Flic button integration success story

Hardware
1

I kick started the new Flic 2 buttons and also got a Hub

Finally got around to trying to set one up a couple of weeks ago.

Flic button -(Bluetooth LE)-> Flic Hub -(REST API Call)-> Home Assistant -(ZWave)-> Aoetec Smart Switch 6 -> Powering a decorative light

Have been very impressed with the responsiveness. I assumed there would be a slight delay, but it feels like pushing the button almost instantaneously activates the light. I’d guess less than 100ms. To the point that I keep randomly turning it on and off just to test it and try to catch waking from a sleep state or something.

Thought it was worth mentioning.

Other thoughts;

  • I assumed the Hub would need to be connected to my HA device and configured there. This is not the case. It just needs power and to live somewhere in your house (it can connect via wifi or ethernet).
  • It’s a shame the Hub doesn’t support PoE (this would have been useful for me)
  • It’s a shame the Hub actions can only be configured through a phone app. It would be great if it had it’s own web UI. This would also make me more comfortable in case Flic (the company) goes under in the future. I would still be able to use these on my internal network without needing any further Flic services.
  • Very clean unobtrusive hardware, fits well alongside my existing light switches etc. Easy to hide under things for hidden switches.
  • Three functions per button (single click, double click, long press) means you don’t actually need that many of them - especially using the Toggle API call for things. I have more buttons than I can think of things to use them for.
  • Alexa is great for triggering things when I don’t want to move, but having a button to press when walking by or when I’m chatting with guests is a nicer experience.
1 Like
2

I’m interested in buying the starter kit, can you give an example of the REST call? :slight_smile:

Did you create input booleans for every button?

3

Have you tried using it without the hub?

4

Haven’t used them without the hub. But for them to work that way they connect to your phone via Bluetooth, so you’d need to be home for the buttons to work…

5

I didn’t need to create input booleans for the buttons, since they are just making a toggle API call.
Here is an example of the Flic config of an “Internet Request”.

Configured as a POST request.

URL;
http://192.168.1.5:8123/api/services/switch/toggle

Headers;
Key; Authorization
Value; Bearer eyJ0…[long-lived access token from HA]…qp5k

Content Type;
application/json

Body;
{“entity_id”:“switch.aeon_labs_zw096_smart_switch_6_dining_lamp_switch”}

I should mention these are a bit of a pain in the butt to set up since you have to use the Flic app UI through your phone. I’ve put in a feature request for them to have the Hub as a webserver for config!

6

I have a few Flic Buttons here and I am using it with this https://github.com/pschmitt/home-assistant-addons flicd addon.
I need no Hub and no Phone, only the Bluetooth inside the Pi of my HassOS installation.

They are working fine in ca. 10m radius

1 Like
7

So this means no reliance on any Flic software?
This is good to know in case the Hub or App ever stopped working I’d have an alternative!

8

Yes, this is correct! To pair it with the Pi you have to press it a few seconds and then you have it inside Home Assistant to use it in automations. That‘s all.

1 Like
9

Resurrecting an old thread but I’m looking to purchase several of these flic2 buttons. I run hassio in a VM and it’s in a basement a long way from where the buttons would be deployed anyway.

Can I use my esp32s dotted around the house for Bluetooth pairing and therefore HA integration?

10

You need the flicd running on the device where you pair the buttons. I have a Pi Zero W for this in a central place in my house.
In Home Assistant I only have to add the IP of the Pi Zero W to let the buttons work.

binary_sensor:
  - platform: flic
    host: x.y.z.d
1 Like
11

Thank you so much for shering!
just made my sonoff switch to toggle on and off via HA with a press of my ‘flic 2’ button (no hub!)

just figured out that with an easy header change it can activate scenes and probably much more.

10X A LOT for this
i’ve been struggling with this for a while…

13

this means that we can also do this to have multiple z-wave instances right? get a pi0 and attach a z-wave usb, and create the sensor?

14

Hub SDK released. Maybe worth looking into?

3 Likes
15

How did you get your buttons to pair with HA. I can’t seem to find anyone who’s been able to.

16

Simply press them for more than seven seconds. That’s all!
I don’t know where I read this, but it was easy to find. :slight_smile:

Then you can go to the developer tools/events and start to listen to “flic_click”. When you press the button once, twice or hold it you will get different events. You will need the “button_name” for your automation.

Like for eg. ZigBee buttons you will not get any device, you have to create an automations which fires at flic_click like here:

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17

Thanks. That makes things a lot clearer. However. No matter how many times or how long I press, the buttons do not seem to pair because listening never gets a response.

18

You heared for flic_click? Not for flic_clic or something else?
Is it a Flic 1 or 2. I only have a few Flic 1.
This is my configuration.yaml:

binary_sensor:
  - platform: flic
    host: 192.168.178.111

I have the flicd running on another Pi. But that should make no difference. I don’t know if you can see the flicd.log. It should look like this (after Home Assistant is started):
cat /var/log/flicd.log

Available HCI devices found:

Trying hci0
Flic server is now up and running!
HCI socket busy, bringing down and then retrying
Successfully bound HCI socket
Initialization of Bluetooth controller done!
Accepted new client

If I click on a new button it flashes red. If I press it 7 seconds and the click it afterwards it doesn’t flash red, as it is connected.

Maybe your Bluetooth is not good, so the buttons don’t get it.

1 Like
19

They are flic 2, just got them. I get the same message in my log up to the part that says “Accepted new client.” They are working fine through Amazon Alexa but I really want to be able to run HA routines with them.
I appreciate your help.

20

I never get the last line that says, “Accepted new client”

21

That is not good. That message says that Home Assistant has the connection to flicd.

If you look here: Flic - Home Assistant
You have the documentation where also the automatic discovery is explained!