I am sorry to say, while I’m sure they will get this issue fixed at some point probably even soon, and while I know Rachio does have the best rated AI, I finally gave up waiting for impatience. I purchased a RainMachine Touch HD 12, and found a home for my Rachio with my son as a gift.
For anyone else who just can’t wait, besides HomeKit integration I found the device itself is built very well, and was easiest HomeKit device I have ever setup from start to finish. It also has a few nice features, like a web based interface which I was surprised about and actually find to be very well laid out.
And it works with Siri and my Apple watch when I went to fire up the system for the year, which was really nice.
Agreed Alex, I have moved past thinking this is a band frequency or router issue. It’s a HomeKit/Rachio issue and it is up to Franz & his team to sort out. It just blows me away that mine is so rock solid. I wish I could wave a wand and fix everyone’s.
It has become sort of a habit to check this thread a couple times day (even though mine isn’t broke) just to see if there is any progress or if I can possibly help someone
Another data point, although I don’t know how relevant: My IKEA Trådfri gateway breaks HomeKit integration about every two days for a few hours. I can either power-cycle it or wait, until it comes back.
I have looked at it and as you point out the weather intelligence is what keeps me with Rachio - it just works as expected. Also, the ratings on the RainMachine app in the App Store are concerning when compared to Rachio.
Thanks for posting these different HomeKit options. I’m giving Rachio through this sprinkling season to get HomeKit sorted out. If it’s not fixed by mid-season, I’ll be planning on jumping ship and getting either the RainMachine or the Yardian. I’m sure I can offload the Rachio pretty quickly locally so I should be able to make some of the money back. I, like others, purchased the Rachio controller for not only the smart cycles but VERY much so for the HomeKit integration. And, I’m also in full agreement that the HomeKit issue is NOT related to wireless router issues or whatever. It’s purely a software issue on their end. I’ve had IPV6 turned off this entire time and I still have issues with HomeKit completely getting borked the second my phone leaves the home network. Also, it’s a bummer because out of the box when I originally bought the unit I have, HomeKit was flawless. Then an Apple HomeKit update came out. Yes, other HomeKit devices had issues shortly after that update but they got them fixed quickly. Rachio never recovered. Really hoping they’re in the homestretch at this point.
I haven’t been able to add my device to HomeKit at all since I received the beta firmware. I’ve reset the WiFi, reset the controller, I guess the next step is to remove it from my account and start fresh to see if that works.
I don’t know if I’m happy or sad to report that I lost connection to my Rachio after losing our Internet with storms for an entire day in North Texas. This is what worked for me:
I removed the Rachio from Homekit… When attempting to add Rachio and “nothing shows up” up enter code manually… Do that, then wait a minute or so (as gear turns) and click on nothing shows up AGAIN, add code and see if the Rachio shows up on the second attempt WITHOUT starting over. In other words, add had the code twice during the first attempt. Voodoo I know but worked for me
I’ve also seen that happen when adding my back in.
Sometimes it adds right back in and other times I have to keep on trying different ways until it finally adds back in.
Mine was offline this morning but putting my iPhone in airplane mode, force quitting the Home app, taking my iPhone out of airplane mode, reopening the Home app and watching everything updates put it back online.
It’s absolutely insane that losing power would require you to go through all that. I’ve never had to do that with any of my homekit accessories after power outages, network re-sets, not even when i switched from Google Wifi to Eero . I’m starting to think that Rachio 3’s hardware was simply not intended to work with HomeKit and may never do.
Just upgraded my Rachio 2 to a Rachio 3, primarily for HomeKit functionality. I can add the controller to HomeKit, but it immediately appears with ‘No Response’ in the Home app. I’ve tried adding it multiple times, with the same result.
My router has IPv6 turned off. Any other tips/tricks?
The Rachio is an amazing irrigation controller but if you bought it primarily for HomeKit and are within your return window I would return it.
The folks Rachio are working on a fix but this has been going on for nearly 2 years. We remain hopeful but you never know. It may end up that it’s hardware related.
