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Show HN: Itsyhome – Control HomeKit from your Mac menu bar (open source)
Hey HN!
Nick here – developer of Itsyhome, a menu bar app for macOS that gives you control over your whole HomeKit fleet (and very soon Home Assistant). I run 130+ HomeKit devices at home and the Home app was too heavy for quick adjustments.
Full HomeKit support, favourites, hidden items, device groups, pinning of rooms/accessories/groups as separate menu bar items, iCloud sync – all in a native experience and tiny package.
Open source (https://github.com/nickustinov/itsyhome-macos https://github.com/nickustinov/itsyhome-macos) and free to use (there is an optional one-time purchase for a Pro version which includes cameras and automation features).
Itsyhome is a Mac Catalyst app because HomeKit requires the iOS SDK, so it runs a headless Catalyst process for HomeKit (and now Home Assistant) access while using a native AppKit plugin over a bridge protocol to provide the actual menu bar UI – since AppKit gives you the real macOS menu bar experience that Catalyst alone can't.
It comes with deeplink support, a webhook server, a CLI tool (golang, all open source), a Stream Deck plugin (open source, all accessories supported), and the recent update also includes an SSE event stream (HomeKit and HA) - you can curl -N localhost:8423/events and get a real-time JSON stream of every device state change in your home.
Home Assistant version is still in beta – would anyone be willing to test it via TestFlight?
Appreciate any feedback and happy to answer any questions.
- drcongo 8mo agoThis is great, thanks, I paid the IAP immediately. So much more usable than the risible Home app.
- nixus76 8mo agoThanks, really appreciate the support! Agreed – the Home app is way too heavy for quick device control. If you run into anything or have feature requests, feel free to open an issue on GitHub.
- drcongo 8mo agoOh man, just discovered the deep links and webhooks stuff in the settings too. That IAP price is a real bargain.
- nixus76 8mo agoGlad you found it! The webhook server + SSE stream is where it gets really fun – pipe your whole home's state into whatever you want. (SSE is coming in the next update along with Doorbell notifications)
- drcongo 8mo agoMy first thought when spotting that was to also put it on my always-on Mac Studio.
- FranklinJabar 8mo ago> I run 130+ HomeKit devices at home This is insane. I couldn't name a single homekit device if you put a gun to my head. Where do you find these things?
- drcongo 8mo agoThey sell them in shops.
- nixus76 8mo agoHonestly most smart home devices support HomeKit these days – lights (Philips Hue, IKEA), thermostats (Ecobee), locks (Yale, Schlage), blinds, cameras, sensors. And anything that doesn't can usually be bridged through Homebridge or Home Assistant. It adds up fast once you start – lights alone can be 50+ if you do every room.
- FranklinJabar 8mo agoWow. I thought it was just the speakers. Why don't they advertise this?
- galad87 8mo agoEvery device compatible with the Matter standard[1] can be used with Apple Home (and with every other solution that supports Matter, like Google and Amazon ones), so almost everything is compatible with everything out there. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matter_(standard) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matter_(standard)
- FranklinJabar 8mo agoWhy don't they advertise this? Crazy I've never heard of it.
- spiderfarmer 8mo agoDo you want to be taken seriously?
- petepete 8mo agoI'm nether a Mac or HomeKit user but this looks slick AF. Well done!
- nixus76 8mo agoThank you!
- spiderfarmer 8mo agoI’m going to install this as soon as I get back home.
- nixus76 8mo agoHope you like it!
- blokey 8mo agoLooks interesting. What's the difference between your app and Home Control: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/homecontrol-menu-for-homekit/id1547121417?mt=12 https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/homecontrol-menu-for-homekit/i... HomeControl Menu for HomeKit other than this ones yours!
- nixus76 8mo agoHome Control is a solid app and was actually one of the first in this space. The main differences are: Itsyhome is open source (MIT), has a built-in webhook server with SSE event streaming so you can integrate it into scripts and dashboards, supports deeplinks for Shortcuts/Raycast/Alfred, has a Stream Deck plugin, and a CLI tool. The base app is also completely free. Basically I built it for people who want to go beyond just toggling devices from the menu bar.
- blokey 8mo agoThank you for the reply and the time to write it. I'm probably going to stick with Home Control but I will download and pay for yours as well, mainly to show some support and possibly to switch! I do use Home Control via my Stream Deck, weirdly with Keyboard Maestro in the middle to receive the Stream Deck keypress and call the URI for Home Control, but there's a lot to like from what you've built.
- nixus76 8mo agoThanks! Give a try to Itsyhome Stream Deck plugin, it's in their markletplace, quite straightforward, just make sure to enable web server in Itsyhome settings.
- luthMan 8mo agoIs there a way to add devices to HomeKit with a MacBook without an IPhone?
- nixus76 8mo agoUnfortunately no – HomeKit pairing requires an iPhone or iPad. Apple doesn't support adding devices from macOS. Once they're added though, Itsyhome can control everything from your Mac.
- marceldegraaf 8mo agoHey, this looks great! I would love to test the Home Assistant version via TestFlight if that's possible; email is in my profile.
- nixus76 8mo agoPerfect – I will send the link shortly – waiting for the new build to be cleared by Apple.
- nickthegreek 8mo agobought pro immediately on just the idea of being able to integrate into HA!
- trymas 8mo agoWonder if OP is also an author of: https://www.mowglii.com/itsycal/ https://www.mowglii.com/itsycal/ , though looking at the website - probably not.
- nixus76 8mo agoNope, but I love it too! :) I'm the author of Itsyhome, Itsypad – https://itsypad.app https://itsypad.app (a tiny scratchpad & clipboard manager for macOS) and Itsytv - https://itsytv.app https://itsytv.app (the missing Apple TV remote for macOS).
- oulipo2 8mo agoItsypad looks really nice! Are there some plans to add an iOS keyboard to access the clipboard too? :)
- nixus76 8mo agoCould you clarify on this a bit? I am building iOS companion for Itsypad that would also sync scratch notes via iCloud sync, but keyboard idea seems interesting too – just not clear what's the desired outcome?
- oulipo2 8mo agoThe idea would be to share the clipboard between mac and iOS, and have a "clipboard keyboard" on iOS, so in an app, I can easily access my favorite clips and paste them (at least for text ones) Obviously, this would be even better if you could have different "paste lists" where I can "pin" some of my clips to a given list, and select which list I want in the keyboard That's how other "shared clipboard" apps work (at least Copy'Em, etc)
- roughfalls 8mo agoThis is so wonderfully done! Great icon choices & use of fill to indicate active devices. I love how you grouped accessories by category, and included temperature/humidity sensor readings next to thermostat controls. I instantly upgraded to Pro for the additional features!
- nixus76 8mo agoThanks so much! I'm obsessed with great UX, spent some time thinking how to lay it out properly.
- j4mie 8mo agoThis looks great! Question on the API/CLI - is there any provision for capturing frames (or even streams?) from Homekit cameras, or even triggering events or webhooks based on the cameras detecting motion?
- nixus76 8mo agoThe camera streams are HLS via AVFoundation – Apple doesn't expose raw frames, so no programmatic capture there. But motion detection events do flow through the SSE endpoint (/events), so you can use those to trigger webhooks or automations. For HA cameras there's also a snapshot endpoint you can hit on demand, e.g. when motion fires. SSE is in the upcoming 2.0.0 which is currently on TestFlight – happy to add you if you want to try it out.
- nanobuilds 8mo agoThis is really clean. Smart architecture and the convenience of having everything in the menu bar is top notch. My devices are in Alexa & Hue ecosystem right now. Any plans for integrating them in the future?
- nixus76 8mo agoThanks! Hue actually works with HomeKit natively – you can pair your Hue bridge in the Home app and then all your Hue lights show up in Itsyhome automatically. For Alexa-only devices, the Home Assistant integration (currently in beta) would cover most of them since HA supports pretty much everything.
- nanobuilds 7mo agoGood tips! thx and good luck with the project!
- jamesponddotco 8mo agoThis looks amazing, I'd love to try the Home Assistant version! Email is on my profile :)
- nixus76 8mo agoPerfect – expect the TF link in the e-mail soon!
- c-hendricks 8mo agoThis is amazing. Assuming yes, but is there any way to get a camera feed to automatically pop up if motion is detected?
- nixus76 8mo agoThanks – well, in theory yes. I will add this as a feature request to Git and consider how to implement it. There is update 1.3.1 pending review at Apple which introduces doorbell support – it opens camera feed when someone rings.
- sputge 8mo agoI would be very interested in testing the Home Assistant version! Recently I created a KOReader plugin that let's your control Home Assistant entities from an ebook reader and I am still missing something for my Mac.
- nixus76 8mo agoSure! Please e-mail me at nick@itsyhome.app and I will send you the TF link.