Logitech Harmony Hub Devices
Home Kat Bridge can communicate with one or more Logitech Harmony Hubs to control television and audio equipment. Each hub provides a HomeKit television whose inputs correspond to the AV activities configured in the Logitech Harmony app. You can also add switches for activities and buttons for power, volume, channels or custom infrared command sequences.
Before starting, use the Logitech Harmony app to set up the hub, its entertainment devices and activities. Connect the hub to the same local network as Home Kat Bridge and check that its activities work in the Harmony app.
Add a Harmony Hub
Open Settings > Harmony Hubs and check Enabled. Discovered hubs appear under Other Hubs; press the plus button beside a hub to add it. Hubs available to HomeKit appear under Connected Hubs. Press the minus button to remove one.
Select a connected hub to see its IP address, firmware version, connection state, activities, controllable devices, current activity and HomeKit pairing state. The same page is used to create and edit the hub's custom controls.
The hub's television is an independant HomeKit accessory and must be paired separately from the main Home Kat Bridge. Once a hub hass been added in Settings, press the Harmony button on Home Kat Bridge to display its QR code and setup code. On your main iPhone, open the Home app, press +, Add Accessory, then scan the code or enter the digits manually. If HomeKit warns that the accessory is uncertified, select Add Anyway. Repeat this process for every Harmony Hub you wish to control from HomeKit.
Custom buttons do not require this separate pairing: they are added to HomeKit through the main Home Kat Bridge. The Harmony page displays Unpair after the television has been paired; using it removes all HomeKit connections to that television accessory.
Add custom controls
In Settings > Harmony Hubs, select a connected hub and use the plus menu below Custom Buttons.
Activity button
Select Add Activity Button to expose a Harmony activity as a HomeKit switch. Choose the activity and enter the switch name. Turning the switch on starts the activity. Non-AV home-automation activities are automatically exposed as buttons; AV activities can be assigned to a button, as this can sometimes be more convenient than selecting an input on the television accessory.
Custom control
Select Add Custom Control to build a one-shot HomeKit button that sends a sequence of commands. Enter a name, then add commands from either the current Harmony activity or a specific device known to the hub. Add Short Delay steps where equipment needs time between commands. Reorder or delete steps in the sequence as required. Changes are saved automatically when you leave the editor; Revert restores the previously saved sequence. By default, volume up, volume down and mute buttons are added for a hub. These can be removed if they are not needed. Note the TV accessory allows volume to be controlled using
A custom control can contain as many steps as needed. It is useful for commands that HomeKit does not expose directly, or for a short routine such as opening a device menu, moving through it and confirming a selection.
Channel button
Select Add Channel Button, enter a name and a numeric channel. Activating the button sends those digits to the television or set-top box used by the current activity. Add each required channel separately. Please note that favourites from the Logitech Harmony app are not imported automatically.
Power button
Select Add Power Button, choose a device and then choose one of the button types supported by that device's Harmony commands:
- On and Off Switches creates separate one-shot ON and OFF buttons.
- Single On/Off Switch creates a stateful switch.
- On Switch creates a one-shot ON button when no separate off command is available.
- Toggle Switch sends the device's power-toggle command.
A toggle command cannot confirm the real state of the equipment, so HomeKit may show the wrong state if the device is also controlled with another remote. Prefer separate on and off commands when Harmony provides them.
Select an existing custom control in Settings to rename, change or delete it.
Use the Harmony page
The hub tile shows whether the television is on and which activity is active. Tap it to switch the television on or off. Open its tile menu to switch it off or select an activity directly.
Related devices are grouped as Device Power Controls, Volume Controls, Channel Buttons, Custom IR Buttons, and Home Automation and Activity switches. Tap a tile to send its command or change its switch state. Channel, IR and separate power buttons are one-shot controls: they turn on briefly while sending the command and then reset. NB These devices are exposed to HomeKit under the Home Kat Bridge, not the Harmony Hub accessory.
HomeKit hints
Use the television accessory in the Home app to turn the entertainment system on or off and to select a Harmony activity as its input. HomeKit's television remote and volume controls are passed to the device selected by the current activity, so first make sure Harmony directs each activity's commands to the correct television, receiver or set-top box.
Use the TV accessory input setting or activity switches in scenes and automations when you want a particular Harmony activity to start with other accessories. One-shot buttons are most useful in scenes or when manually pressed; do not depend on their displayed on/off state. Give controls short, distinct names so Siri can distinguish a television activity from a similarly named power or channel button. e.g set up a scene "Watch BBC"
Home Kat Bridge and the Harmony Hub must remain powered up, running and reachable on the same network.
Subscription
Harmony Support requires a small six-monthly subscription. A one-week trial period is available so you can test it with your hub.