Openhab and the apple HomeKit

[Paul Thomas]

Anyone seen it yet and any idea if it could be used in OpenHab?

Supposed to be integrated with Siri so would be really nice if it's workable. :)

[Henning Treu]

Apple did release some basic reference documentation and a registration for hardware vendors here: https://developer.apple.com/homekit/

It seems to get access to HomeKit protocol information "someone" has to register with Apple for openHAB.

To me it is a bit unclear how official this registration is and who in case of openHAB is responsible for this registration.

[Thomas Eichstädt-Engelen]

Hi,

we do have an official openHAB AppStore registration already to accomplish publishing the openHAB app. So we will be able to get access to the documents.

Best, Thomas E.-E.

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[Kai Kreuzer]

There is also more detailed information freely available as a presentation at https://developer.apple.com/videos/wwdc/2014/

We will definitely look into it closely to see, what possible integrations with openHAB can be done.

Regards,

Kai

[Peter Stoinov]

Here is how the big boys are thinking of using it.

I'd love to have customizable widget for my prefered controls!

[Karel Goderis]

From the stuff I have read on developer.apple.com it seems that the published information is very IOS8 and client oriented. to integrate into OH one would need to have the MfI specs that originally destined to the hardware vendors that want to make their products compatible with the API. I am not sure if Apple will release that kind of information to build a software component acting as a hardware component. (e.g. I assume that in order to interface with OH, you would have to build a virtual kind of hardware that is exposing all the Services and Characteristics of the underlying Items defined in openHAB)

K

[Kai Kreuzer]

An openHAB integration with the iOS8 notification center would indeed make sense.

But having different widgets from every device manufacturer sounds rather like a nightmare to me…

[rockin...@gmail.com]

I'm not a registered iOS developer yet and so I haven't downloaded Xcode 6 yet. I was wondering from someone who is and has downloaded it: does the HomeKit device emulator work over a wifi network with real iOS devices, or only on the simulated ones within Xcode? If it does work on real devices - maybe some details on the hardware protocol can be ascertained from analysing it with Wireshark etc (unless its Bluetooth or Bluetooth/Wifi like AirDrop) ?

I haven't had any luck Googling details on how it works - just countless articles that were just regurgitations of the keynote.

[Joost den Boer]

I have been looking at HomeKit documentation but it only seems to have info about how to create an app, but not anything on the specs for what Apple calls a 'bridge', a service in between the HomeKit app and the actual devices, so what OpenHab is or could be.

I have email Apple 2 weeks ago for details for the 'bridge' specification so that could be implemented for OpenHab, but I have not received a response yet.

Joost

[Peter Stoinov]

My idea is to have OH as a bridge device between HomeKit and every other device - supported or not alike (also custom made ones). This way you will be able to create scenes and expose them through a widget of a single app. And if you need you can manage individual settings in the app.

Because at the current state we will just replace vendor apps with vendor widgets, which is not that much more conveninent.

Also not sure if HomeKit will be able to create scenes itself or it just works as a underlying protocol and framework for vendors to build upon.

[Peter Stoinov]

After reading this, it seems that Mfi is only for hardware manufacturers. What OH can do, is apply for Mfi Developer license to check and test the technical specifications so a bindings for Home Kit could be made.

Then a Mfi device that supports running OH on it should be used (or created if none exists) and used to make the actual wireless connection between sensonrs, appliances, other devices and the iOS devices.

My guess is that this is achievable but there would need at least kickstarter campaign if no Mfi manufacturer finds this idea interesting.

OH is opensource software that runs on variety of hardware. We need a deivice that is Mfi certified and capable to run OH, in order to take full advantage of the Home Kit technology.

The other option is App only access which will rely on manufacturers of Mfi Home Kit appliances to provide multiple control protocols - one for Home Kit itself, the other for third parties like OH.

I am not sure how open the Google solution is, but if they too apply any limitations as to who can access their API, I don't think manufacturers will have too much time to implement any possible way for controlling their devices, and will go with the market leaders because profits.

[Peter Stoinov]

Forgot to post the link to the FAQs :) https://mfi.apple.com/MFiWeb/getFAQ.action#1-1

[Kai Kreuzer]

This one is interesting:

Question: "I want to develop an accessory that communicates with an
Apple device using only Bluetooth Low Energy. Do I need to join the
MFi Program?"

Answer: "No. Accessories which connect to an Apple device using only
Bluetooth Low Energy/BTLE/Bluetooth 4.0 or standard Bluetooth profiles
supported by iOS are not part of the MFi Program."

As HomeKit only uses either BLE or Wifi/IP, there might be the chance
that the same applies to Wifi/IP. And even if not - openHAB could use
a BT dongle to simulate a HomeKit-compatible device without having to
join MFi.

Regards,
Kai


Zitat von Peter Stoinov <pe...@stoinov.com>:

> Forgot to post the link to the FAQs :)
> https://mfi.apple.com/MFiWeb/getFAQ.action#1-1
>

[Torsten]

I have two students, one working on openHAB, one working on Homekit.
I really don´t know how to bring both together, but for me it would be nice if its possible.
Can OH be a proxy between lots of home devices and Apple World ?

Actually i only know Homekit uses TCP/IP-Protokoll (WLAN, 6lowPAN and more) seem to be possible.
But which protocol is it ? Is there somewhere a specification or do you get the specification only as MFI partner ?

For me there are lots of questions :)

[DiversIT Europe]

For everyone I guess :-/

It should be possible.

I still have asked Apple for the specs weeks ago, just after WWDC, and still have not received a reply on how to create such a bridge.
Maybe someone else was more successful.

Joost

Sent from my iPhone

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[Kai Kreuzer]

Yes, many questions and only few answers so far.

My assumption is that MFi membership is required and the „Home Accessory Protocol“ (HAP) is only shared under NDA with you. So although everything is TCP/IP, it might in the end not possible for openHAB to act as a Home Kit bridge to iOS devices. If anybody finds out any other information, we all would be interested!

@Torsten: Maybe you can find a third student that works on the missing link ;-)

Regards,

Kai

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[Karel Goderis]

MFI is only for hardware vendors, so little chance you will get the specs. I guess your tool of preference will be Wireshark, and then reverse engineer the lot ;-)

K

[c.w...@mail.de]

[c.w...@mail.de]

I think there will be no chance.

According to this document:
"HAP security instead of Bluetooth Low Energy pairing"
AND
"Accessories are not identifiable from their advertisement data"
AND
"End-to-end encryption", "Initial setup secured directly between iOS and accessory", "Perfect forward secrecy", "Standard cryptography"

So it will be the same situation as for the accessory protocol iAP where you have to buy a little authentication processor from apple if you want to use it.
Also see the HAP protocol layer overview with the so called "encryption boundary". BLE is used without any encryption. Only the layers on top of GATT are encrypted with Apple own stuff.

Same situation for TCP/IP: it seems that SSL might be used for that as HTTP is also wihin the "encryption boundary". But here they might also put certificates in place to authenticate things.

[Christian W.]

I would like to quote from the notes from the WWDC2014 session:
[...]
"

So, we have end-to-end encryption between iOS and accessories so that it doesn't matter who's listening in the middle.

Nobody can intercept, inter, inject or understand the messages that are being sent back and forth between an accessory and iOS device.

The initial setup of the accessory is secured directly between the iOS device and the accessory.

So, we use a setup code that you will have to provide on your accessory.

It can be on packaging, it could be on the accessory, that could be randomly generated if you have an LCD.

It could be on a label or engraved on the accessory.

The user enters that setup code to perform the initial pairing of your accessory to HomeKit.

This ensures that we have a very strong basis for our cryptographic relationship between iOS and the accessory.

Our protocol also has perfect-forward secrecy.

If you are a security or encryption guru you know what this means, but I'll summarize quickly.

It means that the encryption key that we use for sending messages back and forth cannot be used to decrypt messages from any previous session or any future session.

So, every communication session has a unique encryption key.

To implement all of this, we use standard encryption algorithms because it's always best to have lots of scrutiny on the encryption that you're using.

So, we use these algorithms.

There's much more detail about how these algorithms are used in implementing HomeKit Accessory Protocol in our specifications, and if you do have questions about this, you can bring those questions to our lab on Thursday, the HomeKit Lab, and of course there's support available through the MFi program for you to get this security right."

[...]

[David Lenz]

Hi all,

just found this: https://github.com/BitTankInc/BitBridge

This might be a way to expose openhab as a HomeKit Bridge. 

Currently its working only under MacOS but who knows..

Here is a demo video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo3o6FmYd5Q

Sadly I don't have a developer account so I cannot try it myself.

Best

[Maximilian]

Apple has now finalized and published specifications for HomeKit through its Made-For-iPhone/iPad/iPod (MFi) licensing program. The finalized specifications, which allow accessory makers to start building products that integrate iOS 8’s new framework for home automation devices, come ahead of Apple’s yearly MFi summit in November where it plans to brief manufacturing partners on HomeKit and other new iOS 8 features for accessories.

The finalized spec for HomeKit, which was previously in beta mode, has only been available to all manufacturers through the MFi program as of last week. Apple requires that companies building HomeKit-enabled hardware be part of the MFi licensing program and follow the guidelines in the newly published specs.


In the final spec, Apple includes specifications for pairing, security and talking to Bluetooth LE and WiFi-connected HomeKit accessories. The HomeKit Accessory Protocol currently includes accessory profiles for controlling a specific set of home automation products including fans, garage doors, lightbulbs, locks, power outlets, binary switches, and thermostats.

First unveiled alongside iOS 8, HomeKit provides accessory makers and app developers in the home automation space a common protocol for pairing, security, and controlling multiple devices through Siri.

Mfi summit: http://9to5mac.com/2014/09/11/apple-schedules-mfi-summit-for-nov-12-14-in-china-to-brief-accessory-makers-on-homekit-ibeacon-more/

Artikel: http://9to5mac.com/2014/10/08/homekit-mfi-specs/

[ernoutva...@gmail.com]

I've got a developer account and am very interested to do some work on this. 

For instance to be able to use siri as a controller for openhab - asking status and controlling devices with voicecommands.

I've been trying to achieve this with microphones in the rooms, but its far from perfect.

I'll see if I can put some app together that allows to talk to openhab - the more generic the better.

Another cool idea would be to have homekit work with ibeacons to give a better idea of where users are in the house, and then use that knowledge in openhab for rule based scenario's.

[scurb]

Any update here?

[universal...@googlemail.com]

there is now a node.js implementation of a home kit bridge. maybe this leads somewhere:

https://github.com/KhaosT/HAP-NodeJS

On Tuesday, January 6, 2015 at 5:23:30 PM UTC+1, scurb wrote:

Any update here?

[m herbert]

Any bridge to HomeKit will  require Apple certification, must have an MfI chipe and will be extremely limited.  The bridge cannot talk to Wifi devices.  For BLE devices, it can only report status but cannot send commands to a BLE device.  The bridge cannot talk to any device that gives physical access to the home (such as door locks) etc, etc.    It would be impossible for OpenHAB to get certified as a HomeKit bridge since it is designed as an open system.  HomeKit is  designed to only work with accessories (including bridges) that have an Apple MfI chip in them.  If the node.js project listed actually works then Apple has a serious flaw.

See this article: http://9to5mac.com/2015/01/22/apple-details-homekit-compatibility-with-competing-home-automation-platforms/.

[Henning Treu]

Please have a look at the github repo and the links in the README.MD. There is a short video demonstrating a Siri command which turns on/off an LED which is controlled by reverse engineered HomeKit code. The node.js implementation is based on this code. Sadly, Apple took down the original findings.

The HAP-NodeJS is an implementation of a HomeKit Accessory Server, maybe thats the difference here?

cheers

henning

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[m herbert]

Reverse engineering HomeKit is against U.S. federal law (probably German law as well), which is why Apple took the site down and could send the authors to jail if they wanted to.  Although most info is under NDA,  it seems pretty clear that any Bridge will require an MfI chip and be certified by Apple and have strict rules on what it can connect to.  That's how they will get money out of the HomeKit ecosystem.  If they allowed an open bridge, then you could connect devices to HomeKit without Apple getting their fee.  Keep in mind that Apple gets a very large percentage of their revenue from fees on third parties.  This is a company that wont even allow you to buy a cable to connect your Apple device to a USB port unless it has an MfI chip and pays Apple a fee.  I'm not an Apple hater - I like their products, but being "open" is against their DNA and business model.

[Henning Treu]

if my interpretation of this article http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_Engineering is correct, especially in germany reverse engineering of communication protocols should be pretty ok. speaking for myself: it wouldn’t stop me from investigating this topic in more detail ;-)

One thing that came to my mind about homekit: a complete openhab integration would consist of two things.

1) connect an iDevice with openhab to control devices/accessories not supporting the homekit protocol (openhab acting as a HomeKit Accessory Server/Bridge)

2) connect openhab to homekit enabled devices and integrate them with your other stuff

another question is if homekit will take off at all… I am not aware of any homekit enabled device yet.

cheers

henning

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