@Bgman - I understand the “lack of communication” but I believe they should be working on it since this is basically a most for the Apple ecosystem users and I’m sure they want to have them happy 
We’ll see what happens…
apple commercial reasons are perhaps the main reason:
https://community.rachio.com/t/what-new-features-are-upcoming-for-spring/7017/16?u=sbarnhard
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Full disclosure: I’m not an Apple guy. However, I have a ton of home automation in my home and have the Rachio connected to Alexa, IFTTT & my alarm.com controller. I use IFTTT to skip watering my lawn on days that my landscaper comes out. I never use the Alexa or alarm.com integrations.
Once I had my system dialed in on Flex daily, I rarely run anything manually. The exception is if I’m servicing my irrigation system, at which time I’m not by my Alexa anyway, and running it from my phone is just as easy as from a smartwatch. Given that Rachio is a small company with limited resources and lots of great things to do, I’d rather have them working on cool new stuff that I would use more often.
I’m sure that there are others that might have other valid use cases, so please just consider these my 2 cents!
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I have not seen any communication from Rachio on this (for years), please don’t make the same mistake as other smart device makers by staying silent and not telling your user base and potential customers whether or not you are in fact working on HomeKit integration. I can give you a long list of companies that fumbled the ball by not letting their users know their development plans related HomeKit. The two that come to mind are the Chamberlain MyQ folks that actually had HomeKit compatibility listed on the original finished good packaging and had to ship a free secondary controller to customers to stop the threats of class actions and Arlo security camera who for years, like Rachio, have been silent on the topic. Arguably, security cameras have an increased need for integration with lights, locks, alarms and notifications, yet saying nothing has lost them a good amount of customers, including me (now on Logitech with HomeKit Compatibility and very happy). Don’t be another Arlo (Netgear) and say nothing. I had a Gen 1 and currently use a Gen 2, Gen 3 is not happening unless it is Homekit capable. If you want your customers to support your company, you need to work hard to support their needs and at least in this specific case, Rachio is not.
Why is this important to me? I would like my sprinklers to be enabled if there is a house fire (detected by HomeKit smoke alarm), I would like to have my sprinklers pause when my garage door opens and resume when it closes (to avoid the dreaded day after waxing unwanted car wash) and I would like to tell my Apple Watch to turn on zone “x” for 3 minutes without have to get my dirty hands allover my $1K iPhone X when making sprinkler repairs. On top of that, my wife, as much as I love her, would do more harm than good trying to use the Rachio App or the controls on the Gen 2. It would be much better for all involved if she could say "hey Siri…turn on “The Front Yard” schedule. I would also like to ask Siri, when my sprinklers will next run or tell Siri to delay my Rachio schedules for one day or several hours because my daughter wants to have a lemonade stand on the day it is planning to water. It would also be great to if my Rachio controller could pause when certain devices turned on, like Christmas lights in the yard (controlled by an outdoor smart switch) or when motion is detected by my aforementioned Logitech Security Camera in the same area I have actively running sprinkler zone.
I am not asking for a Homekit SW update this week or in the next 3 months even, I am just asking for whomever at Rachio that actually monitors these boards to say something non committal like “we are actively reviewing HomeKit integration with our Rachio Controllers” or “Our development team is aware that a large number of our users would like HomeKit integration with their Rachio Controllers and we are investigating if it reliably possible”. I mean, how hard is that? In this thing on?
I’m confused. I thought the reason for not announcing HomeKit support is the lack of irrigation function in HomeKit. However, I just saw a video review of the Elgato Eve Aqua and it’s shows the irrigation function in action and working with that product. Can someone explain why we still haven’t heard anything from Rachio? @franz … Bueller … Bueller …
A link to the video is below and the HomeKit integration starts at 3:22.
Orbit released too early too, as told here, but agreed I find Apple communication around IOT terrrible, whatever the reason, leaving customers clueless.
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But if you look at Apple’s Homekit Accessory page, sprinklers are still not listed as an official category. I agree that it’s confusing, considering they mentioned sprinkler support at WWDC 2017.
It may not be listed but it obviously is working as shown in the video.
Which means what? Apple enabled it for Elgato only? It’s only available in a developer beta? It’s still not publicly available, so why is everyone pressing the matter? It’s all speculation at this point. Why not just wait until there’s an official announcement?
I would assume from the video as well as the release of the product that it is publicly available and not a developer beta (though I could be wrong). I have no issue waiting. My only complaint is the radio silence from Rachio as to its intention to implement HomeKit when the profile is available and what products it intends to support. I don’t believe they are restricted from stating their intentions and clearly other companies have not hesitated in doing so. Communication is the key.
I don’t believe the product has actually been released. The videos that are available showing the Aqua are review units, it’s showing as not available on Amazon, and it was showing as shipping soon from their own website. Maybe the product is on hold because they released units into the world without Apple’s permission. I’m just speculating, but then, that’s all everyone here is doing.
I agree with Bgman. Although Rachio is not at fault for the misty politics of Apple (Rachio has been ready for it quite some time), it does help to know if any development is going on or if Rachio is waiting for Apple. Any dissappointment on expectations (rightful or not) that isn’t channeled provides feeding ground for switching buyer behavior. Most companies choose a strategy of do nothing. Great companies tell it (politely and tactful) as it is.
It’s been released…they’ve announced it’s shipping. Furthermore, today, El Gato announced they are going all in and only going to focus on HomeKit accessories. They have sold off their other lines and are changing their name to Eve Systems.
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You seem pretty clueless as to how Homekit actually handles functions like keeping your doors locks, alarms armed…baby.
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https://developer.apple.com/documentation/homekit/water_valves the code is out? also: Preview version new user system, Rachio cloud push and Lovelace goes wild:https://twitter.com/bmarks_dhgrafx/status/1015517400555454464?s=21
Actually, it seems like a lot of folks in this thread (which goes back to 2015) do… based on the number of “potential customers” that took the time to create a forum account here just to make their one post that basically says “I won’t buy a Rachio until it has Siri because I’m specifically interested in how HomeKit securely communicates between the devices”.
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Another month has passed and still not a peep as to what, if anything, is happening. @franz @mckynzee … anyone … anyone???
The eve device is now available to purchase from Apple …
apple hasn’t bought this company? (looking for answers 
)