![]() ![]() There's a ready-made Homebridge image for the Pi that includes the software and a web-based UI, and that will easily fit on any 4GB-or-larger microSD card.Īfter flashing the Homebridge image and turning on the Pi, Homebridge will broadcast a Wi-Fi network that you connect to with a phone or computer. It used to be for game-console emulation, but since I replaced it with a Pi 4, it's been languishing in a closet. Homebridge relies on community-developed plugins for support, and you can find Homebridge plugins for Wiz bulbs, for Nest thermostats and smoke detectors, and even for giving commands to your HomeKit devices via Amazon Alexa.īecause I wanted something cheap and low-power that could just sit tucked in a corner turned on all the time, I elected to use an old Raspberry Pi 3 I already had. From there, HomeKit communicates with your bridge, and HomeBridge sends those commands to your non-HomeKit accessories in a language they can understand. By scanning a QR code, you can add your Homebridge device to your HomeKit setup as a hub, a lot like the hub that controls Hue lights. ![]() Homebridge is a nodeJS server that will run on just about anything, including the PC or Mac you already use, or on a Synology or QNAP NAS as a Docker container. But I wanted them to mesh with the Hue bulbs and other accessories I already have set up in HomeKit so I can control a mix of bulbs using the same commands, share access to those commands with other people I live with, and use the same interface to control everything rather than a patchwork of different apps. In a home that only used Wiz bulbs, these shortcuts are probably good enough-you can build individual shortcuts to control different groups of lights pretty much however you want. Wiz bulbs can be integrated into Google or Amazon Alexa-powered homes with no issues, but outside of the Wiz app itself, the bulbs rely on Siri Shortcuts for support on Apple devices. But for the intrepid DIY-er, there's a solution for this: Homebridge, lightweight server software that mediates connections between HomeKit and a wide range of not-officially-HomeKit-compatible smart accessories. Wiz bulbs are well-reviewed and cost $12 or $13 per multicolored bulb-the only thing they didn't do was integrate with HomeKit. I ended up settling on another Philips bulb brand, the completely different and incompatible Wiz lineup (Signify, a Philips spin-off that produces the Hue bulbs, purchased a company called WiZ Connected in 2019, which is the short explanation for why the same company sells two completely separate lines of smart bulbs). A company called meross makes an appealing HomeKit-compatible multicolor bulb for around $15, but middling customer reviews (and a dearth of professional reviews) made me hesitate. However, I didn't want to pay Hue prices, especially for the multicolor bulbs-a 60W equivalent white Hue bulb normally runs about $15, and a full-color bulb costs between $30 and $50 a pop. Since then, our smart home has grown in fits and starts, accruing different gadgets here and there and aiming for HomeKit compatibility when we can get it. (I assume lots of smart home setups are like this-stumbled into over time, made up of a patchwork of products that either came with the house or were all bought individually to fill some specific need, all strapped together after the fact by Google, Amazon, or Apple, depending on which of the tech giants has you captured most firmly in its tendrils at the time.)įast-forward five years, and I was ready to add smart lighting to more rooms in the house. These bulbs plus an Ecobee thermostat formed the foundation of a HomeKit setup, chosen because my wife and I are both iPhone users and we didn't own an Echo or any Google or Nest products at the time. Further Reading In living color: Ars reviews the hacker-approved Philips Hue LEDsĪs part of that project, I lit a couple of rooms with Philips Hue smartbulbs, which did a ton to popularize and simplify customizable LED lighting when they first came out back in 2012. ![]()
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