HomeKit is an Apple software framework for interacting with and managing smart appliances at home. This enables you to manage items such as lights, temperature, smart locks, and others by simply telling Siri the commands or by using the Home app on your iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, or Mac. HomeKit is focused on offering an easy-to-use, but at the same time, safe solution for connecting devices from different manufacturers.
Well, what can we say about Vivint – a Home Security System company that has gained immense popularity across the United States? Here, we take a look at whether or not Vivint security systems and devices are compatible with Apple HomeKit. Let us look at it further with this in mind.
What is Vivint?
Vivint is a home security firm that offers professionally monitored and installed security systems that are exclusively wireless based on wireless equipment and smart home devices. These may include outdoor and indoor cameras, door and window contacts, fire alarms, carbon monoxide alarms, water leak detectors, touch screens, keypads, and smart locks among others.
Vivint also has what it calls the SmartPackage which covers features such as smart thermostats, garage door controllers, lighting controls as well as integration of voice assistants including Alexa and Google Assistant. The monitoring plans and packages of these companies are intended to provide the particular home and the needs of the customers with the best security solutions.
Does Vivint Support HomeKit natively platform integrate with HomeKit in some way?
The Vivint systems are capable of relatively smooth integration with other popular home automation platforms such as Alexa or Google Assistant but, at the moment, they do not support Apple HomeKit out of the box. Thus, out of the box, they cannot integrate your Vivint devices into the HomeKit network or operate them through Siri.
Vivint Home Security systems include cameras, sensors, and panels that interact through the Vivint Smart Home software. Lacking native support of HomeKit as a feature within this backend platform, there is no integration with Apple smart home software.
However, as it stands, Vivint's home security systems are not compatible with Homekit for the connected home features at this time.
That defeat for Vivint and HomeKit
While Vivint does not yet support HomeKit natively, there are a few potential workarounds currently available:
- HomeKit Bridge Device works as a home hub and connects your HomeKit system to other smart home systems in your house. Accessories like the HOOBS HomeKit bridge or the Starling Home Hub can help bring support for different third-party smart home equipment into HomeKit. These hubs effectively act as a kind of interface that takes Vivint protocols and presents them in a format that can be understood by HomeKit. Unfortunately, on the other side of the coin, it results in owning an additional device.
- Use HomeBridge Software Any individuals who were comfortable with coding could have set up a Homebridge server to provide dummy support of Vivint to HomeKit without requiring additional hardware. But this demands using Homebridge, an open-source node. Js app, and custom plugin writing and usage.
- Leverage Siri Shortcuts For those who primarily use voice commands for controlling Vivint Smart Home via Siri, Apple announced iOS 12 and introduced Siri Shortcuts that can be utilized in a rather inspiring manner to interact with the Vivint mobile app. This, however, is less extensive than having native HomeKit integration.
- Consider Replacing Devices Occasionally, one might be able to replace specific devices of a Vivint system with individual items that are compatible with HomeKit. For instance, changing a thermostat or a camera can now be controlled from the Home app using HomeKit. However, it could be only functional in its design.
Future Possibilities of Vivint and Apple HomeKit
Even the specifics of this haven’t been disclosed to the public, it is in recent years that Vivint has given indications that they are interested in and looking at potential options that will involve HomeKit compatibility in the future. It may still be enabled later through the download of a software update to enable native integration.
That said, HomeKit compatibility as it exists in the present suddenly depends on various workarounds which as we all know, are not without their drawbacks. Therefore it is not as easy to integrate with Apple smart home tech and Vivint systems directly.
Presumably in the future, Vivint will expand support for a HomeKit using the HomeKit Accessory Development protocol – as they have done for other major smart home ecosystems. A large number of companies in the security and smart home device industries using HomeKit can help the ecosystem offer the most value to consumers who are interested in an integrated smart home solution.
However, potential buyers should know that at the moment, integrating a Vivint system into their smart house, which is based on Apple products, may not work as smoothly as one might think – although it is possible to make the system somewhat functional in this regard. When choosing a security system or following the development of HomeKit integration in Vivint, HomeKit users may make the right choice and find a security system for their home as per their expectations.
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