Ask Me Anything

Ask Me Anything :speech_balloon:

On wednesday 15th, 19:00 CEST we’ll host an AMA (Ask Me Anything) livestream, where you can ask questions regarding Homey Bridge, Homey Pro and everything else Homey related.

Make sure to set a reminder on YouTube so you won’t miss it! :bell:

If you can’t make it, reply your question to this topic, and we’ll try to answer it during the livestream.

:leftwards_arrow_with_hook: Reply to this topic »
:clapper: Visit Livestream on YouTube »

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I think I have a couple of interesting questions:

With 21k views on the keynote and 1000s on the other videos how many invites have been requested for the beta of Homey and how many invites are in this first days send out to users?

You are using upviral.com for the waiting list, is my privacy respected if I share my unique link? And the privacy of users singing up using my link?
Can I see somewhere my spot in the waiting list?

Do the first buyers of a Homey Bridge get an invite with priority as communication was not clear for many buyers that the invitation was not directly available with the delivery of the bridge.

When comes Homey Premium available for purchase?
Is Homey Premium an in app only ( Android/ iOS) subscription or also as yearly subscription directly from Athom?

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And a couple from my split personality as a Moderator.

Does Athom expect the community to grow fast with the new products Homey and Homey Bridge?

Will there be separate channels on Slack for the Homey Bridge and Homey Pro appart from the now general Homey channel. ( and how about that in the different language channels? )

Will Athom communicate to all users of the first Generation Homey (1 core) that hey are now considered part of the Homey Pro line of products and what they can expect in support the upcoming firmware releases / years.

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One question so far, in the communication there is the Homey Pro, Bridge and Homey Cloud, what about the “standard Homey” the one that early adaptors bought?

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There are not many apps available to install on the homey bridge. Does this depends on the developer (they have to pay for it right?) or because of the current beta status? Also no good communication about this on the webiste or in the keynote. For example the apps eufy security, arlo, tado, buienrader etc etc etc. In the app store you see all apps and not the apps you can only install on the bridge, very confusing.
So for now not an usable device for me. In guess I should have bought the Homey Pro instead.

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These ar my current questions (Homey Bridge):

Q1: Where is a release date list ? (so I know how long I have to wait before Broadsoft will be supported)

Q2: I have an explination mark behind a Flow…but no popup, no message…can not see any kind of error description

Q3: where is a specification list? I need to know how many Zigbee bulps I can connect, or how many 433,92 devices. I want to remove my Hue Bridge…but only if i’m 100% sure the Homey Bridge can handle my amount of bulbs

Q4: why is learning an IR-code still allowed…even a cheap Broadlink RM4 Mini can do this!

Q5: why is learning 443,92 Mhz code still not allowed…even a cheap Broadlink RM4 Pro can do this! (I still have some Conrad remote controles)

Q6: is there a manual or Best-Practise’ how to make Flow: FADE IN with bulps (just like it is possible Philips Hue) ? (Zigbee)

Kind regards
New Homey User

Hi Emile, thanks for the Q & A possibility.

Q1.
Why is WiFi kind of summed up as one of the 6 wireless protocols, while it’s only used & usable for the internet connection?

From reading here and FB, many customers don’t get why the bridge can’t or won’t deal with local (wifi) IP devices.
Initially I also thought the table below was misprinted somehow :hugs:

Q2.
Why isn’t an ethernet connector onboard too, while it’s rather crucial to have a good network connection? Even a Tuya zigbee bridge has one😉
Now your product becomes as good or bad as the local wifi performance.

Q3.
Edit2 - The IR dbase did come available with firmware v7.2.0! Thanks!

Edit - Replied: the IR dbase will become available for the Pro in future updates
Why does the bridge has a way bigger Infrared devices library than the Homey Pro? It would be great if that library somehow could be made available for the Pro too :grin:.
The onboard IR was one of the main reasons to buy a Pro, but it’s only working for a few tv sets…

Thanks in advance,
Peter

My Non-Pro is called Pro now:partying_face: :white_check_mark:

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Hi, zal er nog verdere ondersteuning voor ELRO Connects toegevoegd worden? Kan nu mijn ELRO rookmelders niet koppelen met Homey aangezien de app deze niet ondersteund.

Hi,

I have a question about the MilIght app, it was such a great app but it needs to get support for the Miboxer controller they have right now. Its been 2 years.

image

Can you please put this on the “todo list” :stuck_out_tongue:

Thanks!

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This AMA is a great initiative!

Q1: Can we have these more often? Especially since Athom is considered rather unresponsive to certain topics and developments by a lot of community members…

Q2: Though the Homey Web App had been developed, Homey still lacks a real good dashboard, which drives a lot of users towards Home Assistant or NodeRed. What are Athoms plans in providing a real functional dashboard to control your home from?

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Hi… Athom

I just have a quick question regarding Apple HomeKit connectivity and support.

After all these years Homey Pro still doesn’t have “offical” support for HomeKit, like what Google Home and Amazon do…

Its still buried in the experiment section. There is a 3rd party HomeKit app but it’s not supported by the developer anymore and (like the Athom experimental version) hasn’t had any updates for years. Both seem to be abandonware.

Does Athom intend to update Homekit support and also make it a proper “offical” feature in Homey Pro.?

For a lot of potential buyers having connectivity to their mobile devices and smart speakers is a big decider for them. This can greatly influence wether they buy a Homey Pro or not. In all of your marketing material (YouTube etc etc) you only ever mention Google and Alexa support. Most viewers will assume that Homey doesn’t have HomeKit support as it’s never mentioned in any of your videos.

Athom must be losing a lot of potential sales from this, especially in the American market. There are literally millions and millions of IOS users out there. It has a huge user base.

It would be great to know that HomeKit support is always going to be up to date and work smoothly and correctly…

Thanks Russ.

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Is there any plan to implement EnOcean?

I posted these on slack the other day - but for others -

  • i’ve always wondered about the choice between USBC vs Micro USB, is it a cost thing and if so - is it significant.
  • Are there plans for an upgrade discount program for people who decide to switch from bridge → pro
  • Whats the purpose of the $99 developer fee, its a pretty big investment for any company to invest a developer(s) to create an offical app so what is the purpose of charging (a company like Signify / Apple / Aoetc ) $99, what does this allow Athom to now do which you would not be able to do otherwise?
  • While you do not comment on ‘timeframes’ would you be willing to comment on the roll out roadmap sequence. (EU beta → EU → US beta → AU → US ) etc?
  • What is the marketing name for the “non Pro” (aka v1) Homey Pro? To differentiate it from the Homey Pro … Pro.
  • On the support page there is direction on how to add a bridge to an app which already has a PRO. How will these two devices work together (or not) in the same app?
  • Can a community developer pay the $99 in order to get a (driver) app (using offical api etc) certified for use on the bridge?
  • Now that there is a more ‘accessible’ version of Homey, which is … locked down pretty hard. Do you see this allowing the Pro Homey to be opened up ‘more’ (ie. app brand restrictions have been loosen already) and if what areas could you see this affecting?
  • The bridge (to me) has a pretty good build quality, it feels more solid then the Pro. What improvements have you ‘invested in’ and why on a ‘cheaper’ device?
  • I turned the device upside down but nothing happened … Was removing that sensor a cost choice or a UX choice?

If there was a single question I could have answered it would be : On the support page there is direction on how to add a bridge to an app which already has a PRO. How will these two devices work together (or not) in the same app?

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Thanks for this great initiative. Sorry for being the pain in the ass, @Emile and Alex Just triggering! :slight_smile: Big Homey fan here.

Would definately change thoughts with you about a dashboard functionality. How’s your coffee? :coffee::stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

You were heard, Henk. And you’re famous now :beers::wink:
And I get my IR base for the Pro [Soon] :upside_down_face:
Very nice!

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Did they answer this question in the live stream?

You can still watch it Homey Ask Me Anything - YouTube

I’d like to know if we’ll see a Homey Pro refresh that looks like the Bridge. Either circular, or more like Mac Mini Space Grey.

Would also be nice with wired LAN and no Wifi, let Zigbee be the only 2.4 device.

Maybe also a USB port that can be used with a power brick, as a UPS.

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All your questions where answered in the session.

Awesome, will watch it tonight.
Thanks!