Second-generation Flic smart home buttons now have HomeKit compatibility, along with multi-color LEDs to indicate the status of the device they control.
The original Flic buttons from Shortcut Labs could control a reasonably wide range of devices – including Ikea, Nanoleaf, Lifx, Lightify, Philips Hue, Sonos, Spotify, and WeMo – but HomeKit support now makes them suitable for a much wider range of smart home products …
Flic 2 Smart Buttons require a hub; a starter kit of the hub plus four buttons costs $160, meaning $40 per button if you don’t buy more.
Things get better if you know you want a bunch of buttons, a 6-button pack with hub coming in at $220 and bringing the cost down to $38 each, while the Mega Kit of hub plus 15 buttons for $400 makes them $27 each. You can supplement with additional button packs to a maximum of 63 buttons per home.
Shortcut says that many customers wanted HomeKit support, but it wasn’t easy to achieve.
“When we launched Flic 2 and the Flic hub LR on Kickstarter last year, HomeKit was one of the most requested new features. Since Flic is one of the very few units that act as a trigger and not something that gets triggered, it was a challenge to integrate it. It has been a long process but thanks to a close dialogue and collaboration with Apple, we managed to accomplish this together which we are very proud of”, says Oskar Öberg, CTO of Shortcut Labs.
The term Smart Button was coined in 2014 by Shortcut Labs when they launched the first version of Flic on Indiegogo. At that time, Smart Home technology was in its embryo, and the primary usage of smart buttons was to control smartphones. But along with a maturing market, the company has grown significantly in Smart Home control.
“We’ve seen a huge demand for a simple way to control your devices without having to talk to a voice assistant or hardwiring connected switches and sensors to your wall sockets. Flic is wireless, easy to set up and with the new HomeKit integration, we will always be up to date with new technologies and devices,” says Daniel Abdiu, CEO of Shortcut Labs.
The company says that HomeKit isn’t the only new thing you get with its next-generation buttons.
Flic 2 and the Flic Hub LR has been re-designed from the ground up to take Smart Buttons into the future. Future-proof components with Bluetooth 5.0 Long Range, improved stability and battery life are just some of the new features of Flic 2.
Improved tactile feel providing distinct response at your fingertips.
3-color LED, opening up new possibilities where the Flic can talk back to you.
3x battery life: Replaceable battery with up to 3 years of battery life.
HID and MIDI compatible. Enabling connectivity with basically anything that runs Bluetooth LE.
Flic 2 buttons are self-adhesive, and use stickers to illustrate their function. They are available direct from the company’s website.
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