If you have decided to bet on Siri and HomeKit, we will tell you how to make many other non-certified devices work perfectly with Apple's voice assistant and its platform for the entire connected home theme. And all you'll need is a Raspberry Pi.
Siri, Alexa or Google Assistant?
When you start thinking about automating your home, about making it smart, the first thing you have to consider is which platform you're going to use . In other words, do you want to go with Amazon's Alexa, Google's Google Assistant, or are you more of a Siri and Apple HomeKit person?
Do not answer yet and think about it, because the decision you make today can mark the user experience in the future. And it is that although none of them is perfect, the truth is that some "catch" you more than others when it comes to being used with certain devices that are compatible or not.
Yes, surely you have already guessed it. Apple, with Siri and HomeKit, is the company that offers the home automation platform with more disadvantages than advantages for those who are not the exclusive user of its products. If not, if you and everyone who can live at home with you use the company's products, there are no problems. On the contrary, in that case it is true that HomeKit will provide a series of advantages that are very interesting and worth investing in.
However, the problem with opting for HomeKit and Siri isn't so much that you then need an iPhone, iPad, or Mac, or even an Apple TV to use as an accessory hub, or a HomePod mini to take advantage of Apple's voice control; the problem is that the number of devices certified for HomeKit isn't as large as those that support Alexa or Google Assistant.
Why is this a problem? Well, because the investment to achieve the same thing that you could achieve with Alexa or Assistant can be higher and, honestly, it is not that there is a big difference in terms of quality of the devices. So you have to find a solution so that you can automate your home with practically any type of smart device despite not having HomeKit certification.
homebridge to the rescue
Homebridge is an open-source project whose sole purpose is to enable the emulation of the HomeKit API. What does this mean? Well, basically, and in short, to avoid getting too technical about something that might not be crucial for many, it allows you to use other devices that aren't certified by Apple as compatible with its platform.
In other words, thanks to HomeBridge, you'll be able to add accessories from manufacturers that don't support Apple's smart home solution . This is interesting because it expands the number of products you can use to enhance your home automation with all kinds of sensors, lighting systems, and more.
What is the good thing about Homebridge, because you can install it on a Windows computer, a Mac or even on a Raspberry Pi among other devices. Thus, these will be in charge of bridging those other devices that you can then control through Siri or the Home application on your Apple devices.
Interesting? We think so, because you will be able to expand your ecosystem of connected devices as much as you want and at a lower cost than only acquiring those that are certified. And beware, the installation and use of this system is not complex at all. Although you do have to take into account some previous aspects.
Minimum requirements to use Homebridge
Using Homebridge is quite simple even if you don't know much about home automation, but before continuing you need to be clear about what you need to use it. So here are the minimum requirements you must meet :
- An Apple device with iOS 12 as the minimum version of the system, although you can also control the accessories from your Mac with the Home application that is also included
- An Apple TV, iPad, or HomePod to use remotely over an internet connection when you're not at home. These devices, especially the iPad, need to be at home to control the devices when you're away
- A computer where to install Homebridge. You can do this on a PC, Mac, Raspberry Pi and even on some NAS like Synology's
Why Homebridge on a Raspberry Pi
If the only thing you want is to test how Homebridge works and its possibilities, then you can install it on a PC or Mac. It can be on the computers that you normally use at home for your things. If it convinces you, our recommendation is that you install this solution on a different device and one of the most suitable is the Raspberry Pi.
First, because it's a very economical product if you don't already have one. And because it consumes very little power, ideal since you'll have it connected 24/7. So, these are the reasons why installing Homebridge on a Raspberry Pi is one of the best solutions. The other option would be a Synology NAS, but you might not have one, and buying one just for that purpose (even though they offer many more options) isn't always the most budget-friendly choice.
How to install Homebridge on a Raspberry Pi
Come on, we are already clear that we are going to install Homebridge on a Raspberry Pi. Now the question is, how do we do it? Well, the process is already in advance that it is not as complex as you can imagine, you only have to follow a few simple steps. The first of these is to get the Homebridge image to install on an SD card that you will then insert into the Raspberry Pi.
If you'd like, we can go step by step and give you some extra tips. Although you'll find everything in detail on the Homebridge GitHub website .
- Download Homebridge for Raspberry Pi
- Once on your hard drive, use an application like Etcher or similar to install the image on an SD or micro SD card depending on which one your Raspberry Pi uses. Ideally a Raspberry Pi 3 or higher is recommended
- Insert the SD card to the Raspberry Pi and turn it on
- Although you could use the Wi-Fi connection of the Raspberry Pi, the ideal is that if you can connect it by ethernet cable to the router. The when you could also use to power the board with one of the USB outputs that they usually have
- Once the system is started, if you used the ethernet connection, you will not have to do anything else. In case you have chosen WiFi, wait a couple of minutes and then from the device that you are going to use for the configuration, search in wireless networks for one called Homebridge Wi-Fi Setup
- Once you can connect to the Homebridge web interface, the configuration process begins. Of course, the access data are admin/admin for username and password. Write milestone://homebridge.local and you will access
- If you want to connect from an iOS or Android device, download the fing app
- Once you are inside, you will see that a QR code on screen in addition to a numbering at the bottom. These will be the data that will allow you to add the Raspberry Pi as an accessory to control other devices connected to HomeKit
- Open the Home app on your iOS or macOS device and tap on the + icon to add a new accessory
- Enter or scan the code to add it
- Done, you already have your Raspberry Pi with Homebridge connected to HomeKit and the Home app
As you can see, the process is not complex at all. Beyond installing the Homebridge image on a Raspberry Pi, it's a whole series of steps that anyone can take.
Installing and configuring Homebridge plugins
With Homebridge now running on the Raspberry Pi and associated with HomeKit, the next step is to start adding all those accessories that are compatible with the system but not with Apple's home automation solution. To do this, you'll need to install the appropriate plugin, just like you would with an Alexa skill .
This is where there may be some more complexity, but basically it is for those who want to do very extreme things or with very little popular devices. Being an open source project, most of the products that interest us the most allow configuration through a very visual interface that is not complicated at all.
So now you know, this is how you can start using any device that is not yet officially compatible with HomeKit and can be controlled through the Home App and Siri.