Homekit addition
-
Official comment
Yes we are working on HomeKit. The problem is that it is a really insane undertaking, which is why there are fewer devices on the market that work with HomeKit compared to other platforms.
We've had it working in our lab with HomeKit for a while now and it works quite well. We are just working through the process of how to finish the approval process and make it available :)
Comment actions -
Hi Vicky,
We actually just passed a major hurdle on our HomeKit development but there are still a lot more to go. Unfortunately we don't have a timeline because Apple cannot give us any feedback on how long each step (of which there are many) will take them to review. Apple has, without question, far more review steps and requirements associated with this process than any other integration we've done.
I can tell you it is my personal goal to keep pushing Apple and our team to get it done in time for Christmas and yes, it would be a firmware update. I kind of see it as my personal mission to make it a little gift to all our existing customers that use HomeKit :)
Shhhhhhh..... it's supposed to be a surprise :)
-
I saw that there is a new(ish) product on the market with HomeKit integration: https://9to5mac.com/2020/02/28/homekit-garage-door-opener/
I would *love* to see this happen for Tailwind. In addition to this reviewer, there are several people in my circles of friends that rank HomeKit integration as a high priority when shopping for smart devices.
This is all just a very roundabout way of me saying +1.
-
Thanks Brian. Yes we are working on it regularly but it is really, really slow going. I mean painfully slow. I've never seen anything like it in my entire career spanning decades. We knocked out Alexa, Google Home, Smart Things, and IFTTT COMBINED with significantly less effort, cost, and the total COMBINED development time of all of them is not even a blip on the radar compared to HomeKit.
-
Hi after researching smart openers the past few days - it’s easy to say the tailwind is the leader of the pack. I’m really keen to purchase to install over my Christmas break. But the last blocker for me hitting the checkout button is Homekit support.
Reading your forums it looks like your well on your way towards completing this challenge (who knew it would be so much harder - Thankyou for persevering).
If you could give me some level of confidence the support will be added inside the next few months & it won’t require additional hardware I’ll jump on the Tailwind. But if you feel like it’s still outside of the next 6-12 months I’ll just grab a HomeKit one so I don’t have to have an odd unit out in the house.
-
Hi Connor,
Thank you for your interest in Tailwind. It SHOULD be within the next 6 months, but I certainly cannot control what Apple does and I want to be upfront about that. Sometimes we have to wait quite a while for their responses / approvals. There is no plan for HomeKit to require additional hardware and it is planned on being a firmware update - so all our existing customers would get HomeKit.
-
That's disappointing. Based on your earlier posts, it seemed like it was something that was going to be ready by the end of this year. It's my fault for buying something based on future promises. Is there at least some kind of API available that we can use in the meantime? For a homebrige plugin or something?
-
I completely agree with you Rachid. Nobody is more disappointed about it than I am. I have actually recently hired another developer to move HomeKit along faster. Any time we have to stop and ask Apple a question, or wait for a stage review about something it causes long delays.
We have cloud based APIs being tested by a beta group now if you'd like to try those. We have an alpha version of local control firmware that will be released for beta testing in January.
-
Rachid,
Please email me at scottr@gotailwind.com
-
Beta testers at the moment. Please email me at scottr@gotailwind.com with whatever email address you used for your Tailwind administrator account and I can have the beta HomeKit firmware pushed to your device for you.
-
I received the beta two days ago. So far it is working excellent! I can see the door's status in Home, open and close it directly from there and, most importantly, now have Homekit automations for when we arrive and leave to open and close the door automatically. I understand but am not a fan of how Home adds security by asking you to confirm opening and closing the door each time but that was an easy enough workaround and now it's seamless.
-
The trick is to have the automation control a non-secure device and then trigger off of that. You can use switches or something else you have (I think you can also do this with pretend devices in Homebridge but I'm not experienced with that). So, in my case, I have extra Wemo switches I wasn't using. I have an automation for when somebody arrives to turn on a Wemo switch called "Garage Door Opener" (which then turns back off in a couple minutes to reset it for next time). Then I have an automation for when that switch turns on to trigger a garage door open. I have another automation for when somebody leaves to trigger another Wemo switch called "Garage Door Closer" (which also resets to off in a couple minutes). I have an automation when this switch is triggered to close the garage. Seems a little goofy but it's been working well.
-
Hi James,
Yes. Please email support@gotailwind.com and let us know what email address you used to log into the Tailwind app.
-
Loaded iOS 15 a couple days back. New privacy transparency features appear to have been added. The first couple of times after the update Siri asked me if I would approve the Tailwind request to access data share data with Tailwind after I asked her to close the garage door. That was a new one. I approved the request.
I love the Homekit integration. It has been working flawlessly. Automation works fine. Status shows correctly in the Home app? Siri open close commands and status request of open or close function perfectly. -
I was so excited to read the news that with iOS 15, I could integrate Tailwind into HomeKit, that I went ahead and installed it on my iPhone 12Pro. I’m at a complete loss as to how add my Tailwind accessory into HomeKit. When I scan the Setup Code, nothing happens. Please send advice as to how to accomplish this.
Thanks
-
Hi Mark. May I ask where you read this? You don't need iOS 15 to integrate Tailwind with HomeKit. I also don't know where you're seeing a HomeKit setup code. HomeKit setup codes are quite unique, and the Tailwind controller does not have one on it.
All that said, if you would like HomeKit it is available in beta right now. We can upgrade your Tailwind controller to the beta firmware and then you'll be able to add it right away. If you would like this to be done, please email support@gotailwind.com and request the beta firmware.
Please note we are getting a lot of requests for the beta firmware so it could take a few days before it gets updated.
-
It looks like HomeKit integration is now out of beta? I updated my new IQ3 Tailwind device to firmware v9.95, and I'm running the iOS Tailwind app v2.35. When I tap the gear icon from the My Devices screen, I see "Setup Code (For Apple HomeKit)". Using the Home app on my phone I was able to add the Tailwind device to my HomeKit setup by tapping the plus icon in the upper-left corner and selecting Add Accessory, then 'More Options...', selecting the Tailwind device, and then entering the six-digit setup code from the Tailwind app. Seems to be working great!
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
33 comments