I consider myself a technology enthusiast, but I'm not someone who wants to keep a complicated setup. I previously wrote about the Starling Home Hub and how it made the Nest Homebridge project a turnkey solution. This product is my ideal way of furnishing. It's a turnkey solution that does something very technical. Homebridge is a growing platform, however. There are innumerable In other projects, all of your smart home products will be compatible with HomeKit. Let's say you want to take advantage of the growing Homebridge ecosystem (2,000 plugins) with ease. If so, you'll be pleased to hear that HOOBS is available as a homebridge in a box setup.

HomeKit Weekly is a series that focuses on smart home accessories, tips and tricks about automation, and everything related to Apple's smart home framework.

HOOBS come in three different ways. The first is with an actual box that you plug into your network. The second is preinstalled on a micro SD card. The third is to download the HOOBS image with a $ 7 donation. When you buy the SD card or download the image, you will also need to buy and set up a Rasberry Pie, case, power adapter, etc. to set it up. I didn't want to worry about the hardware aspect, so I bought the standalone HOOBS box.

Installation is easy after you've unzipped the device. Once you've plugged it into your network and powered it, visit http: //hoobs.local to begin the setup process. The main advantage of HOOBS is that you can take full advantage of Homebridge without having to set it up yourself. The wizard walks you through configuring a username and password, adding the device to HomeKit, and adding devices. After you've set it up, you can also run it over WiFi. Since the box is so small, you can easily store it next to your router. This entire process took about ten minutes from start to finish. If you want to search the entire catalog, you can check the directory that HOOBS created.

What can it control?

Countless Homebridge projects are currently underway. They are all processed independently, and now you have the benefits of each. Do you want to use UniFi cameras but want to take advantage of HomeKit automations? You can do that with HOOBS. Would you like to activate your Neato vacuum cleaner with HomeKit? You can do that with the HOOBS. Would you like to use ring doorbells with HomeKit? You can do that. You don't have to look for plugins either. HOOBS includes a built-in installation wizard that you can use to find, add, and configure all supported features.

Who should buy HOOBS?

If you're the type who wants to build and maintain your hardware, you can set up a Homebridge server for free. I know many of you reading this article probably already have a Homebridge setup on an iMac or Mac Mini, and that's great. Since Homebridge is free, it can be set up on your hardware.

If you're the type who wants to buy a hardware appliance and wait with new updates and turnkey additions, check out HOOBS. I've been running it for the past three weeks and, similar to the Starling Home Hub, it's working fine. I had my Neato D7 installed in less than five minutes. Now I can start it with HomeKit, which opens the world of HomeKit automation to a product that will likely never get full HomeKit support out of the box. Of course, some of the UI in HomeKit for non-HomeKit devices might be a little dated (The Neato is shown as a fan), but otherwise it's a pretty magical experience.

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