I’ve been using the official Bosch/Siemens Home Connect app for a while, but unfortunately I’ve often found it unreliable. Since all drivers are marked as “cloud”, I assumed the app communicates with devices via Bosch/Siemens servers.
Out of curiosity, I started looking into the actual protocol these devices use. To my surprise, there appears to be a local communication protocol over WebSocket.
Some very smart people have already reverse-engineered much of the local protocol, and I’ve managed to confirm that it works. Authentication is a bit tricky, because the Home Connect app actually uses decent security practices. However, there is a workaround that makes it possible to use this locally with Homey. At the moment, it requires copying a redirect link during the authorization process using Chrome’s network inspection tools.
The authorization process is only needed once. During this step, the app retrieves all devices and their corresponding keys required to communicate with them locally. After authorization, no internet connection is needed anymore and all communication happens over the local protocol.
Since I only own a Bosch/Siemens oven and dishwasher, I’m looking for people with other types of Home Connect devices who would like to help test this new app before I release it.
My current version has been running smoothly for about a week now. The devices have stayed available the entire time, with no more day/week-long gaps in updates like I regularly experienced with the official app.
If anyone from Homey or Bosch/Siemens happens to read this: I’d be very happy to help or provide feedback on how the official app could be improved. If there’s no interest in that, I’ll release this as a community app instead.
Hi! I’d be happy to help test the new local Home Connect app.
I have a Bosch/Siemens dishwasher, washing machine, and dryer connected to Home Connect (Cloud), so I can test several appliance types and provide feedback if useful.
Let me know what information you need from me or how I can get started.
I have Siemens combi-microwave, steam oven, induction stove, dishwasher and a washing machine (the latter is quite old and I feel is not as stable in connection compared to the others)
Hello @lucasvdh, happy to support on testing. I have multiple appliances from Siemens. Fridge, oven, cooktop, hood, coffee machine, dishwasher, washer, dryer. Let me know
Or you can follow the instructions in the app settings.
The app generates a login link for you. After logging in with SingleKey ID, your browser will try to open a hcauth://auth/prod?code=… redirect link.
Because hcauth:// is a custom protocol and there is no handler installed on your PC, the browser will usually show an error or warning page instead of opening anything. That is expected. You then need to copy the full hcauth:// redirect URL and paste it back into the app.
Small note: I personally had to use Chrome for this, because Firefox did not show the hcauth:// redirect properly in the network tab.
The authorization only has to be done once. After that, the app stores the discovered appliance data locally and communicates with the devices over the local protocol.
For now I’ve only had time to write the drivers for dishwashers and ovens, so those are the first devices you can test. Support for more appliance types is coming. If you have other Home Connect devices and are willing to help test them, let me know which ones you have so I can start with the most common device types.
Just a quick update: I managed to get the JSON file using the profile downloader and imported it into Homey successfully.
My Bosch dishwasher has been added and it works, so that part is solved. Thanks a lot!
However, I could not add my tumble dryer. I assume dryers are not supported yet, because in the app I only see Dishwasher and Oven as available device types when trying to add a device.
Would it be possible to add support for tumble dryers in a future version?
So far I was able to add my dishwasher and 2 ovens (combi microwave and steam oven). But they have the status “Device Unavailable. Appliance is unreachable on the local network.”
And already a suggestion: for the Status Indicator I would like to sleect “Remaining time” as an option
Also i was not able to use the login method (i’m on a chromebook) maybe that had to do something with the issue.. I used the tool method.
In the instructions would be good to mention you need to follow the hcpy method
