The Rachio looks great, it meets all my needs with one big exception, it doesn’t have native HomeKit Integration. iOS 9 improved the HomeKit echo system and I think Apple will continue to do so.
I’ll keep an eye on Rachio but without native HomeKit hardware and software support it’s a no go for me. Hopefully you guys will updated the hardware and software to fully support HomeKit in the near future.
Great product overall and your customer satisfaction proves you guys are doing a great job.
What advantage would HomeKit support provide? If HomeKit is so great, why has it been over a year since Apple announced HomeKit and yet there are pretty much zero HomeKit products out there (besides one smart lightbulb I think…)
For me its the enhance security. I had a zwave network that was hacked that allowed an intruder access my property. I will no longer use any protocol thats not secure that will have a significant vendor behind it to backup and provide timely support for issue.
I fully appreciate not everybody is a fan of HomeKit and thats absolutely fine but for me its currently the best protocol I am aware of that meets my particular needs.
Most vendors believe it or not are having issues with the security requirement implementation.
Hi I agree ETIrrigation that the core job of the Iro is applying water efficiently. But… As an iPhone user HomeKit is a must. I am going to hold off till spring to see if Rachio updates their hardware to allow for HomeKit connectivity if not then I will look for a controller that has HomeKit available. It is refreshing to see the co-founder is honest about where they are at. Give them some time and hopefully next spring I will install my HomeKit equipped Rachio Iro.
In summary, it’s still very early in the adoption curve for home kit and it hasn’t been easy or straightforward for companies like Rachio. They shouldn’t be criticized at this point for not having this technology.
Just for clarification on Home kit, you need a few items to make home kit work for wifi solutions. Wifi, MCU, and MFI.
MFI or Made For iPod is an authentication chip. Basically is a secure eeprom that is multi sourced from a couple manufacturers and can only be purchased through Arrow Electronics or Avnet. Companies need a MFI license to purchase.
Home Kit software code to run on your MCU.
Wifi: Any will work, Low power low band width work best for applications like this like a 1x1 bgn or AC is supposed to become the future standard. Most wifi solutions have a built in mcu to handle the tcp/ip stack and if there is enough memory you can run the home kit software directly on the wifi mcu. If not, you have to run the home kit software on a secondary mcu like your application processor.
There have been a few solutions that have been announced for home kit support, Qualcomm, Broadcomm, TI, and Marvell, but the devil is in the details of each of these solutions. Some have been recalled due to design changes, some have been delayed, etc. I expect the scenario will change dramatically for the better over the next 6 months.
I am trying to understand how I can use Rachio iro with various DIY controllers: HomeKit; VeraEdge; SmartThings. It appears none of these are currently integrated with Rachio iro. I also understand I could use a direct WiFi connection; but it is not clear to me if I will be able to remote access the Rachio iro through my phone.
We currently do not support these. I hope to support SmartThings for next watering season since it is just a cloud-to-cloud integration. HomeKit is hardware based so it will take delivering another generation of our product to support that.
We did some digging and figured out why our products are appearing to be Homekit compatible. It appears the redirect at the bottom of the HomeKit page takes you to Apple’s Home Automation product page, which the Iro is listed on.
However, once you’re on the Home Automation product page, you’ll need to enable the filter on the left column for “HomeKit Compatible” to only list HomeKit enabled products.
i dont think franz was giving you a dishonest answer. does homekit even support irrigation controllers? is that something they have thought of yet (apple)? i dont see any provisions for irrigation in the off the shelf homekit bridge that is floating around the opensource community. but i suspect it is not up to rachio at this point as franz would have provided something more concrete. he is pretty good at handling that type of information.
Yeah, it seems prudent for Rachio to not necessarily make the investment yet to support Homekit. While it looks good on a feature/integrations list, the actual utility of it is likely not very high at this point as most HomeKit device profiles are pretty anemic (so I hear from people in other forums who seem to know what they’re talking about)… so at this point it’s probably more of a marketing feature vs a must-have for the majority of customers.
Adding my vote for HomeKit integration. I just set mine up today and am impressed with the Amazon Echo and IFTTT integration. But HomeKit would be great, too. Keep up the great work here!
It’d be cool to have a single app for everything considering the new Home app in iOS 10 that will be coming out. As long as Rachio could do everything it can do in the stand alone app.
