HomeKit questions from a new user

Third party integrations
1

I recently started up Homekit as myself and the significant other both have iPhones.

I’ve used it a bit, and like it but have a few things I’m wondering about:

  1. How can I arm/disarm my alarm(it has a pin code)
  2. Is there any easy way to get remote access without buying additional hardware?
  3. My garage door is shown(or listed in homekit) as a blind even though I have the type of device class set as “garage door” IE: “siri close all the blinds” and she closes the garage door.

Thanks in advance for the help!

2

Bump. Any help appreciated.

3

Hey there!
Did you see this link? So you can use HomePod, Apple TV or iPad.
I use iPad like home center, seems to work ok. Sometimes ipad is not available, so it is not the best way to get remote access. Maybe it would be better with all time charge in.

4

Yes, I’m aware of the official ways to have a hub. I was wondering if there are any other products that can emulate this.

5

I guess I will be buying an apple TV so I can access it remotely from the home app. I’ll let everyone know how it goes. I still don’t have a resolution for arming the alarm. I suppose more research is needed for that.

UPDATE:
The alarm component needs to be specified(entity and passcode) in the homekit setup inside the configuration file. I overlooked this after setting it up initially in haste. A simple case of RTFM.