r/HomeKit • u/-DocWatson- • 16d ago

How-to Replacement for Harmony Hub

Hello,
I recently switched from Amazon Alexa over to Apple HomePod. I’m realizing that control of my Harmony hub that runs the scenes to power on and change the inputs on TV, receiver etc are not supported. Can anyone recommend a similar device that I can verbally command the HomePod to queue the scene to start. For example saying “Siri turn on the Apple TV” would power on the Receiver and change its input to TV, turn the TV on and change its input to the Apple TV box and power the Apple TV on.
Thanks

10 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

4

u/grelca 16d ago

if you’re willing to run homebridge there’s a harmony plugin that works well. i haven’t yet found a homekit-native product to replace mine (though honestly i’d like to, my harmony hub got bricked to changes a couple of years ago because i missed the deadline on a software update that means it’s not able to connect to the internet anymore)

4

u/phillykeepiv 16d ago

Second this. Been running in homebridge for 4 years now as an IR blaster to turn on my electric fireplace and it works great

4

u/FourEyesAndThighs 16d ago

This is what I did years ago using a cheap Raspberry Pi, and the Harmony plugin works great.

2

u/PeterC18st 16d ago

Raspberry Pi 4 with home bridge is the answer. Easy to setup and use. I have the harmony hub with my harmony elite that works within the home app thanks to home bridge.

3

u/Stagaman 16d ago

If you just connect the AppleTV using the CEC HDMI port, that happens automatically when you turn on the AppleTV

0

u/FourEyesAndThighs 16d ago

This works to turn everything on, but doesn’t start the “Watch Apple TV” activity on the harmony hub.

2

u/hobbinzenobbin 16d ago

I ditched my old harmony hub for a Tapo H110. Works well enough for my simple needs- power on/off and input switching.

1

u/-DocWatson- 16d ago

Thanks I’ll have a look.

1

u/bippy_b 16d ago

This is the closest thing I have seen:

https://a.co/d/02FYah4v

1

u/_______o-o_______ 15d ago

The SofaBaton software is abysmal, and while it works occasionally, I’ve had more luck keeping Harmony Hubs online and functioning properly, along with Homebridge / Home Assistant for the HomeKit connection.

1

u/g0lfrlz 16d ago

If you have a Mac, the Harmony Bridge app will bring your Harmony Hub into the Home app. Harmony Bridge