WTH isn’t configuring HomeKit exposed entities the same interface as Alexa and Google Assistant?

Month of "What the heck?!"
1

The use case for exposing entities via the HomeKit Bridge is essentially the same as exposing for Alex or Google Assistant, but for some reason we have to mess with manual YAML configuration for HomeKit rather than a consistent UI experience that Alexa and Google share under the “Voice assistants” settings. I propose that HomeKit should be added to match the experience. While it’s true this goes beyond “voice assistants” the same is true for Google and Alexa as the entities can be interacted with via their respective apps as well.

2

yes this is huge!

home assistant has made huge strides in usability for folks via the GUI, but homekit/siri has been left behind

3

God, yes

Different yaml formats to exclude entities between Homekit and Google Assistant…

I am probably one of the people that are a hybrid user and use Homekit AND Google Home (both exposing exactly the same entities)
But keeping them exactly the same is a challenge.

4

Why are you using YAML to expose entities to HomeKit?

Ok the UI is not the same as Alexa/Google but you can do it using the UI:

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1 Like
5

In my case it is for granular control of both inclusion and exclusion by domain or specific entities to keep my Home app only populated with very explicit entities I wish to be controlled via Home/Siri, for example:

homekit:
  filter:
    include_domains:
      - light
      - lock
    include_entities:
      - cover.garage_door
      - cover.living_room_shades
      - alarm_control_panel.abode_alarm
    exclude_entities:
      - light.all_lights
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6

YAML still offers options the gui does not, namely setting individual entity_config options like alarm panel codes, linked sensors, features and types, etc.

It would be great if the UI was powerful enough to handle this. Something similar to how entities are exposed to a Voice Assistant, with each exposed entity getting a button for individual config settings, might work fine.

1 Like
7

Exactly this

8

This also applies if you setup Google assistant manually and not use the paid cloud setup by nabu casa.

9

Also for the Alexa Smart Home integration.
Would be cool to use the UI for the non cloud solution as well.

10

Additionally; it would be nice to use an alias for the entities that are exposed to Homekit (e.g. my Home Assistant is all in English, but I’d prefer the naming of the entities in Homekit to be a different language for family members).