For some of my IoT-devices:
What are the recommended way? Is there any difference?
Will the HomeKit-way of doing it mean HA can communicate with the device locally, even if internet is down? Or is the HomeKit-way of doing it exactly the same as ‘the other’, just easier to configure?
Yes it will. It is local push. The best type of IoT class.
However if the integrations have special services (beyond the simple platform services like turn on or off or toggle etc…) these will not be supported by Homekit.
For example, I have Lifx lights. These can connect with the Lifx or Homekit Connect integration.
The Lifx integration is local polling, the Homekit is local push (better). They both support the turn on, turn off and toggle services. However only the Lifx integration supports effects and the set state service that allows changing the light state when off.
So you have to look at each integration and weigh up if there are any special services they have that you require. If not then Local Push connection from the HomeKit integration is a better choice.
@tom_l I just purchased a Sensible Air and had similar questions, and found this post. Super helpful.
I was able to setup both integrations (cloud Sensible and thru HomeKit bridge) on HA just now for my ductless mini split (using the Sensible Air Pro).
Is there a downside of having both, will that cause problems?
My thought process was using the local control for most things thru HomeKit, to take advantage of the benefits you described, but then on the Sensibo integration it also shows when a Firmware update is available, and lets you controlled other things (like the swing of the ductless fan etc).
So I was going to maybe leave both setup, just want to confirm you don’t think that’ll cause issues.
Thanks.
Matt
If you do it sensibly, you can have both and not have problems. It will add complexity, but it also has the benefits you name.
If you are careless and mix controls and sensors from both integrations too much in automations, you may get into trouble. The cloud integration will usually fall behind and may not always know what the homekit integration did. Unless cloud caused it to begin with… So both integrations may seem to contradict one another. That may cause confusion or race conditions (where the order of execution might get mixed up causing unpredictable behavior).
So choose wisely what entities you use for what and when.
You could avoid that by disabling the duplicate entities in the Sensibo integration and only keeping the update sensor.
Not HomeKit, but I do something similar with my Yamaha audio receivers. The MusicCast integration has more audio controls but you can’t rename the sources, the Yamaha network receiver has less controls but you can rename sources. So I mix and match the required entities from both integrations, disabling the duplicates I don’t need.