It looks like it is currently $24 on Amazon. Not super expensive, but I wouldn’t say they are practically giving it away. I’d still rather not spend that and then turn around and buy a new hub at full price when they release the local version.
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Not to continue to pile on but I’m following this thread just waiting on local control. I love the rf tech itself and anxiously awaiting local control and I will be investing quite a bit in this ecosystem.
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Actually, I was hoping for a local API to be released on their current hub, not a new hub, We’ll see.
That is an interesting possibility - they could do it through an update to the firmware for all of the sensors as well, to allow people to use an API and/or the cloud based stuff as well.
I actually have a weird hybrid workaround which is counterintuitive. I also built out not only utilizing the yolink hub integration within HA, but I ALSO at the same time utilize IFTTT for notifications and have my code written in HA that both the integration and IFTTT can call some of the same scripts and automations, and that no harm or non- preferred activity takes place if delayed updates are received from one or the other. People may say they are relying upon the same cloud infrastructure but I know from experience when YoLink first came out with the HA integration, when that was having issues, at the same time the IFTTT was working - so that is one counterintuitive way to improve reliability through such redundancy…
too bad IFTTT is soooo s l o w… which kind of highlights all the issues with cloud connected services
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most starter kits are priced to negate the cost of the hub, which is an obstruction for some first time customers. That’s probably what @pidiot was referring to - buy a kit, the hub is almost free. But it is a good price, and while some companies are able to charge a little more for a “pro” hub, we’ve not tried that. Most people, even your “average” non-coding, non-enthusiast consumer doesn’t want another box to plug in and clutter up their whatever. We don’t even publish a device capacity for it, by the way. We do tell customers if you get over 200 devices, it’s a good idea to add another hub. If anything, it makes the system more resilient, able to sustain the loss of a hub (assuming you have some good overlap in their respective area coverage). For example, we tell high-rise condo HOAs to put in a hub on each floor, minimum, regardless of device counts. A hub can be lost and the hub on the floor above or below takes over. Not mesh, but designed with redundancies.
But I digress. At the moment, the local control hub project is taking a backseat in engineering to our adding LoRaWAN compatibility to a new line of devices. We are currently testing a dual network (YoLink/LoraWAN) Door Sensor. I think this will offer some, obviously, new connectivity options, and I am excited to see new additions to our product line that leverage this. In the same way our long range and obstruction penetration have taken our products outside the home and into the yard (and even our customers “inventing” a YoLink mailbox sensor, which are often 500-1000’ away from their home) and how this has lead to a higher percentage of weatherproof devices being released, I am sure we’ll see more outdoor and even mobile devices, like products aimed at the boat and RV markets, for example. Our CEO drove around Irvine with the new door sensor and was pleased to see it was online the entire time.
That is not meant to be the answer to the local control hub feature request, but only to illustrate the fact we are listening to customers. The world has noticed our products, and those that want LoRaWAN, or Home Assistant and/or local control hubs, only do so because of the great products, themselves. (You wouldn’t want our stuff on HA if it was crap, I mean). You wanted HA integration, we did it. Local control, we’ll do it, too. It’s still on our road map for before the end of the year. As this LoRaWAN, Helium, etcetera aspect gets white hot for us, I see it touching on other projects. The local control hub should have LoRaWAN compatibility too, for example, and so should the keypad we have on the drawing board right now. Such a hub will add some backwards compatibility to our current non-LoRaWAN devices. So, that’s a no brainer, but it is not speeding up development of this hub.
There is just a lot going on right on, and it’s hard to keep up with it all, but I’ll share news when I get some.
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Not sure about trade-ins or rebates, I don’t know. I am planning to offer a discount on our new version of the FlexFob, for existing FlexFob customers, but it’s just something in our emailers not advertised. It’s probably easier for me to discount your initial purchase than to do something on the backend. Our starter kits are already pretty good prices, but email me at [email protected] and I’ll see what I can do to knock something off your first purchase. I have the figurative keys to the store! shop.yosmart.com
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Great to know that the local control is on the road map for the end of this year, that means that I will spend a lot of money on all of your devices lol.
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Appreciate all the effort, and thank you for listening and staying in touch with us the customers!
I gave up on cloud based solutions a while ago, and I’m struggling with outdoor sensors, so I’m planning on buying the local hub plus a bunch of your sensors as soon as it gets released.
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Eric, I tried integrating the FlexFob previously but could not get it recognized in HA. Did I miss a step?
I don’t see it on the compatibility list: YoLink - Home Assistant
but I thought it was on there. I’ll find out when it will be added!
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Have had YoLink motion sensors for a while, love them. Getting integrated into HA is quite the challenge for me. I’m continuing to get ‘authfailed’ and incorrect login/pw on integration. However, logging into the YoLink app, webpage, and even reintegrating with Alexa works fine (yes, I’m using the correct username and pw to login)
I was getting pop up blockers for unencrypted data notifications from my router, which I then accepted the URL, and even went so far to remove the device from the defender, still with no luck. Cleared cache, the whole 9. Any ideas? Driving me crazy!
Thanks for the updates Eric 
I’m looking forward to the local hub so I can have fridge / freezer temperature sensors, as well as outdoor sensors. I experimented with BLE in the fridge which works about 1/3 of the time, but it’s not reliable enough for alerting. Hopefully the siren can be controlled from HA as well. When the local hub is announced please include it in one of your emails if you can.
I’d also like to see AU / NZ plug controllers, but I suspect that may be a long way off.
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@Eric-YoLink,
I am hoping to hear your answer… The AlarmFob and FlexFob… Are the compatible in Home Assistant?
I am anxious to find a Fob type device that I can use to trigger HA scripts and scenes.
Used the HA cloud as a workaround… set up an account, visited the webpage from my phone and turned off WI FI… bingo
What’s with the integration for this app? I added it via the integrations screen in Home Assistant, but it directs me to a page to log in with YoSmart’s API. However, this API link is not encrypted …
I tried to log in anyways but it’s not accepting my login info … anyone else have this issue?
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@Eric-YoLink It has been awhile since I inquired about the Flex-Fob. Today you sent an email about version 2. I am hoping you will guide me. I am looking for a fob that when pressed will run selected scripts and automatons in Home Assistant. Have you had a chance to look into it?
Hi Eric,
I did some research for a water control valve, looking for a local option instead of a cloud option, and found this thread. I liked what I saw, particularly that your CEO is in Irvine and the forthcoming local control hub, and chose your company’s product. It was amusing to find that you wrote the text on the enclosed documentation for your parts. I was less amused to learn I needed to create a cloud account. However, it appears that - hopefully soon - there will be an option for local-only hubs, at least with home-assistant. I’d like a little clarity, please: with the local hub a cloud account will no longer be necessary, correct?
Thank you for your time,
Robert~
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@rescafidi I have found the solution! You hinted at the fix.
I just forced the page to use HTTPS and then it was able to log in.
@Eric-YoLink you need to take down the unencrypted version of this page and redirect to the https.
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I opened that as an issue here awhile back and I thought he fixed it, but maybe not. When linking account on yolink integration https should be used · Issue #72863 · home-assistant/core · GitHub
Doesn’t look like I can reopen the issue @Eric-YoLink, but you can let dev know.