[Info] Homey - Homey Bridge - Homey Pro Maximums / Limitations

Questions & Help
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Seeing a couple of questions and suggestions about combinations that are just not possible I want to clarify some of the limitations.

As from the Launch of the Homey Bridge 7th September 2021 Homey is a mobile “App” connecting a (Cloud) Service. The older Homey’s (Models Early 20xx) are re-branded as Homey Pro and Athom promised to treat them equal to the Homey Pro (with 2 Core CPU) regarding Firmware updates and service.

Difference in Apps from Athom App store
First of all, as this are most of the Questions!

  • Homey ( ‘Cloud’ With or Without Homey Bridge )
    – only support official apps from
    Verified Developers
    ( Community apps are not supported, in the appstore is displayed which apps will work on the bridge and what devices are available)
    image

  • Homey Pro (all white models)
    – will support ALL apps, from Athom, verified Developers and many Community apps.
    (unless Developer only published for ‘Cloud’)

Email/user
To use a Homey / the Service you need an Athom-account. Each Athom-account needs an unique email address.
Every person (user) should have an own Athom-account, you can share credentials but that’s not the purpose. (fe using presence)

Athom-account
Every Athom-account can have multiple Homey Pro’s (“unlimited”* as Owner or manager/user/guest)
Every Athom-account can create a maximum of ONE Homey (Cloud Service) with or without a Bridge as owner. You can be invited by Other Owners to their Homey with or without a Bridge .

Homey’s
A Homey or Homey Pro can have exactly ONE Owner and “unlimited”* users (family, defined as manager/user/guest)

Homey Bridge
A Homey (Cloud) can have a Maximum of One Homey Bridge
A Homey Pro ̶c̶a̶n̶’̶t̶ ̶h̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶a̶n̶ ̶H̶o̶m̶e̶y̶ ̶B̶r̶i̶d̶g̶e̶. (See reaction in AMA session on Youtube)

This is changed with Homey Pro (Model Early 2023) with Homey Bridge Satellite Mode
Only available for Homey Pro (Early 2023) in latest firmware’s, multiple Bridges are possible (nut defined, not yet tested :wink: )

Devices/App’s
A Homey (cloud) without Premium ** subscription is limited to 5 devices (Counting Tiles, not counting bridges!)
A Homey (cloud) can have unspecified Apps installed. (limit to be determined, ~ 40 App without devices was no Issue.)
A Homey Pro (Models Early 20xx 1 Core/512 MB RAM) can have ~15 - 20 Apps 2 Core/ 1GB RAM up to 40 Apps installed.
A Homey can have “virtual unlimited”* Devices from different Apps
Z-Wave has a hard limitation of 232 devices in a Mesh network, limits not tested in Homey
Zigbee has a hard limitation of ~65000 devices in a Mesh network but Athom advices not to grow beyond ~ 30-40 devices with enough routers The Community has reported up to ~ 70 - 80 with differences in success of stability on Homey Pro.

The Philips Hue App for Homey requires the Philips Hue Bridge. It is possible to use more than one bridge on Homey Pro (local) but maximum of one Hue Bridge in Homey (Cloud)

Flows/Folders
The number of Flows is unspcified.
The Community Reported a maximum number of 50 FlowFolders to organize your flows in Homey (cloud), this is confirmed but for Homey Pro (Local) no limit is found up till creating 132 FlowFolders.

Other
All Homey’s (both Cloud and Pro) are separate entities, a user can switch between them but Homey’s don’t native “know” of each other. (Webhooks, MQTTT or other connections are possible)

Switching from Homey’s can be done after logging in/starting the App

  • Go to More …
  • Click on the name of the Homey below your own name
  • See the Selection example below.

(As example my Homey Bridge and the one of a friend Homey (Cloud) beside multiple Pro’s I have Access to.)

image
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  • Screenshot Explicit edited and placed an OR between two “Cloud” Homeys as I am invited as user in one of a friend!

*Unlimited ~ Limit not specified or communicated but should not be an issue within normal usage for consumers. Limit not tested or reported by the community.
*virtual unlimited ~ Homey uses UUID’s for Zones, Folders, Devices. This should not be a limitation although performance could degrade at some point and probably CPU/storage and usability in the Mobile App would be the limitation.

Beta Period
Premium ** subscription is NOT yet available so during the Beta Period (duration not specified) everyone is using Homey Premium (unlimited # of devices). Athom will announce when subscription become available and the Beta Period is ending.

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Great work Dijker ,

That info would of taken some time to research and write up …

Your work does a lot to help this forum…

If I could send you a “real” beer over the internet i would … :beer::beer::beer:. :grin:

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maybe this will be handy also to mention:

  • Homey bridge will only support official apps, community apps are not supported, in the appstore is displayed which apps will work on the bridge
  • Homey pro (all white models) will support ALL apps, official and community apps.
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Will the Homey Bridge ever support community apps?
Or is this going to be a Homey Pro Exclusive feature?

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Depends on Athom but probably not, except maybe some community developers that wil pay the fee and more important accept that Athom will require many rules and guidelines to folow and don’t allow many complex options and require some sort of support.

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I can’t wait to get an invite code to get started.
That’s when I’m going to buy the homey bridge.

I have never bought a homey pro because of the price, but the bridge is reasonably priced.

I am currently using a raspberry Pi with Z-wave stick and as software domoticz server.
To make it work with google assist I have to use https://www.controlicz.com/
There are also subscription costs that are almost as much as those of homey bridge.

At least I assume that at the homey bridge I can just give my commands via google assistant.

Is it true that I can’t do anything with the latest bridge without an invitation code if I already buy it now?

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Yes. Homey is the product, Bridge is an accessory. No use for the accessory if you don’t have the product.

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Then I wonder who would buy a bridge.

Do you have any idea how long the waiting list on the inventory code is?
And wouldn’t it be user-friendly - for those who signed up - to show where they are somewhere on the waiting list.

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As mentioned in the Q and A, they won’t show such a list because even if you are the next on the list, it can still take several weeks (theoretically) until you get the code, all depends on the amount of bugs they find with the current amount of beta users.

The list during the Q and A was: in the 10 000s, this probably is still increasing big time.

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Hi Geurt, Athom has a support page for the bridge, I didn’t notice it before.
Maybe it is an idea to add it to the opening post of this topic?
https://support.athom.com/hc/en-us/sections/360005130280-Homey-Bridge

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I’m new to Homey. Signed up for the Homey Beta 7. Sep. and got the beta access 27. Sep. Also have bought the bridge and it’s up and running.

Very reduced access to my smart devices due to lack of apps (temporarily I hope). Running in parallel with the Homeseer HS4 which I am considering replacing with Homey if I find that it meets my needs.

Important or interesting for me is apps for:

  • Philips Hue (lights works, not sensors)
  • IKEA Wireless Gateway (not app for Homey beta yet, hope it will be fixed, otherwise it will be difficult/impossible to test while I use HS4)
  • Somfy TaHoma switch (new device that not many have integrated yet)
  • Yale Doorman L3 (no app available for L3)
  • Netatmo Weather Station (app works)
  • Miele@home (no app exists, do not know if it is possible either)

How can I most easily stay up to date on the development of apps for Homey beta? Cumbersome to search for one and one app to check if there is any update in relation to new functionality or that it now also works in Homey beta.

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That app will not be made available for the Bridge, because it uses a local network connection which the Bridge doesn’t support at all.

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Ok and thanks for the feedback. Then perhaps the only option, if I am going for Homey, is to acquire a Homey Pro. Do not like the design of it, think the bridge is much more stylish, but may not be placed visible in the living room.

Can probably google on it, but try here;

  • Is it the same monthly fee (ref. Homey Premium) on Pro, or is it that once you have bought it, you have access to everything without any extra fee?
  • Can any update of Homey Pro be expected soon, so I should wait to buy it?
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  1. All is free after purchasing the pro except for backup’s.
  2. Don’t think there is gonna be an update of hardware anytime soon but I don’t have any inside information.
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Then try something like this with a bridge!

image
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:+1: Thanks for the suggestion. Cool, but doubt if my wife agrees (low WAF).

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Well, that’s just a matter of changing wifes! :joy:

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Hey Geurt,

I was wondering,
Homey (cloud) without bridge > does it allow for f.i. the certified Aqara zigbee app to be installed?

Or is just a “you’ll need the bridge for this app” message shown?

Or can you just install it, regardless?

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The sphere will grow on you after awhile. When she see’s it in person she will find it’s not that bad.

I personally think it looks pretty good. Maybe some different colour choices or finishes would be nice. Maybe they could make some optional skins for it …. Hmmm (business idea)

The problem with the Bridge (and also the new Amazon echo’s) is you can’t see the LED ring as well as the ring is right at the base of the unit.

It’s great if your always standing up, but when your sitting down its not as viewable.

With the LED ring being higher up on the sphere you can see it no matter if your standing up or sitting down or where ever you are in the room. It’s always clearly visible. A very good functional design choice.

My Homey Pro sits on top of a tall Hi-Fi speaker. I would not be able to see the LED ring if I had a Bridge in the same position and I was sitting on my couch…

Some may say who cares about the LED ring. Other than looking pretty cool (in my opinion) once you’ve set up a door bell , security system , or you need to know the status of different modes , etc etc it can become very handy…

If any of my motion sensors trigger around the outside of my house it will glow red… for example …

I think she will eventually like it, but everyone has their own taste.

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it depends :wink:

The strange is: The Web interface and so also the More … - Apps - + to install apps it just installs.

But if you select Devices - + Install Devices - and type a brand or device you can select the App (fe Aqara or Fibaro ) Select the Device - Then you get the message “Homey Bridge Required” as below.

Screenshot_20210930-180240_Homey
Screenshot_20210930-180240_Homey1080×2220 142 KB

Screenshot_20210930-180322_Homey
Screenshot_20210930-180322_Homey1080×1122 77.2 KB

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