100

you can include today albeit using

https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/ running on docker or similar
and
a zigbee usb stick (which you would need for indigo direct support anyway)

You can then with use mqqt or the indigo/node-red connection to pass the sensor status back to indigo.

You could also use node-red to simplify the setup and running as it had an admin gui for zigbee2mqtt.


Not built in but possible.

[matt (support)]

What is the future of support in Indigo for Zigbee devices? I just saw a SmartThings Zigbee motion sensor for $22.99. Best price I have seen for motion sensors. Is this device likely to be supported in Indigo? https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07F8 ... _473335100

No, Indigo doesn't support any ZigBee devices directly currently (some are supported through hubs but that motion sensor won't work). ZigBee support is on our request list for sure, but if support for it gets added it won't be in the short-term future.

Just came across this: https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/5/21123491/philips-hue-bulb-hack-hub-firmware-patch-update

While I think the risk to any one home is probably very low, it's not zero. Hopefully, with the likes of Apple and Google, these vulnerabilities can be tightened up further. I'm not holding my breath, mind you.

What is the future of support in Indigo for Zigbee devices? I just saw a SmartThings Zigbee motion sensor for $22.99. Best price I have seen for motion sensors. Is this device likely to be supported in Indigo? https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07F8 ... _473335100

No, Indigo doesn't support any ZigBee devices directly currently (some are supported through hubs but that motion sensor won't work). ZigBee support is on our request list for sure, but if support for it gets added it won't be in the short-term future.

I hope that Zigbee support is down the priority list from native Echo/Alexa support in Indigo.

[jay (support)]

What is the future of support in Indigo for Zigbee devices? I just saw a SmartThings Zigbee motion sensor for $22.99. Best price I have seen for motion sensors. Is this device likely to be supported in Indigo? https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07F8 ... _473335100

No, Indigo doesn't support any ZigBee devices directly currently (some are supported through hubs but that motion sensor won't work). ZigBee support is on our request list for sure, but if support for it gets added it won't be in the short-term future.

I hope that Zigbee support is down the priority list from native Echo/Alexa support in Indigo.

Echo/Alexa is very high on the list and is actively being worked on. Lots of backend (www.indigodomo.com) work being done in addition to a lot in IWS, so it's taking some time to get right.

What is the future of support in Indigo for Zigbee devices? I just saw a SmartThings Zigbee motion sensor for $22.99. Best price I have seen for motion sensors. Is this device likely to be supported in Indigo? https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07F8 ... _473335100

I now have a £10 (£6 on Ali) zigbee temperature, humidity and pressure sensor working and reporting states via MQTT into Indigo and is very fast. It needs a £10 zigbee USB stick that could be in the Mac, but I have on a Pi, running software that publishes the devices via MQTT that Joe's great plugin can pull into Indigo. The USB stick has an admin panel in Node-Red.

I will do a full write up soon, but this is fantastic. It means I can stop trying to add so many one wire sensors to my pibeacon network as these are as cheap, and are wife friendly as can be stuck anywhere in a room and not hidden away.

I am interested in their tilt, vibration sensor too. https://www.aqara.com/us/products.html and the mini switch. Their motion sensors are $19.

About Zigbee integration into Indigo, I wonder if one could use the following to bridge Zigbee devices into Indigo, using the Zigbee-MQTT bridge project linked below...
I'm definitively not a developer, so if anyone would be so kind as to take a look and post back with your opinion:
https://github.com/Koenkk/zigbee2mqtt

Oh, wait, I haven't seen this has been mentioned before, as it is the same project from https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io

Take a look at this thread: Zigbee sensor instructions

A number of the forum users (including myself) are already successfully controlling Zigbee devices via Indigo.

Thanks for linking the above thread. I will look into it over the weekend.
Best regards

Have read Jay's comments on this thread but I don't see my question answered. How could an IP based new standard affect Indigo? (assuming it really happens) I think that will be a positive thing right? Obviously there will be an initial development effort to support the new standard but presumably a widely supported standard which will make device makers concentrate their efforts on designing and manufacturing new devices. Software or hardware HA hubs will then focus on improving features rather than supporting weird devices so it could be a win win. Or am I misreading this badly?

Yet another slow moving standard just creates a lot of confusion in the short-term. Small companies can't jump on every new thing and too much ends up being DOA or thrown away along the way, no matter how lofty or humble the goals are.

In terms of your specific question, it really depends on what the standard manages to actually accomplish and then what each company, like Indigo, feels is their core expertise and value. Everything on the market today does a little bit of everything - interactive control, automation, user interface, remote access, security, hardware bridging, hardware gateways, protocol conversion/adaptation, voice control, etc.

In the long run, it would ideal if a few standards converge and make it clear which things will be built into the hardware, supported by major platforms, or provided as value added service.

For example, Indigo and most smaller companies are not trying to build voice interfaces. Instead, they interface, if at all, to Amazon Alexa, Google Home, or Apple Siri (really HomeKit) or leave it to 3rd parties or the community to provide that link.

Some companies specialize in being an "Everything" hardware bridge with some automation and UI. These products have both Zigbee, Z-Wave and often other radios built-in or are Pi based just multiple hardware interfaces can be plugged in.

Some companies specialize in integrations like IFTTT, Yonami, NodeRed but not the primary UI or device drivers.

There is room for a lot of this, but some of what is built is being done by necessity, not desire. If CHIPS, for example, provides all the physical layer bridging between IP and Zigbee, then it might easier or worthwhile for Indigo to be able to control Zigbee devices and not just Z-Wave.

If there is a (finally) a common API and device profiles, then maybe Indigo could be more of a UI design and automation engine for a lot more products with less time diverted on finicky device drivers or hardware control?

[jay (support)]

Have read Jay's comments on this thread but I don't see my question answered. How could an IP based new standard affect Indigo? (assuming it really happens) I think that will be a positive thing right? Obviously there will be an initial development effort to support the new standard but presumably a widely supported standard which will make device makers concentrate their efforts on designing and manufacturing new devices. Software or hardware HA hubs will then focus on improving features rather than supporting weird devices so it could be a win win. Or am I misreading this badly?

Sure, it would be a positive thing - as I said in my post, an IP based protocol should be the goal, and we welcome it if it ever happens. We do not enjoy spending well over half of our time dealing with Z-Wave devices and their idiosyncrasies. Not that having an IP based "standard" will necessarily be any better (I would hope that it would, but such a fully fleshed out standard has never happened on the first several iterations), but at least it might encourage some consolidation at the lower levels.

But this is likely still years away (if it ever happens - already many attempts at it have resulted in nothing much), as any defined (as opposed to de facto) standard through any kind of standards organization always takes a lot of time.