Ikea HomeKit support coming to motion sensor and shortcut button

A support page indicates that Ikea HomeKit support is being extended to the motion sensor and shortcut button. On past experience, it will roll out gradually over the next few weeks.

Ikea has generally released smart home products first, and added HomeKit support later via a firmware update, and this appears to again be the company’s plan here…

Dutch site iCulture spotted the release notes:

Release Version: 1.16.0
18th February 2021
New features and changes in Gateway: 1.13.21
Support for TRÅDFRI Motion sensor and Shortcut button in Apple Homekit
Configure TRÅDFRI Bulb On/Off behaviour on power cycle

New features and changes in Accessories:
ASKVADER Wireless on/off Switch (V-1.0.002).
STYRBAR Remote control (V-1.0.024).
New product.

You do, however, need the Trafdi bridge, as this is the only way to update the firmware for the devices.

Also revealed in the notes is a new product: a Styrbar Remote control. This has been previously leaked as a dimmer remote for lamps.

The main area of interest for HomeKit fans is that Ikea’s shortcut buttons can now be used to activate any HomeKit scene. While I mostly use Siri to control our smart home devices, there are occasions when a button is useful.

For example, if I go to bed while my partner is already asleep, pressing a button is a better way to close the blind than speaking aloud to Siri, and more convenient than opening the Home app on my phone. I covered some of my other uses for smart buttons in my review of the Flic 2 buttons – including using it as a fob for our front door.

What I’ve done is stuck the final Flic button to the back of the fob. A short press locks the door, while a long press unlocks it. Holding it close to the door, the signal is reliably picked up by the hub.

The normal HomeKit requirement for confirmation of a door unlock doesn’t apply because the Home app doesn’t know the button is outside the home.

Ikea first promised HomeKit support for the button back in November of last year, so this is relatively rapid for a company with a somewhat patchy record in this area.

Ikea often promises HomeKit support long before it arrives. This was true of both the Trafdi smart plug, and the lengthy saga of its smart blinds. First announced in late 2018, they were promised in the US for February 2019, then for April, then August, then “late 2019” – before finally arriving in October of last year, but without HomeKit support. That eventually happened in January of this year, along with some “technical issues.”