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Max Lielje edited this page May 15, 2016 · 4 revisions
  1. What Is HomeControl?
  2. What Is HomeKit?
  3. What Is HAP?
  4. What can I do with HomeControl?
  5. Who uses HomeControl?

What Is HomeControl?

HomeControl is an implementation of the HomeKit Accessory Protocol (HAP) in Go and can be used on OS X, Linux and Windows. The library provides basic functionality to create HomeKit accessories or to make existing home automation accessories compatible with HomeKit. It handles the communication protocol and provides the predefined HomeKit accessory, service and characteristic types.

What Is HomeKit?

HomeKit is a technology introduced by Apple in 2014 and defines a set of protocols for home automation. HomeKit is available to users since iOS 8 to control accessories from their iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. HomeKit is currently not available on OS X.

What Is HAP?

HAP stands for HomeKit Accessory Protocol and defines how and which data is transfered between a home automation accessory and iOS. iOS uses the protocol to communicate with HomeKit compatible accessories. The protocol uses strong end-to-end encryption to securely send data over the air. HAP can be used over IP or BLE.

iOS and the accessory communicate directly when connected to the same network. iOS uses iCloud and an Apple TV (3rd generation or higher) to access accessories remotely – this works out of the box if the accessory supports HomeKit.

What can I do with HomeControl?

If you have existing home automation accessories, you can use HomeControl to make them HomeKit compatible. HomeKit has a lot of advantages to existing protocols and provides some cool functionality.

  • You can use Siri to control your accessories using voice commands
  • You can access your accessory remotely using iCloud and an Apple TV
  • You can use HomeKit triggers to execute scenes – for example, an event trigger raises the room temperature when you leave the office after sunset and if the current temperature is lower than 20°C.
  • You can use your favourite HomeKit iOS app to control your accessories from your iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch
  • HomeKit uses strong end-to-end encryption
  • ...

Who uses HomeControl?

HomeControl is used by the following projects