If you want folks to be willing to consider the product, making a hard push for the large brand names is crucial. Smartthings has their "works with Smartthings” all over commercial products… they are falling behind in many areas, but I can still get me locks to work with them, or even Hubitat?! Yale Z-wave and Zigbee locks have been around for a long time - they have great hardware and features, and are preferable to Wi-Fi for energy consumption, but are NOT supported by Homey. Emailed Yale, and their reply was clear that they don’t intend to support Z-wave or Zigbee locks… I’ve got WAY more money invested in locks in my home than in my Homey Pro, it makes no sense to keep (or buy) a product that doesn’t support my ecosystem. I’m not using an obscure brand or an old product! Love lots about Homey, but lack of compatibility is gonna make it a no-go for lots of folks.
Email reply from Yale today…
5:07 AM (3 hours ago)
to me
Hi,
Z-wave and zigbee locks are not supported. We only support WiFi. And we will not provide future for them in the near future. Sorry for the inconvenience
I will be closing this ticket, but if you’re in need of additional support in the future please do not hesitate to send us a new email!
Best regards,
Jarno Sweers
Yale has consistently supported interfaces only via its WiFi module (I use it to connect my Conexis L2 to Alexa and Homey without any difficulty). That’s Yale’s policy. The only thing I can see changing that policy is commercial pressure now there are so many other door locks that connect by a variety of methods. However, Yale continues to trade on its ‘name’ and market presence so, if it’s making money, I don’t think it’s likely to change.
Andy
I hear ya. Yale supports Zigbee and Z-Wave on Smartthing and Hubitat; so there’s that. Probably a money thing? Just a bummer.
I don’t think it does any more - as Yale’s email says. Yale replaced all the Z-Wave modules with a WiFi one for free recently as part of a big change in the way the devices are managed. The previous Yale app was a disaster (lots of reviewers said, in effect, “nice lock, shame about the app”). I found it worked only after several repeated attempts. The new app/module works reliably first time.
I believe there’s still some software around that interfaces with the old Z-Wave module, but that’s not supported by Yale, and does not provide the full function of the new one.
Andy
FWIW, you didn’t get an e-mail reply from Yale, you got an e-mail reply from the developer of the Yale app. They might be working together with Yale on this, or they might not (the “official” badge for Homey apps does not necessarily mean an app was created by, or together with, the brand).
So the answer you got might have been the response from the developer of the app and might not necessarily reflect the opinion of Yale.
I’m not sure if our locations are different but here in the US Yale still sells Z-Wave and Zigbee locks and modules new and still supports them. In fact, I just bought a brand new Yale lock and it interfaces perfectly with SmartThings over Z-Wave.
I agree. That is the response I got from the developer of the app. I guess it’s part of why I’m posting here as well along with emailing is to try and share that there’s interest in this being built out.
I’m in the UK and have the Conexis L2. According to yalehome.co.uk all the smart locks it sells connect via WiFi. I’m unsure of the commercial differences between the UK and US companies but, from what you say, they are divergent. I guess that’s why there are two Homey apps one specific to the US and Canada, and one for the rest of the world. I believe one significant difference is that most new front doors fitted here over the last decade, or so, use a standardised Euro Cylinder, meaning a Yale smart lock can be fitted to most doors without special tools or expertise.
