Home Connect Local
Why local
Section titled “Why local”Home Connect is the app and cloud service that Bosch and Siemens appliances use. Most ways of getting these appliances into Apple Home go through that cloud. With those, Homebridge signs in to your Home Connect account, and every change travels from your fridge to a server on the internet and back.
This plugin skips the cloud. It talks to your fridge or freezer directly over your home network, the network your router creates for the devices in your home.
- No account on your Homebridge machine. You never type your Home Connect login into Homebridge, and Homebridge stores no Home Connect token.
- Nothing breaks when the internet is down. If your internet connection or the Home Connect cloud stops working, your fridge keeps working in the Home app.
- Changes come straight from the appliance. When you open the door or change the temperature, the appliance sends the new state to Homebridge over your home network.
One step does use the internet. You download each appliance’s profile once, on a desktop or laptop computer, with your Home Connect login. A profile is a small file that describes the appliance and holds the key it uses for local connections. After that, Homebridge never contacts the Home Connect cloud.
How it compares
Section titled “How it compares”| Home Connect Local | Cloud-based plugins | |
|---|---|---|
| Account stored on the Homebridge host | None | Required (a sign-in token) |
| Works with the internet down | Yes | No |
| Cloud rate limits | None | Yes |
| State updates | Pushed by the appliance over your home network | Via the cloud |
| Setup effort | One extra step, done once | Sign in |
Before you decide
Section titled “Before you decide”- Fridges and freezers only. It works with fridges, freezers and fridge-freezers. It does not control ovens, dishwashers, washing machines, coffee machines or any other Home Connect appliance.
- Tested on two appliances. It has been tested on one fridge, a Bosch KSN36VICG, and one freezer, a Bosch GSN36VICG. Other models have not been tested yet.
- The profile download needs the cloud, once. For that one step you need your Home Connect login, an internet connection and a desktop or laptop computer.
- Not official. This project is not affiliated with, endorsed by or supported by BSH Hausgeräte GmbH, the company behind Bosch, Siemens and Home Connect.
- This site counts page views. It uses Umami, an analytics tool that the plugin’s author hosts. It sets no cookies and stores nothing in your browser. To group the pages of one visit, it makes an anonymous code from your IP address, your browser’s description and a secret value that changes every month. The code is made with this site’s own ID, so it does not link your visits here to any other site. It does not count you if your browser sends Do Not Track. The plugin itself sends nothing anywhere. Security and privacy has the details.