Hi everyone,
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.
If you’re interested in testing, you can find the beta version here: https://homey.app/a/codes.lucasvdh.homeconnect/test/
