Home kit integration

Feature Requests
1

This one might be a bit tough but would be cool to see some home kit integration

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2

Unfortunately HomeKit integration is really tough and is going to be pretty far down the road if it happens, and honestly it’s pretty unlikely. Apple makes it really tough for a small manufacturer to integrate.

Keen Home actually wrote a good blog post about it. But the summary is, we’d have to:

  1. Join Apple’s certification program, and have them approve our entire product plan and manufacturing process.
  2. Potentially make all Tidbyts in an Apple-approved factory. (unclear on this one)
  3. Purchase and add a proprietary Apple chip into every single Tidbyt (!)
  4. Pay a per-device royalty to Apple, and they won’t tell us how much that would be until we are approved.

Sorry :frowning:

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3

I think Apple removed the mandatory #3 a while ago. I’m guessing #2 is also no longer enforced. To create HomeKit compatible items are much easier than 3 years ago, hence the number of new HomeKit supported devices today.

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4

Yeah I believe HomeKit integration is entirely just software-based now. You might need to get approval from Apple in some form, but they’ve made it much easier now.

5

I looked into it a bit more and, yup, there is an open source software integration now. Actually there’s an ESP HomeKit SDK that we might even be able to use out of the box.

However, the catch is:

The HomeKit Open Source ADK is an open-source version of the HomeKit Accessory Development Kit. It can be used by any developer to prototype non-commercial smart home accessories. For commercial accessories, accessory developers must continue to use the commercial version of the HomeKit ADK available through the MFi Program.

So we still would not be able to distribute this with Tidbyt. A few alternatives that I can think of:

  1. We build an open source firmware with HomeKit support but don’t include it on the Tidbyt out of the box. You can flash the firmware on your own.

  2. We integrate with something like Homebridge that works as a bridge between Tidbyt and HomeKit.

  3. Tidbyt, Inc., actually registers for Apple’s MFi certification. I’ve started looking into this but I’m not hopeful, I’m guessing it will be prohibitively expensive. That said, there are a lot of other HomeKit devices out there so maybe we can figure it out?

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6

Hi, would it be easier to integrate with someone like Pushcut? https://www.pushcut.io
They run pretty complex Homekit automations with the use of shortcuts. Essentially, Homebridge + Pushcut. Definitely not easy to integrate for everyone.

I just want it so that I can pull temperatures off my smart temperature (Eve Weather).

7

Thanks @ErrorBorn, I’m not familiar with Pushcut but will check it out.

Also another update— Tidbyt, Inc. has applied for the Apple certification. I can’t really say much more about that since part of it was signing a non-disclosure agreement (am I allowed to say that I signed a non-disclosure agreement? :sweat_smile:) , but hoping it works out :crossed_fingers:

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8

Either way I’m excited to get the Tidbyt in my hands to start customizing it. HomeKit would be so cool! Thanks for exploring all the options @rohan

9

My dream clock would be a HomeKit compatible light, motion, temperature, humidity sensor with a programmable digital display. I believe there are a lot of people who would appreciate such a device, as it reduces the need for additional sensors.

It seems like natural progression, as many traditional digital clocks already include temperature sensors, and some include light sensors to automatically adjust display brightness. Adding these types of sensors would build a much stranger case for HomeKit support.

Different “faces” (ie Tidbyt apps) could be activated using home automations.

Surely this is outside the scope of this version of the tidbyt, but I’d love to see the product one day evolve into a central element of the smart home ecosystem.

10

@drudge has made a plugin for Homebridge that brings rudimentary Home Kit support to the Tidbyt: Homebridge Plugin

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11

@rohan Any news here, especially with the Tidbyt 2 Kickstarter campaign? :crossed_fingers: (It’s rather odd to call out Google Home support explicitly, and plans for Home Assistant, but not mention Apple Home in particular or … Matter in general.)