Apple HomeKit Voice Service Driver Documentation
Driver download (missing snippet link)
Filename: control4_HomeKit.c4z
Supported Functionality
The Control4 HomeKit (Siri) integration allows the customer to use Siri to control devices within their Control4 system. The following categories of devices are supported by the HomeKit integration:
- Lights
- dimmable lights
- switched lights/loads - switched lights/loads will show up as a switch in Apple Home. The user can change them to display as: Fan | Light | Switch. This affects how they appear in Apple Home and the type of commands through Siri that they respond to.
- color lights
- tunable white lights - tunable white lights that also support color are displayed as color lights in Apple Home.
- Lighting Scenes - All lighting scenes are placed in a "Scenes" room in Apple Home. They are represented as switches and support both On and Off commands.
- Thermostats - Any driver that uses the Thermostat proxy will be available through the HomeKit integration.
- Blinds/Shades - Any driver that uses the Blind proxy will be available through the HomeKit integration.
- Fans - Any driver that uses the Fan proxy will be available through the HomeKit integration.
- Sensors - The HomeKit integration only supports standard Control4 sensor drivers (from the My Drivers folder in Composer Pro).
- Voice Scenes - Voice Scenes are added by the installer using the "New Scene Name" property on the Apple HomeKit Voice Service. These can then be used to define and trigger custom programming through Siri voice commands. Due to a limitation in the Apple HomeKit API, Voice Scenes only support the "On" command. They're automatically switched off (from the perspective of Apple Home) after execution. This contrasts with voice scenes in the Alexa and Google voice integrations which support both On and Off commands. For HomeKit Voice Scenes, we suggest that you use paired names like "Good Morning" and "Good Night" or similar to when it is necessary to provide on and off state customizations.
Limitations
- Control4's HomeKit (Siri) integration will only support integration with a single Apple Home for the Control4 project.
- Sorting of Control4 devices into Apple Home room(s) can only be accomplished using the Control4 X4 app for IOS. This is automatically done when the integration is initially configured. However, if you add additional devices to the project using Composer Pro, these will be placed into the default room (the room in which the Control4 Bridge was configured). The Control4 X4 App for IOS can be used to Sync the Apple Home with the Control4 Project rooms and get these newly added devices into the correct room.
- Not all Control4 devices are supported through this integration. To enable functionality on other device types or operations (like audio video control), you may use Voice Scenes and custom Control4 programming.
- This integration is capped at 135 Control4 devices available through Apple Home. The user can select which of their devices they want to make available using the Control4 X4 App for IOS.
Requirements
To use the Control4 HomeKit TV driver, you need:
- Control4 X4 OS 4.0.0 or later on an EA Series, CA-10 or Core series controller
- A Control4 Connect license
- HomeKit requires a "Home Hub" - we suggest an Apple TV, but if a user is not an Apple TV user, an Apple HomePod or HomePod mini can also be used
- An Apple device (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch), running a current version of iOS, with the Control4 X4 application for IOS to perform the HomeKit integration and Control4 setup. This must be the customer's device, logged into the customer's Apple ID, to ensure the AppleTV and Control4 system get attached to the correct account. NOTE: You must be on the same local network as the Apple TV or Apple Hub device and the Control4 controller when enabling HomeKit integration using the Control4 X4 App (as detailed below).
Additional Notes
- It is not necessary to use the Apple TV IP integration when configuring the Control4 HomeKit integration. However, most customers will probably make use of both.
- The customer can configure the Control4 HomeKit integration without access to the functionality of Composer Pro. However, the Control4 Installer must be involved in configuring the Apple TV and Halo Voice configuration.
Installation Process Overview
This section covers the high-level process for integration
- The customer must set up the Apple TV and/or HomePod device(s) within their Apple Home.
- For customers using the Apple TV IP control and Halo voice control, the Control4 Installer must add the Apple TV driver(s) to the project.
- The Customer's Control4 X4 App must then be used to enable the Control4 bridge and add it to the Apple Home
- Settings > Preferences > Apple TV Control > Enable
- Composer Pro is then used to link any Apple TV(s) to the correct driver(s) in the project
- The Customer's Control4 X4 App is then used to enable the HomeKit integration
- Settings > Smart Assistant Setup > Apple HomeKit > Connect
- This step automatically adds the "Apple HomeKit Voice Service" driver to the first room in the project. If the Apple Bridge hasn't been previously added, this will also be added at this time.
- On initial configuration, depending on the size of the Control4 project it can take a couple of minutes to create the bridge and synchronize the devices in the Control4 project with Apple Home.
- The customer's Control4 X4 App is then used to determine which Control4 devices are to be made available to HomeKit
- Settings > Smart Assistant Setup > Apple HomeKit > Available Devices
Driver Options
Driver Properties
- Log Level: The level at which the driver will log information
- Log Mode: Specifies where the log information can be found
- Driver Version: The version of the control4_HomeKit driver
- New Scene Name: Used to create voice scenes to which custom programming can be tied for execution from Siri voice commands
- Select Scene to Delete: Used to delete a voice scene
- Select Scene to Rename: Used to rename a voice scene
- New Name: Used to rename a voice scene