HomeKit can one homekit-ify myq gdo and myq gates?

[pesos]

Hi all, trying to help my brother get his shiz sorted out.

He currently has:

Older Liftmaster GDO with a chamberlain myq smart garage control unit add-on.

Two myq-enabled gates, plus an 828LM gateway that I guess internet-enables them.



He currently controls these via the myq app and has a few Alexa odds and ends around the house.

I got them a new Apple TV 4k so they can start doing Homekit (and cast to their tv among other things).

In order to homekit-itize the myq stuff, do they just need the 819 homebridge? I had one of these many years ago that I used with my myq gdo and it generally worked fine. It's unclear whether or not the homebridge will allow homekit/siri to control the myq gates - or does the 828 unit help with that?

Thanks!

 

[gwhizkids]

You could go the Homebridge route if you have an always on machine (spare Mac or even a Raspberry Pi). Possibly easier is an iOS app called LiveKey that integrates with the Liftmaster API, allowing you to use shortcuts to open and close your garage (but it does not give full HomeKit integration unfortunately). But Liftmaster periodically changes the API key disrupting things.

I’ve used it for over a year now and it works great…when Liftmaster isn’t messing around.

 

[pesos]

Thanks! Sorry I wasn't clear and fell victim to the "homebridge" naming duplication (hardware vendors using the term as well as the open source software project using it). Turns out I had already gone ahead and set up a Homebridge hyper-v VM on a 24/7 machine already running in the household so I loaded up the myq plugin yesterday morning and it all works utilizing the existing hardware - all good.

 

[gwhizkids]

Thanks! Sorry I wasn't clear and fell victim to the "homebridge" naming duplication (hardware vendors using the term as well as the open source software project using it). Turns out I had already gone ahead and set up a Homebridge hyper-v VM on a 24/7 machine already running in the household so I loaded up the myq plugin yesterday morning and it all works utilizing the existing hardware - all good.

That’s the best way to go as it emulates the now deprecated MyQ hub, which Liftmaster sold until last year to provide HomeKit integration.

Liftmaster stubbornly refuses to add the small amount of code to its app to allow shortcuts integration and now they are doing their level best to frustrate third party efforts to allow automation. I don’t know what their problem is but they are very anti-consumer in this respect. And they have virtually cornered the market for garage door openers.