How I made all my smart home devices HomeKit compatible with a Raspberry Pi

Summary

• Homebridge connects non-compatible smart home devices to the Apple Home app.
• You can run Homebridge on most models of Raspberry Pi.
• You’ll need to install the appropriate plugins to work with your smart home devices.

Despite efforts to create universal standards for smart home devices, we still live in a world where a smart plug that works with Alexa and Google may not work with Apple’s Home platform. It can be incredibly frustrating to find a device that otherwise seems perfect for your needs but doesn’t work with your smart home ecosystem. It’s even worse if you decide to switch from one ecosystem to another, only to find that half of your devices are no longer compatible.

Thankfully, there are ways around these problems. Software such as Home Assistant allows you to connect and control devices from a wide range of different brands, regardless of which ecosystem they support. It’s not the most user-friendly software, however.

An alternative option is Homebridge, which is software that acts as a bridge between your devices and the Apple Home app. Homebridge allows you to connect devices that would otherwise be incompatible, such as Ring video doorbells or Blink cameras. Homebridge is lightweight enough that you can run it on a Raspberry Pi.

What you’ll need to run Homebridge

You can run Homebridge on most models of Raspberry Pi

The first thing you’ll need is a Raspberry Pi. You can run it on a Raspberry Pi 3, or even a Raspberry Pi Zero at a push, but for the best performance, you’re best off with at least a Raspberry Pi 4. You’ll need an SD card with enough space to install and run the Homebridge operating system; at least 8GB would be the minimum recommendation. You also need a power supply for your Raspberry Pi, and a Raspberry Pi case if you don’t have one.

Installing Homebridge on your Raspberry Pi

Write the software to your SD card

The first step is to write the Homebridge software to your SD card. There’s a dedicated Raspberry Pi imager application you can use, which will download the relevant software and write it to your SD card.

1. Download and install the Raspberry Pi Imager app from the Raspberry Pi website.
2. Connect your SD card to your computer.
3. Run the Raspberry Pi Imager and click Choose Device.
4. Select the model of Raspberry Pi you’re using.
5. Click Choose OS.
6. Select Other Specific-Purpose OS.
7. Choose Home Assistants and Home Automation.
8. Select Homebridge.
9. Click Choose Storage and select your SD card.
10. Click Next.
11. Confirm that you want to continue, and the software will be installed on your SD card.

Accessing Homebridge from your computer

You can open the interface in a browser

Once the software has been written to your SD card, which can take a few minutes, you’re ready to insert it into your Raspberry Pi and start it up.

1. Remove the SD card from your computer.
2. Make sure your Raspberry Pi is powered off and insert the SD card.
3. Power up your Raspberry Pi.
4. Once your Raspberry Pi has started up, open a browser on your computer.
5. Go to the following address: http://homebridge.local:8581
6. Click Get Started and create an account.
7. You should now see the main Homebridge screen in your browser.

Installing plugins for your smart home devices

You’ll need the right plugins for the devices you want to add

Homebridge can support a wide range of smart home devices which aren’t natively compatible with HomeKit. They’re not supported out of the box, however; you need to install plugins for the specific brands or devices you’re using. You can install these plugins directly within the Homebridge interface.

1. Click the Plugins icon in the left-hand menu.
2. Type the name of a smart home brand or the specific plugin you want to use.
3. Select the appropriate plugin from the results.
4. Choose the latest stable version of the plugin.
5. The plugin will install. This may take a short while to complete.
6. Repeat the process for any other plugins you want to install.

Connecting Homebridge to the Home app

Scan the QR code to connect Homebridge

Now that you’ve added in the plugins you need, the final step is to connect Homebridge to your Home app. This adds Homebridge as a bridge in the Home app, in the same way that smart hubs such as a Philips Hue bridge can be added. The Home app is then able to talk to your non-HomeKit devices through Homebridge, allowing you to add them to the app as if they were HomeKit-compatible devices.

Adding Homebridge to the Home app is simple to do; the main screen of the Homebridge interface includes a QR code that you can scan to connect Homebridge to the Home app.

1. Open the Home app on your iPhone.
2. Tap the + (plus) icon at the top of the screen.
3. Select Add Accessory.
4. Point your iPhone camera at the QR code on the main Homebridge screen, keeping it within the box shown on your iPhone.
5. The Home app should identify Homebridge as a bridge.
6. Tap Add to Home.
7. You’ll see a warning message that the accessory is uncertified. Tap Add Anyway.
8. Follow the on-screen instructions to add any discovered devices.
9. You should now see the devices you added to Homebridge in the Home app.

Best practices when using Homebridge

You might want to upgrade from an SD card

This article describes how to install Homebridge on an SD card in your Raspberry Pi, as it’s the simplest method. However, SD cards are designed for long-term storage rather than constant reading and writing. Since Homebridge is always writing data to the SD card, it’s possible that the SD card will eventually fail.

There’s a major upgrade to Homebridge coming in the form of Homebridge 2.0, and this version will be incompatible with some current plugins.

A more robust solution is to install Homebridge on an SSD and connect the SSD to your Raspberry Pi. It’s a more expensive option, and if you’re lucky, you can keep running on your SD card for several years, but you’re far less likely to have an SSD fail than an SD card.

It’s also important to keep Homebridge and its plugins up to date. Developers constantly update the Homebridge software and the plugins to fix bugs or add features. Running outdated software may cause problems that can be solved by keeping everything updated.

There’s a major upgrade to Homebridge coming in the form of Homebridge 2.0, and this version will be incompatible with some current plugins. If you want to upgrade to Homebridge 2.0, you’ll need to ensure that the plugins you want to use are supported.

Homebridge will mostly run in the background without you having to think about it, but there may be times when your smart home devices stop connecting properly to the Home app. If this is the case, the best bet is to reboot Homebridge, which should get things back up and running again.

Homebridge can make your smart home less frustrating

Get all your devices into one ecosystem

It’s annoying that many smart home devices are still only compatible with specific smart home ecosystems. A device that works with Google and Alexa may not work with HomeKit, and vice versa. You’re always having to ensure that the products you buy work with your ecosystem of choice.

Homebridge can make this a little easier by allowing you to connect devices that aren’t HomeKit compatible to the Home app. You can then control them from your iPhone or Mac like you can with HomeKit products. It may not work with every smart home device that you own, but it should work with many of them.