Status of Apple HomeKit Support

hkstatus · 1 Dec 2020, 17:22

Now that the Flic 2 and Updated Hubs are available, is there an update for when we can expect HomeKit support?

The Flic 2 product webpage currently lists HomeKit under the "Flic Hub LR" section—does this then mean that the update is imminent (or is it just misleading?)

Thanks!

hey.klodg · 17 Jan 2021, 00:23

@Emil There are 2 total mentions of the hub on that page. One is an tiny numeric annotation that takes you to the fine print of the bottom of the page. The second is a single bullet in a list of other items. In my opinion, it’s not prominent enough if the entire integration relies on it. I understand it is on your customer (me) to read it all in detail.

More set up explanation / troubleshooting would be helpful.

The set of Wemo switches that the hub can not find are the newer small model WSP080. I have several Insight switches and model F7C063 that all come up no issue.

Thanks.

Emil · 16 Jan 2021, 20:27

@hey-klodg In exactly what way should we improve our website? I think we mention it pretty clearly on https://flic.io/homekit (multiple times) that you need an Apple Home hub (apple tv, ipad, homepod etc.) to make Homekit work with Flic Hub LR.

About "setup parameters for the network", we don't have that much information since Apple has not told us anything about this. To us it's pretty much just magic how Apple talks internally between its own devices (for example iPhone to Apple TV). The only thing we know is that the Flic hub and the Apple TV must be on the same network, obviously. In your case, did you have the setup that your iPhone was on the same network as the Flic hub, but the Apple TV was on a separate network? Or was it that your 3rd party devices (lights or whatever that you wanted to control from Homekit) were on a separate network?

About Wemo, please let us know exactly which Wemo devices you have so we can investigate.

hey.klodg · 16 Jan 2021, 18:04

@Emil I did eventually get it to work so you got me there. Apologies for the initial post made out of total frustration.

Initially I couldn’t get the buttons to fire off a command though the HomeKit app was registering a click. It took me many hours to figure out that there was an AppleTV (which set as hub by default) not on the same WiFi network.

It would be helpful to have more detailed explanation or troubleshooting on the setup parameters for the network and Apple Hub. Please tell your marketing team it makes Flic look sketchy to sneakily slide in the line item about the need for the Homekit Hub. That should be WAY more explicit on the site.

Lastly, I would prefer to not mess with HomeKit at all, but newer Wemo switches aren’t found by the Flic Hub. Has Flic given up on this problem or is it being investigated? Seems like there are a lot of posts going back a couple years on this.

Thanks.

Emil · 15 Jan 2021, 01:51

@hey-klodg what do you mean? The Hub LR now supports HomeKit.

hey.klodg · 14 Jan 2021, 22:03

Bought the new version expecting HomeKit since my previous version is a total brick with Wemo. Can’t believe it isn’t available. Tricky marketing. Glad I have the box these are going back.

10 Dec 2020, 02:43

This post is deleted!

lokirha · 6 Dec 2020, 19:58

@Emil I backed this effort specifically to use my IR sensor with HK. I wanted to turn on my “dumb” systems with HK using the Flic Hub and IR blaster.

Now that HK is here, I have lost all of the functionality I paid for... it’s like a really bad dream come true.

Are you planning to address this in the future?

flow · 4 Dec 2020, 18:11

@Emil Thanks for your further explanation!

I really hope they will give in to your efforts. Feel free to quote me if they request reasons. I know one of their internal mantras is to make all customers happy… so this issue is probably a good one to remind them of their own "rules".

Emil · 3 Dec 2020, 17:21

@flow This is not really how we wanted to implement it in the first place, but it was a requirement from Apple to do it this way in order to get it certified. However, we are currently trying to convince them to allow us to remove this limitation in a future update.

That said, you can still use separate Flic buttons apart from the Homekit-enabled button to control normal Flic actions.

flow · 3 Dec 2020, 15:01

@Emil Thanks for clarifying this. One question though… did they ask you to implement it that way or did they force you to do so? Obviously they want the user to use their solution (home kit app) instead of yours, regardless wether it is beneficial to the user or not.

In my case it renders the homekit support totally useless. I got a configured working flic button that controls some Trådfri lights and a projector (IR remote). Now I was looking forward to the homekit support to include a smart plug that only supports homekit and as @davylondon mentioned, I wanted just to add Homekit devices to existing flic actions (inside the flic app). In my case said smart plug.

So, @Emil, is there a way that you can extend the homekit support in that way, that we actually can control homekit accessoires inside the flic app and also mix them with existing flic provided features (such as IR or all the other 3rd party implementations)?

Looking forward to a statement from your side!

Emil · 3 Dec 2020, 09:33

@davylondon No, the buttons themselves know nothing about Homekit. Everything is routed through the hub, just like any action. Currently if you have assigned Homekit to a button you can't have any other action added though - this is something that Apple wanted us to do since they thought that made things more logical for some reason.

davylondon · 3 Dec 2020, 01:59

@emil You guys did keep it exciting, waiting till December to pull the rabbit out of the hat. My sincere congratulations, it must be a big milestone achieved for the team.

Reading the instructions this morning, one worry starting niggling me, and @isolating just confirmed it.

Is it true that the homekit integration is an either/or choice, so either a flic gets HK options but none of Flic's current platform, or the other way around?

I had hoped that HK triggers would be added to the Flic platform and its current offering of options, but its indeed a homekit adaption, not integration.

If the Flic button gets adopted by HK, I assume it will be unlinked from the Flichub and become an ordinary (but cool) Bluetooth button, e.g. like Logitech's pop?

Does that mean you have to buy a Flic hub LR for a one-time adoption per flic and becomes obsolete?

leemorgan · 2 Dec 2020, 19:37

@isolating Thank you! That worked great!

jjh · 2 Dec 2020, 11:02

I’m keen to pair Flic with Home Assistant which needs a HomeKit pairing code. From what I can see the current Flic HomeKit implementation only works directly on your iPhone and with no visible pairing code. It would be great if we could expose the pairing code.

isolating · 2 Dec 2020, 10:03

@leemorgan Having just set it up the process is as follows:
You need iOS 13.3. or later on your apple device.
Using the flic app, select your HubLR and then select the flic that you want to add to HomeKit.
At the top of the options for that button should be a slider "Add to HomeKit", slide it ON
You get a warning that this will overwrite any exisiting actions for that button, so agree to that.
If this is the first time that you've added a button to HomeKit the app will then take you through process of adding your hub into the HomeKit ecosystem. As long as you Homekit account is the administrator for your setup this is just a matter of clicking 'yes' a few times.
Once this is done the flic app shows the button as being connected to HomeKit. You cannot add additional actions (i.e. Non-homekit ones) to the actions for each button as I can tell, nor can you have some actions being HomeKit and some non-Homekit :-(.
To set actions for the buttons you have to go into the HomeKit app and then select the flic. Don't try and go through automations, it doesn't work that way.
Once you've selected a flic then you can select a scene, shortcut or accessory to control for each type of action (click, double click or hold).
Hope that helps,
MJ

leemorgan · 2 Dec 2020, 06:51

How can I tell which Hub I have?
In the Flic app it shows Hub Firmware 3.0.2

Ah, I found it on the physical device...
I have a Flic HUB LR.

So I guess the question now, is how to I setup HomeKit for the Flic?

sessan · 2 Dec 2020, 06:26

@Emil ok. So I need a new hub And me who ordered 12 new buttons and no new hub on Friday...
(Been a long time customer, bought my first flics in jan 2016 and backed the hub in June 2017 so am a tid bit disappointed )

Emil · 2 Dec 2020, 00:46

@sessan we have only certified the second hub for Homekit

sessan · 1 Dec 2020, 22:52

Is the first hub unusable for HomeKit? Been a bit to early adopter of Flic so mine seems to be too old