Joshua Pressnell Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 I'm pleased to announce that the production version of the Varietas Software Homebridge Driver is ready for download and is now listed at HouseLogix here. A sincere thank you to all my beta testers and folks who have helped me test out support for various devices. The Homebridge Network Appliance is also ready for production. For anyone that wants to buy the ready-made device, please feel free to PM me. bdonohoe, msgreenf, VINCELdUB and 3 others 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msgreenf Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 Congrats! This is an exciting driver! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VINCELdUB Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 Ya! Joshua, I have a few clients already lining up for this. Thank you so much! Happy Automating! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshua Pressnell Posted February 22, 2017 Author Share Posted February 22, 2017 Just now, VINCELdUB said: Ya! Joshua, I have a few clients already lining up for this. Thank you so much! Happy Automating! We'll have to work out some kind of bulk-shipping plan for you. By the time I paid duties and taxes on the export, I actually lost money sending you yours. LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VINCELdUB Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 Wow sorry to hear that. Yes we will find a way. Happy Automating! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshua Pressnell Posted February 22, 2017 Author Share Posted February 22, 2017 Just now, VINCELdUB said: Wow sorry to hear that. Yes we will find a way. It's not a huge deal, and the difference wasn't too large. Plus, working with you to resolve some of those bugs made it all worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Leeds UK Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 Good Luck Josh Are you going to do a short Video to highlight its power !!! ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshua Pressnell Posted February 22, 2017 Author Share Posted February 22, 2017 2 minutes ago, Gary Leeds UK said: Good Luck Josh Are you going to do a short Video to highlight its power !!! ? Maybe at some point... I've got a lot of irons in the fire, and not a huge marketing budget. Plus it's unlikely that anybody wants to see my ugly mug on screen. Being a bit of a perfectionist, I'd really want to have something that looked and sounded good, rather than just me walking around the house saying "Hey Siri" at things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dew1551 Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 Josh, got mine updated today and it is working great. Very fast and easy to program. Very slick interface for my wife to use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddy.trochez Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 I need to give this a second shot. I'll update and report. Josh, are we (people who bought the beta) getting a full driver? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshua Pressnell Posted February 23, 2017 Author Share Posted February 23, 2017 2 minutes ago, eddy.trochez said: I need to give this a second shot. I'll update and report. Josh, are we (people who bought the beta) getting a full driver? Yep. That was part of the deal for helping me beta test. Wasn't sure if you'd sent yours along or not. I'll PM you in the morning. I'd recommend updating the appliance firmware to the latest version and then just click "save configuration" again. That will go through and auto-rename any duplicate devices you might have missed catching yourself, which has been the most common cause for the device not showing up in HomeKit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VINCELdUB Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 Just want to bump this. Joshua has created something awesome here. The appliance works like a dream. Plug and a few clicks and play. Happy Automating! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kidsat Posted February 26, 2017 Share Posted February 26, 2017 I am interested but don't really know what it will do. Basically I will be able to use Siri voice commands with my system? will I have to get my dealer out to install or can you do it remotely? how much does it cost? (It says to login for pricing and I am just an end user and don't have any real need to create an account on the Houselogix site) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VINCELdUB Posted February 26, 2017 Share Posted February 26, 2017 I am interested but don't really know what it will do. Basically I will be able to use Siri voice commands with my system? will I have to get my dealer out to install or can you do it remotely? how much does it cost? (It says to login for pricing and I am just an end user and don't have any real need to create an account on the Houselogix site) If you have an iPhone or iPad on iOS 10, take a look at "Home" app. This will allow you to control lighting and door locks and a few others via Siri. Very responsive. And intuitive. Voice commands and grammar learning as good as Siri is. Happy Automating! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshua Pressnell Posted February 26, 2017 Author Share Posted February 26, 2017 19 hours ago, VINCELdUB said: Just want to bump this. Joshua has created something awesome here. The appliance works like a dream. Plug and a few clicks and play. Thanks, Vince! For those of you who already have the appliance, I just updated to version 1.0.3. You can install it on the device by logging into the web portal and clicking the "Update" button. The new version supports changing any C4 "switch" (light, Clipsal, etc) to be a "Switch" in HomeKit instead of only allowing a "Light" or "Dimmer". This allows for some convenient creative programming for things you may not want to show up as "Lights" inside HomeKit (since they'll also get turned off if you say "Hey Siri, turn off all the lights"). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshua Pressnell Posted February 26, 2017 Author Share Posted February 26, 2017 11 hours ago, Kidsat said: I am interested but don't really know what it will do. Basically I will be able to use Siri voice commands with my system? will I have to get my dealer out to install or can you do it remotely? how much does it cost? (It says to login for pricing and I am just an end user and don't have any real need to create an account on the Houselogix site) My solution functions as a bridge between Apple's HomeKit ecosystem and Control4, making many of your Control4 devices accessible via HomeKit (lights, dimmers, fans, garage doors, door locks, security systems if they use the new proxy, custom programming, etc). I'll soon be adding blinds and thermostats as well. With the solution in-place, you can access your home via HomeKit and make use of all the HomeKit features, which include (if you have an iPad or Apple TV 4 at home) using the home hub feature to access your home from anywhere, without 4Sight, using HomeKit from the lock screen or control center, controlling your home via the Home app, configuring scenes that are accessible via force touch on the home app, triggering scenes when iOS detects you've arrived or left home (more reliable than other geo-location methods), and control of the home via Siri voice commands, including from an Apple Watch, iPhone, or Apple TV. With HomeKit, you can also configure notifications to your phone for most devices, so you can be notified when the security system is armed or alarms, or when the front door opens and closes. You can also configure "device groups" that can be controlled together by name. In my view, this feature is a must-have if you're an Apple-based household. Using Control4 is much more natural when you do it the way the operating system was designed to do it. My solution doesn't involve any remote cloud services, so controlling the system is generally about as responsive and fast as if you were using the Control4 app to do it. You will need *a* dealer to install the driver, but this can be done remotely. With my solution, there is no complex programming required, so the process of installing the driver for you should only take a couple of minutes and then you're done. From that point, everything can be managed by you without doing anything in Control4's setup. There are two parts to the system, the Control4 driver and the homebridge hardware. If you're technically minded, you can create your own homebridge setup. Homebridge and my control4 plugin for homebridge are open source, so it's *possible* to get that part of the setup completely free, but you need to know a fair bit about IT to be successful with that. I also provide a pre-built and pre-configured hardware device that's pretty much "plug and play". You plug it in, follow the instructions, and you'll be setup and working with HomeKit in just a few minutes. The driver is $175. The hardware device is $225, if you buy it from me ready-to-go. RobbieF 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaphod Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 Can you roll-your-own Homebridge hub using something like an Raspberry Pi? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msgreenf Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 4 minutes ago, zaphod said: Can you roll-your-own Homebridge hub using something like an Raspberry Pi? yes, josh detailed that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshua Pressnell Posted March 6, 2017 Author Share Posted March 6, 2017 6 minutes ago, zaphod said: Can you roll-your-own Homebridge hub using something like an Raspberry Pi? Absolutely. If you have the technical ability to do all the setup for your own Homebridge, the plugin I wrote for it (homebridge-control4) is freely available in NPM. If you're using an rPi and want to license my "network appliance" code, you may have access to my rPi OS image, and I charge $50 for a license for that. In any case, you'll need the C4 driver installed to make use of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaphod Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 Cool, I may try this when I get some bandwidth. I already use the Echo Dot driver and find that to be a huge enhancement to the system. I assume the image is for the Rpi 3? I have a couple of spare RPi3s sitting around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshua Pressnell Posted March 6, 2017 Author Share Posted March 6, 2017 2 minutes ago, zaphod said: Cool, I may try this when I get some bandwidth. I already use the Echo Dot driver and find that to be a huge enhancement to the system. I assume the image is for the Rpi 3? I have a couple of spare RPi3s sitting around. I have an image for the Pi Zero and Pi 3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaphod Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 Were you ever able to buy a Pi Zero - it seemed like vaporware to me as they were never available unless you wanted to pay $20 shipping? Hopefully they actually make a lot more of the Pi ZeroWs. The fact that a Pi ZeroW can cost $10 makes you wonder about how much you pay for some C4 devices which could be easily hacked together from a Pi Zero and a dollar or two worth of other hardware. Like the contact sensors/relays for example which are $150 or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshua Pressnell Posted March 6, 2017 Author Share Posted March 6, 2017 4 minutes ago, zaphod said: Were you ever able to buy a Pi Zero - it seemed like vaporware to me as they were never available unless you wanted to pay $20 shipping? Hopefully they actually make a lot more of the Pi ZeroWs. The fact that a Pi ZeroW can cost $10 makes you wonder about how much you pay for some C4 devices which could be easily hacked together from a Pi Zero and a dollar or two worth of other hardware. Like the contact sensors/relays for example which are $150 or so. Yes, I got a Pi 0, and I bought mine for $15 after shipping, IIRC. Of course, for my purposes, I also needed to add a USB network adapter, which cost another $20. Don't forget that C4 devices also use Zigbee, and also support high voltage (in most cases). You're not only paying for the hardware, you're also paying for UL certifications and all sorts of other costs that go into selling a consumer device. Yeah, C4 stuff can be a bit expensive, but I've never thought it wasn't worth the actual cost. I've built and shipped consumer hardware in one of my previous lives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegreatheed Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 I have purchased a Pi Zero from this site before - https://www.adafruit.com/ Reasonable prices and shipping costs. If they're actually in stock is another matter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveC4 Posted March 8, 2017 Share Posted March 8, 2017 I have an image for the Pi Zero and Pi 3. I've got an extra Pi 3 kicking around...is it possible to try out your driver? What does just the driver cost? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk dew1551 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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