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Support for IP control of A/V equipment (LG-tv, Sony A/V receiver and Enigma2 Satelite receiver)
I'll start using Homey for lighting (Philips Hue) and for audio/video/TV. Philips is supported. Probably Kodi as well. But for other A/V products probably support will use infrared. However controlling audio and video using infrared is not optimal. Via infrared Homey can never be sure of the status (on/off, which input etc). And in my case, the receivers are in a cabinet (with suboptimal IR-extender). Alternative is control via IP. LG-TV can be controled via apps and has API (https://github.com/msloth/lgtv.js and http://developer.lge.com/resource/tv/RetrieveWebOSOverview.dev) Sony has an API (http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/875948/SonyAPILib & https://github.com/KHerron/SonyAPILib) and Enigma2 is quite straightforeward (http://dream.reichholf.net/wiki/Enigma2:WebInterface). I'd think that an extensive support for IP control of A/V equipment will turn Homey into a much more reliable control point for A/V.
Comments
I'm in the same boat but I do have a Harmony Hub. Going back to IR will be a step backward compared to the RF and IP control I use now. Of course IP control will be possible for any kind of device if:
1.) the device has an API which can be talked to over IP
2.) there is an Homey app available to talk to the API
1.) is usually available although not always well documented, 2.) will be mostly up to the community to create
As I lack any coding skills I'm hoping Athom will create a microfund marketplace some time in the future where users and developers can come together to crowdfund new apps. Users can back app requests and developers can take up the project when they think it's backed enough to "pay" for their services ... :-) It will be a win-win-win situation for users, developers and Athom if you ask me. Emile mentioned this is still somewhere in the back of his mind but they will see how app development goes when Homey becomes available.
@Phuturist +1
I used to be a programmer, but these days I only design software and hardly ever do coding anymore. I'm currently practicing my javascript and I'm really looking forward into getting my hands dirty again.
Also, if you are interested in learning some basic programming, Homey will be an excellent place to start. All the code is well contained within a larger framework and it is fun to interact with the real world.
From what I've seen so far, I expect that it will be pretty easy to create a driver for a API. Most of the time it is just mapping the Homey command to the device URL.
Many of the IP controled A/V equipment like Sony (for sure) and LG use HTTP POST messages. Not really rocket science. However some will have a (discovery and) registration proces. And it is preferable to first get the status of the device, especially when you're also using a IR remote of Apps to control the same device. This will make it somewhat more complex.
I've actually been working on a LG webOS app last weekend. It's super fancy, you can select an (input) channel in the flow editor and set the volume for example.
LG webOS TV owner here, made my day!!
Is guess that wouldn't work for the older LG TV's with the older OS. Like this one:
http://www.lg.com/uk/tvs/lg-55LA690V
anything planned for Android TV?
Great Emile. Is the app aware of the status of the TV? And can you app be extended in order to support (LG WebOS) TV-apps like Netflix? And can it be used as a template for other A/V devices?