Switched over to Homey Pro, and back again

Social
1

Well, I finally made the switch over to Homey Pro after using HA for the past year I think. I always wanted to try Homey for the Flows functionality and I gotta say, it is pretty awesome.

First, let me say that I don’t hate HA. It is VERY functional and flexible. I absolutely loved the ability to just ask ChatGPT to write an automation for me and it would write the entire automation in YAML, I would paste it in to HA and it worked. Not sure I ever wrote an automation myself and I had maybe 80+ automations… some were VERY complex that involved things like If the shade is open and you open the window, fully open the shade and announce to speaker but if the weather is bad, etc. etc. or if you open the window and the AC is on, turn the AC off, etc.

The things that bothered me the most about HA is all the updates coming in all the time and the interface… HATE the interface. I know it can be customized with a floor plan, etc. and I did have a 3D floor plan but I still hated the interface. I also didn’t like that I had to pay monthly for remote access. Other than that stuff, I really like HA.

Homey Pro is very expensive… like paying 5 yrs of remote access upfront but I found it online being sold for 1/2 the price and brand new from a private seller… I couldn’t resist.

The Homey Pro interface w/Flows and the iPhone app are second to none. Very nicely done, updates happen without even knowing it, scripting is available if you really want or need it. The level of customization is THERE if you want but I have to say, not quite as well as HA. The community is there and it’s the same as here. Some integrations don’t work well and others(most) work great. ie; UniFi Protect doesn’t work well in Homey but works in HA, in HA, Alexa does not work well, etc.

In the end, same sh#t but different pile, only Homey has a nice shine to it. If you find one 1/2 off, DO IT but don’t throw away HA, it’s pretty good. I know you could use both at the same time but WHY would you really. The platforms are both very powerful and do the same thing only one looks nicer and is easier to use.

PS: LG bought Homey so…

That’s my two cents on the topic.

2

Eh…? What…? This is a joke, right?

1 Like
3

Nope. I used ChatGPT to write every one of my automations.

image
image599×755 97.9 KB

You can provide the entity ID, ask it to change something, tweak, make it as complicated as you like; it is very knowledgable about YAML and HA. If your automation is super complicated, it may suggest boolean value setup, separate automations, etc. and will walk you thru the entire setup. If there is an issue, it will walk you thru MANY troubleshooting steps.

One time I even pasted my entire automations.yaml file in there and it went thru, cleaned it all up, caught some errors, made suggestions for more efficiency, etc. - best thing EVER.

1 Like
4

and now you need to pay monthly for backups. same sh#t, different day -

exept then that you cant improve the hardware interfaces of Homey - and they suck balls. the zigbee stack especially is a pain in the buttt - it keeps forgetting devices that you then have te delete, your flow is corrupted, then re-learn, repair your flow, etc etc.

i’m switching over to HA - and i’m looking forward to smash my homey under my car.

1 Like
5

And what’s the point posting this in the HA forum?!?

6

That post was back in Sept. I have just finished switching back to HA!
The reason is, the coding flexibility to write automations in Java was horrible. HA and YAML are much better. There were some other things as well. HA is much more flexible. I did enjoy the Flows and the interface, but in the end, I needed more flexibility.

1 Like
7

Because it’s interesting to compare platforms!

8

Sorry, my response should have been addressed to OP.

I do believe, and understand, that there is a market for the likes of the proprietary home automation platforms, even with a cost to own them and/or cloud dependency.

OTOH: if you want to have full control and not be subject to all aforementioned characteristics, are smart enough to do you own setup/config, want freedom with a system that is being developed at a certain pace with bleeding edge possibilities and can tie everything together… there is only 1 option! :wink:

9

Just install Node Red for flows in HA. I do not have hardly any Automations in HA, all handled in Node Red.

10

I like to dabble in home automation, have the latest, greatest, and worst hubs. I always look forward to getting my hands on new stuff, migrating everything over, and then maybe back again, as was the case here.

I really did like playing with Flows and was aware that Node-RED was available, but in the end, I prefer to look at the YAML code.

Honestly, the best thing about HA and YAML is asking ChatGPT to write me an automation, then cut/paste… it gets it right every time… maybe with a few tweaks, but in the end, I just ask, and it writes it out. Even complicated automations with separate helpers automations, variables, and input boolean switches, etc. - fun to play with.

I’ve been playing with the same approach, only using Gemini, but it isn’t going well. ChatGPT is best. My favorite two automations are:

HA sends a prompt to my phone/watch just before lunch asking if I will be eating in the living room. If I respond yes, it lowers the shades there by my chair and at 1:15 p.m. when I am likely back at work, opens the shades back to the previous setting. If I don’t respond, it does nothing.

The other favorite is, if the AC is on and the window(s) are open, the shades for those windows open to 100% to prevent wind damage or dust on them. If you close the window, then the shade returns to the previous setting. Essentially, the automation won’t let you have the shades closed to any level if the window is open. Also, you can’t have the AC running with the windows open either. Other factors are/were time of day, raining, etc. It is a very complicated automation(s) and was all devised by ChatGPT simply by explaining what I wanted and introducing different scenarios.

Anyway, all good and fun little hobby.

2 Likes
11

Just shootin’ the s##t man :slight_smile:

12

ehhh Athom Homey is not propriatary (but has a lot of “apps” for different manufacturers) and according to the brochure everything is on premisis (wich in reality proves to be like 95% on premisis but oh that 5%…) . So your first two arguments are void.
The user interface is a lot more user friendly then the mayhem chaos of Home Assistant.

The reason I migrated was their Zigbee stack is not reliable. Turns out my Aqara rollershade motors do not run reliable in home assistant either… le sigh.

13

Ahh yes… I did also find Homey to be unreliable at times as well, no issues with HA… okay, maybe once. I’m using Bali shades and have not had issues with either hub while interacting with those shades.

One of the big lessons learned for me was… my house is ALL Phillips Hue and previously I would run the bulbs without the hub but learned this is not the best approach. Now I have all the bulbs paired back with the Phillips Hub and the Phillips Hue integration in HA - no issues. As for the interface, I’m using the HomeKit app now. Only because I am too lazy to create another new interface in HA. I did have everything overlaid onto of a 3D layout of my house but… was meh.

1 Like
14

It would be interesting to see if ChatGPT could write a flow for Node Red ready for import.

15

Agreed… I tried to figure out what Homey flows were saved as to see if I could get ChatGPT do that but was not successful.