HomeBridge

AutomationManager HomeBridge for HomeKit/Siri

The AM HomeBridge bridges your AM Manager devices to HomeKit & Siri on iOS.

It will bridge all of your AM devices including wemo, tp link, hue, and ESP8266 custom devices.

You need:

  1. A suitable iOS device supporting HomeKit

  2. A low end android device that will function as a hub/server (vs a proprietary manufacturer hub), Android 4.4 (Kitkat) or later.

  3. AM Manager running as an AM Server on the android device.

  4. AM HomeBridge running with AM Manager configured to map your AM Manager devices to HomeKit

Optionally add AutomationOnDrive for web browser access to your AM Server.

Optionally add DscServer for your DSC Panel with an envislink card.

Note: your partitions become SecuritySystem(s) on homekit. Touch the partition in the device mapping selector to set your security system PIN.

Link your HomeBridge (you can define multiple) with HomeKit in the usual manner, using the manual connection method. You will find the HomeBridge pin(s) under the "i" (info) menu as well as in the log window.

Once you have AutomationManager up and running as an AM Server (see AutomationManager HowTo) you will find your automation devices in the HomeBridge. Use the "edit" button to add/remove devices from the bridge.

How do I get a refund if I don't like the app?

If the purchase is recent you may still be able to request are refund through your google account.

There's no hurry, take your time to play with it and if you find it doesn't do what you need email me the transaction id from your Google Payments and I put through a request to google to process the refund. Use copy/paste, it's difficult to type that number and it must match exactly. Note that google does not provide me any other information regarding your purchase; they handle the entire transaction and license management.

Troubleshooting

Occasionally the HomeBridge will lose the connection to HomeKit

    • HomeBridge runs as a server similar to the AM Server; the tips you find there to keep the AM Server running on android are also necessary to HomeBridge.

    • Sometimes HomeKit will show the bridged devices to be offline when they are in fact connected. Changing the page on HomeKit (e.g. change between rooms, move from the main to the room view or back) will show the proper state.

    • The belkin homebridge causes stability problems in HomeKit. It's best to unpair and unplug your belkin HomeBridge and support all of your belkin devices through the MPP HomeBridge.

    • Setting "AirPlay Fairness" to on in your router can interfere with HomeKit's connections (which are long running and persistent). If you have stability problems try setting this to "off".

    • If you have a Belkin Wemo Link and Wemo LEDs there's a race condition that can prevent them from being seen in the HomeBridge the first time they're found by AM Manager. Force close and restart AM Manager (android settings->applications->manage applications->AutomationManager->force cose), then open the HomeBridge, you should be able to add them.

    • The latest HomeKit release has trouble if a device is removed from HomeBridge. At the time of writing the only workaround is to unpair and pair the HomeBridge instance again.

    • The final recover step should be to remove the bridge from homekit, unpair it in the HomeBridge menu, and re-pair with HomeKit.

    • iOS 11.4.1 has an issue where HomeKit periodically (every few hours) drops the connection to the HomeBridge and does not attempt to recover it. Recovery can be forced by disconnecting and reconnecting wifi, this causes HomeKit to rediscover and reconnect to the HomeBridge. This has been fixed in iOS 12.0.

    • Android will occasionally stop the HomeBridge service if this app is not excluded from all of the power saving / task management options. It may also stop HomeBridge if it's running low on resources (depending on the other running apps). Adding the HomeBridge widget (not the app shortcut!) to one of your home pages will allow android to restart the HomeBridge within 30 minutes in this case.

How do I get a refund if I don't like the app?

If the purchase is recent you may still be able to request are refund through your google account.

There's no hurry, take your time to play with it and if you find it doesn't do what you need email me the transaction id from your Google Payments and I will put through a request to google to process the refund. Use copy/paste, it's difficult to type that number and it must match exactly, there is no other way for me to find and refund your purchase. Google only allows me to see the transaction id; they handle the entire transaction.