BUILD YOUR SMART HOME WITH HOOBS™
CONNECT OVER 2,000 ACCESSORIES TO YOUR FAVORITE ECOSYSTEM
HOOBS™ makes your smart accessories compatible with your favorite ecosystem. Whether you prefer Apple Homekit™, Google Home™, or Amazon Alexa™, you’re unlikely to find compatible accessories and services that all work together nicely under one roof.
HOOBS™ makes your smart accessories compatible with your favorite ecosystem. Whether you prefer Apple Homekit™, Google Home™, or Amazon Alexa™, you’re unlikely to find compatible accessories and services that all work together nicely under one roof.
BUILD YOUR SMART HOME WITH HOOBS™
CONNECT OVER 2,000 ACCESSORIES TO YOUR FAVORITE ECOSYSTEM
The Insteon smart home hub and app have stopped working since April 15th 2022, when the company has shut down their servers. HOOBS allows you to keep using all your Insteon devices and expose them to Apple Homekit™, Google Home™, or Amazon Alexa™. It’s important to note that HOOBS runs locally on your network and does not rely on any cloud service to function.
SUPPORT AND HELP FROM FORMER INSTEON CUSTOMERS
We have launched a Discord server for the Insteon community to discuss and get help with taking back control of their Insteon devices using HOOBS.
You can join using this invite link:
Please use the Discord server for support requests, no not open a ticket with our support system as there is a flood of requests from former insteon customers and we aren’t able to handle them all in time at the moment.
The Discord server was created for Insteon Users to help other Insteon Users to help them setup their Smart Home with HOOBS
What happened with Insteon?
Insteon went out of business on Friday, 14th of April, 2022. They pulled the plug on their servers without any warning to their users. Insteon Hubs, the Insteon App and also their PLM Modems stopped working, preventing users from controlling and editing their devices and schedules.
How can I regain control and management of my Insteon Smart Home?
You can regain access to your Insteon devices by adding HOOBS and the HOOBS Insteon local plugin to your system. The HOOBS box will connect through your local network to your current Insteon hub. Your Insteon Hub Acts as a Sender and Receiver from and to the connected devices. Our Insteon plugin runs locally on your network and does not require connecting to the Insteon servers which are permanently shut off. HOOBS acts as a local smart bridge to your Insteon Hub and will make the Insteon devices available and controllable in the HOOBS Interface and expose them to Apple Home / Google Home and Amazon Alexa instead of the defunct Insteon app.
What do I need?
The HOOBS Box – an independent plug and play Server that runs locally on your network. This is the easiest solution to get up and running the fastest: https://hoobs.com/product/hoobs-box-starter-kit/
The free HOOBS Insteon Local plugin: https://plugins.hoobs.org/plugin/homebridge-platform-insteonlocal
Your old Insteon Hub
Even if you factory reset your hub, it will still work but you will need to re-link your Insteon devices to it using the Insteon Local plugin interface.
Other options to run HOOBS:
HOOBS microSD
an microSD card for the Raspberry Pi 3B, 3b+ and 4B
https://hoobs.com/product/hoobs-microsd/
HOOBS Image
an image to flash to your own SD Card for the Raspberry Pi 3B, 3b+ and 4B https://hoobs.com/product/hoobs-image/
Install the HOOBS Service on a Mac mini
(it needs to run 24/7 as a server) and install the HOOBS Desktop (Client App)
HOOBS for Mac mini: https://support.hoobs.org/downloads/image?platform=darwin
HOOBS Desktop: https://support.hoobs.org/downloads/desktop
Install it manually on a Linux server:
https://support.hoobs.org/docs/setup-hoobs-manually
Install it on Docker, there’s a community made Docker image: https://hub.docker.com/r/mikeknowles/hoobs4
How do I install the Insteon Plugin and where?
This is the Plugin you need to install:
Platform Insteonlocal: https://plugins.hoobs.org/plugin/homebridge-platform-insteonlocal
Go to hoobs.local or to your HOOBS Desktop app Click on the Puzzle Icon in the left menu to show the plugin Library.
Search there for Insteon and the plugin will show up right away. Click on Install.
If there’s an error like: Plugin site not reachable. Please restart HOOBS from the Top Right menu, in Hub settings.
Once installed, click the Configuration button and follow the step by step instructions from the link above to configure the plugin to work with your Insteon hub.
Do I still need my old Insteon Hub?
Yes, you will still need your Insteon Hub to broadcast commands to your Insteon devices. Your Insteon Hub will Act as a Sender and Receiver from and to the connected devices. HOOBS will be able to Manage, Control, Link your Devices to Insteon. The LED Light on the Hub will stay red as there is no cloud connection anymore, this is OK!
I factory-reset my Insteon Hub, am I doomed?
No, not at all! HOOBS can still get your Insteon devices back online. The only things lost are the Scenes and Devices, which are no longer linked to your Insteon hub. You can Link them again to your Insteon Hub with the InsteonUI provided by the HOOBS Plugin at hoobs.local:3000. Click on the Link button in the top right corner of the menu bar. You can enter there the Device ID and reconnect them one by one to your Insteon Hub.
We believe your choice of an ecosystem should not dictate which accessories you can purchase and use. HOOBS™ aims to unify and simplify your smart home. It is designed to be accessible for beginners, yet robust and versatile for advanced users, opening a world of possibilities for automating your home.
Many smart home accessories are tied to their own walled garden ecosystem. HOOBS™ closes the gaps between home automation systems and allows them to communicate with each other. More than 2,000 plugins bring compatibility for most accessories on the market, with new ones being constantly added.
Easy to Use
Plug and play solution, ready to use out of the box. You will be able to Setup in Minutes.
HOOBS™ customers get free support including Plugin configuration.
Modular
More than 2,000 different plugins to choose from bringing compatibility for most smart accessories on the market.
Secure
HOOBS™ runs locally on your network and is not open to the world. All external communication is encrypted with military grade encryption.
Large Community
Used by more than 300´000 users, automating homes and businesses worldwide. Every use case has been accounted for and constant updates keep it ready to deploy with any new accessory that comes out.
To access notifications, click the Bell Icon. From this panel you can see the recent system notifications.
You can clear individual notifications by clicking the X, or you can clear all notifications by clicking the Clear button.
The main menu contains information about the current user and these options.
This dialog contains information about the HOOBS™ server. You can click Check for Updates to see if there are any updates for HOOBS™, Node or installed plugins.
The hub settings dialog contains settings for the hub. You can change these settings from here.
You can personalize the HOOBS™ interface. From here you can;
If you can’t find a color to match your wallpaper, check the Automatically Set option, and the system will find the most common color from your wallpaper.
The terminal is available in the UI for more advanced operations.
The terminal is powered by HelM. The terminal can also be accessed from the device’s URL on port 9090, even if the HOOBS™ server is unable to start.
The dashboard allows you to customize what’s important to you. You can add widgets and accessories, including cameras, to your dashboard.
To add widgets to your dashboard, click the Widgets button in the context menu.
You can also show your wallpaper on the dashboard, simply check the Show Background option.
You can size and rearrange items on your dashboard. Click the Lock Icon to size and re-arrange.
Once you are finished click the Lock Icon again to save your changes.
The accessories screen allows you to view, control and arrange your home’s accessories into rooms.
Each accessory has a settings dialog. You can access this by clicking the Gear Icon on any accessory.
You can edit these items from this dialog,
You can add rooms to logically arrange your accessories.
Rooms do not get transmitted to HomeKit™, you will need to manage rooms in the Apple™ Home app independently from HOOBS™.
To add a room click the Add Room button in the context menu.
You can arrange the rooms as you need. To arrange the rooms click the Lock Icon in the context menu. You then can drag the rooms in the list.
If you need to edit a room’s name, click the Edit Icon in the room’s title bar. You can also arrange the accessories in a room by clicking the Lock Icon in the room’s title bar.
The logs screen shows you what’s going on with your HOOBS™ device.
The bridge and plugin labels are clickable. They give you direct access to the bridge or plugin responsible for the log message.
You can filter the log by selecting or unselecting plugins and bridges from the context menu.
The debug log is available without restarting. Simply click the Bug Icon in the context menu.
Debug messages show in a dimmer color.
You can also download the log for easy issue reporting. To download the log click the Download Icon in the context menu.
Bridges allow you to isolate plugins from each other. By default installing a plugin will create a new bridge. You can view those bridges here.
A HOOBS™ bridge is a complete Homebridge instance, with isolated plugins and configuration.
You can create new, empty bridges by clicking the Add Bridge button in the context menu.
Caio is a newer protocol, it is faster, however you may need to test this with each plugin before using.
You can also include a bridge file. This is how you would import a bridge, complete with plugins and configuration.
This screen allows you to start, stop and restart each bridge independently from each other. Installing plugins or changing configurations will automatically restart the respective bridge.
You can export a bridge, complete with plugins and configuration. This is handy for sharing bridges with the community.
You can manage the accessory and HomeKit™ connection cache from this screen.
To remove individual accessories from the cache, click on the Accessory Cache button. A dialog will show with a list of cached accessories. You can click the Trash Icon to remove the individual accessory.
You can also clear the entire cache by clicking the Clear Cache button.
Each bridge will need to be paired with HomeKit™. To pair, select the bridge you wish to add to HomeKit™. Then scan the QR code on this screen. Then HomeKit™ will ask you a series of questions.
The HOOBS™ plugin screen allows you to install, update and remove plugins from the system.
HOOBS™ supports Homebridge plugins too. We also have a HOOBS™ certified program which verifies that a plugin works and is easy to configure.
The plugin library shows a list of featured and popular plugins. You can also search the vast plugin library using the search field on the top.
Plugins are listed by bridge. Each bridge will show in the list. Each bridge will show all the plugins installed on that bridge.
You can click on a plugin to view the plugin details.
If you wish to install a plugin click the Install button. You will be asked if you want to create a new bridge for the plugin or select from a list of existing plugins.
Bridges can contain more than one plugin, you can also install the same plugin on multiple bridges.
If you want to uninstall the plugin click the Uninstall button. You will be asked which bridge to uninstall. You can also check the Remove Empty Bridges option to remove the bridge after the last plugin is uninstalled.
HOOBS™ supports installing different plugin versions.
To install a specific version click the Download Icon on the desired version.
HOOBS™ supports installing different plugin versions on different bridges.
The configuration screen allows you to change the settings for all of your plugins and the hub.
The configuration is listed by plugins. Plugins that support visual configurations will show in the list. You will need to use the Advanced section to edit plugins that do not support visual configs.
Each section has a row of tabs across the top. These tabs separate the configs for each bridge. For example, if you have the Dummy plugin installed on 2 bridges, you will see the Dummy plugin in the list on the left, and then you will see a tab for each bridge.
The advanced editor allows you to edit the JSON config data directly.
HOOBS™ configs are different then Homebridge. In HOOBS™ each bridge has its own config that only contains the platform and accessories sections.
HOOBS™ encrypts your config files, you will not be able to edit the configs outside the UI or CLI.
9to5Mac – Homekit Weekly
Homebridge without the complexity? Check out HOOBS
iMore.com
The HOOBS Starter Kit makes it easier than ever to add Nest, Ring, and thousands of other popular smart home accessories to HomeKit. If you have always wanted to dabble in the world of Homebridge but didn’t want all of the hassles, this is the box to get.
homekitnews.com
Does it work as intended and does it work well? Yes, it does! Going down the HOOBS route has made things markedly easier. The interface makes a lot of things way more intuitive.
smartapfel.de
Einfach Stromkabel anschließen, ins Netzwerk einbinden und 2-3 Minuten warten, bis sich HOOBS automatisch installiert hat.
shelly.cloud
Get your Shelly devices in Homekit without any configuration and with OEM software.
phoscon.de
The powerful integration allows exciting automations and functions. For example, any Zigbee device can be used with HomeKit via HOOBS
Robot Powered Home
HOOBS is a small yet robust and secure device that makes the HomeKit framework accessible to more users.
Matthias Petrat
Mit HOOBS können Geräte in HomeKit nach Lust, Wunsch und Laune bedient und eingesetzt werden.
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