I’ve just ordered two of the SONOFF Hydro DUO dual-channel Zigbee water valve manifolds, even though I understand that they’re not officially supported by the SONOFF app yet.
Since these are quite new devices, I was wondering if anyone here has already tried integrating them with Homey Pro?
Product link for reference:
My main questions:
Were you able to pair them directly via Zigbee?
Are both channels exposed properly in Homey?
Any issues with stability or responsiveness?
Can they be used reliably in simple automation flows (e.g. irrigation schedules, leak shutoff)?
I’m hoping they behave as standard Zigbee devices and are fairly straightforward to use in flows—but would really appreciate any real-world feedback before I start installing.
StyraHem here — we develop the Sonoff (Zigbee) app for Homey.
The Hydro DUO is on our radar! We already support the single-channel SONOFF SWV water valve, so the dual-channel Hydro DUO (SWV-ZF2E/ZF2U) with flow metering is a natural next step. Since it’s a brand-new device we don’t own yet, we’ve set up a funding goal to cover the hardware + development:
If you’ve already received your two units, you’d help us enormously by sharing a full Zigbee interview from Homey Developer Tools ( Homey Developer Tools ) — including the clusters/attributes for each channel and the flow meter. That data lets us build proper support much faster.
A couple of answers to your questions in the meantime: a multi-channel device like this would be added as one Homey device exposing both channels (or, optionally, as separate devices per channel — we recently added that for the 2-gang DUO switch). Pairing stability and flow reliability we can only confirm once we have a unit to test.
We’ll keep an eye on this thread — and thanks for being an early adopter!
I just received my DUO. It works as standard Zigbee device. But I rather have it connected via the official app. Since it also have the option to read the temperature. Which is not possible as a standard zigbee device.
I would love to donate.
But 750 euro? Can you please explain to me how you go to that number. I’ve donated many developers on this forum. But the device is not that expensive and technically its a copy from the previous device based on the documentation.
Codex and I have created a working app for the Hydro Duo. If anyone can provide icons and images that can be legally used and redistributed, and that comply with Athom’s app submission guidelines, I can publish the app while we wait for the official app.
It seems to me that the developer is asking for donations, which is perfectly allowed according to the guidelines.
Also, the guidelines state that “Apps that require payment for partial or all functionality are not allowed”, which isn’t the case here. The developer is asking for donations to cover the hardware and development.
So what exactly is the issue here? Athom is paying third parties for app development too, aren’t they?
For Verified Developers, we don’t allow donations. These partners already have other commercial incentives in place, meaning the developer is either compensated directly or supported through other arrangements that fund the integration.
I don’t know the contract you have with @StyraHem_Sweden, but if they are in a situation where they don’t have access to this device, and/or are apparently not remunerated enough to buy and develop for it, it’ll be one of those devices that will take months (/years/forever) before it is supported by Homey, just like basically all the Aqara devices that have been put on market the last 4 years or so. Which also drives more people towards alternatives like Z2M, which supports this device.
That’s not the point. The point is that StyraHem removed the source code from their app and then afterwards started asking for donations. That just sounds strange to me, if they really couldn’t afford to buy the device (or get it for cheap from Sonoff because they’re appearantly a retailer of their products), then they could have just left the app open source (like it already was) and let others contribute the drivers. But now, the users don’t have a choice but to pay, since they know Athom doesn’t allow other apps for the same brand, and no other devs can add support either.
Also, I doubt it costs €750 to build. They use Claude Code (AI agent) to build the app, according to the recent GitHub Commits
A Claude Code subscription costs €17 per month annually or €20 per month monthly. The device costs €50 here in NL, but they can probably get it for cheaper since they’re a retailer (and a company, so no VAT applies there). It probably costs less than 5 minutes to write the prompt for the AI agent, and I think about 15 minutes to test (not sure though). That doesn’t even come close to €750.
Homey apps being required to be open source is something of the past that was killed by Athom because it didn’t fit their business plan, and you can’t blame other developers for keeping their apps closed and proprietary. I also don’t see why apps being “developed” by an LLM should somehow cost less than apps being developed by an actual person.
Sure, €750 is a lot of money, but it seems that everyone thinks app developers should do their work for free and pay for their own devices. It’s up to the users who want support for this device to consider if it’s worth it to them or not. App developers have to prioritise what they spend their time and money on, and I do understand that getting a sizeable donation to implement support for a particular device would be a very good incentive to increase priority.
I understand that some developers don’t want to start developing certain features until they are certain that it won’t cost them any money, which means asking for money up front instead of hoping that you get a donation after you’ve done all the work. I can’t remember the last time I got a donation for any of my apps, with about 20K installs in total.
That’s also why I didn’t port HomeKitty to the HP2023 until I was donated enough money to buy one myself, also because I don’t use Homey in my daily life and I’m not going to spend €400 for the “privilege” of making Homey users happy. Which is also why I don’t test any of my apps on Homey SHS, because I’m not going to pay for it out of my own pocket.
Of course, a developer can decide for themselves. But in this case, StyraHem could have done many other things instead of asking for donations from users. They’re an official developer (agency), so they could have reached out to Athom (as @Doekse mentioned), they could have contacted Sonoff (who they build the app for) to ask for devices or they could have kept the app open source so that other devs can add them. The timing also looks suspicious to me. The first donation link was first placed on May 21, the source was closed on May 24 and since then, many support requests got ignored or closed with the donation link. These 2 events being so close to eachother sound to me like this was the reason for removing the source, and they are trying to get as much money as possible because the users no longer have another choice (other devs can’t add the support anymore). Again, this is just how I see it.
I’m not saying all developers should work for free, I’m just saying that they don’t explain why they would need €750. What costs so much that you need that much money to add support for a device? They don’t mention that anywhere.
Also, they are an official developer, which are already compensated by Athom (or Sonoff) if they would have asked @Doekse for compensation.
It’s different for a community developer compared to an official developer. Official devs get paid by Athom, and the donate button is missing for official apps. That’s not without a reason.
Then you at least state what you need the money for. StyraHem doesn’t do that, they don’t show what each thing that they need to buy costs, and why they would need that much money to develop support for just a single device.
I don’t know how it works with Zigbee, but in my case I can add support for devices to my existing apps usually within 1-2 hours (icons and images are the hardest part, device is usually just new capability mappings for the existing cloud communication logic).
Yes, I build all my apps for free. No donation option/button, no fees and no begging for money from users.
I don’t see why any developer would need to justify their actions, like asking for a particular donation to add device support or for unpublishing the source of their app. It’s their code, they are free to do with it what they want.
I’m fairly sure that most official developers do not get paid anything, either by Athom or by the brand that they are developing for. They may get free devices to add support for, but that’s not a given either.
If an official developer has to ask for donations and/or devices (or device interviews), it sounds like something is broken at the “official developer” side of Homey app development. I doubt that this is a money grab of any kind, and there’s a reason why they’re asking for donations.
Because they thought they could get away with it or didn’t read through what they signed up for
Chancers or incompetent. Both aren’t great.
If they don’t feel their time is being compensated then that’s a discussion they should have with Athom, they shouldn’t be trying to get one past Athom by contravening the guidelines of their ‘contract’.
