DIY: Homelink garage door opener via Siri

[albundy]

Just get a Meross and be done with it.

That would be an alternative except it requires the installation as showing in the video below. Have to find someone to do the work as I am not handy. Or just spend a few seconds using the MyQ app which has been 100% reliable and be done with that. lol

Sponsored

 

[albundy]

I just didn’t want to mess around with the wires and keeping things simple. Will see how this LiveKey & MyQ play out while resorting to taking a few seconds to push the button on the MyQ app for now.

 

[albundy]

Ok, I think I figure this out. This MyQ integration in LiveKey will work for 5 hours a day in the afternoon.

 

[vbmike73]

Ok, I think I figure this out. This MyQ integration in LiveKey will work for 5 hours a day in the afternoon.

haha yep same here! Just curious, are having to delete the integration and re-add it every time to get it to work, or are you bypassing that step?

 

[albundy]

haha yep same here! Just curious, are having to delete the integration and re-add it every time to get it to work, or are you bypassing that step?

I added and deleted the integration each time. Not sure if it would automatically comes back or not. We shall see.

 

[SCalmy]

I finally got it working again. After googling and reading several sites, I deleted and re-installed LiveKey. When adding the integration, type in the password for myQ. My iCloud Keychain was trying to use LiveKey for the MyQ log in. I was able to get passed the invalid credentials. After that I tested the shortcuts in the ShortCuts app. I've read others had to delete and recreate the shortcuts. Fingers crossed it stays working.

 

[albundy]

It has been working for over 2 weeks. Live and kicking!

 

[albundy]

It is down now.

 

[vbmike73]

It is down now.

Is this permanently down for you now as well? I can't even get into Simple Commands or LikeKey anymore. Looks like maybe their servers aren't online anymore.

 

[albundy]

Is this permanently down for you now as well? I can't even get into Simple Commands or LikeKey anymore. Looks like maybe their servers aren't online anymore.

Defuncted

 

[vbmike73]

Defuncted

Yeah that sucks. I ordered two of the Meross devices, but they're not as easy as everyone wants you to think. Mine are not working, so I had to contact support through email (no phone support) and they said I need an additional accessory to work with my openers. Waiting to hear if that's something I have to buy or they just send me.

 

[albundy]

Yeah that sucks. I ordered two of the Meross devices, but they're not as easy as everyone wants you to think. Mine are not working, so I had to contact support through email (no phone support) and they said I need an additional accessory to work with my openers. Waiting to hear if that's something I have to buy or they just send me.

Yes, that’s why I didn’t bother with Meross.

 

[JC-RH]

After trying the MyQ/Acura app for the 30-day trial, I was not impressed. It worked most of the time, even though I had the geo fence option setup. Sometimes it would pop up as I approached my house.

 

[albundy]

After trying the MyQ/Acura app for the 30-day trial, I was not impressed. It worked most of the time, even though I had the geo fence option setup. Sometimes it would pop up as I approached my house.

Thanks for letting us know and saving us from trying the 30-day trial. I guess it is just better to stick with the one button press to open and close until we get rid of the MyQ garage opener.

 

[vbmike73]

Yes, that’s why I didn’t bother with Meross.

So an update... I did finally get my Meross MSG100 working with my door. Finicky to set up, but once they are, they work. Had to contact Meross and have them send me an additional add-on accessory (free of charge) to connect to my Meross MSG100. It arrived amazingly quick, too. Basically, it's a battery-operated opener (like you'd clip to your visor) that hard-wires into the MSG100. You can program it by itself to your door, and the large button will open your door. Again, this is for my particular Chamberlain WiFi opener. Not all openers would require this, but if they do, Meross will support it and send you the add-on accessory. Once I confirmed that button opened my door, I hard-wired it to the connector on the MSG100 (which I'll tell you that the wire sequence does not matter, just hook both wires up). From that point on, the Meross app would open and close my door.

Now I should mention that I have no intent of ever using the Meross app since my Chamberlin is already a WiFi opener. I already have the MyQ app and get working notifications from that perfectly fine. Because of that, I did not connect the extra wires that came with my Meross MSG100 that check whether the door is open or closed. Meross will tell you these are required for operation, but in some cases like mine, they are not. My Meross until is not even physically connected to my opener. It is plugged into a USB base that sits in my office. The signal from my phone just needs to communicate to the Meross, which then essentially "pushes" the button on the accessory they sent that's hooked up to the Meross unit.

Since my Chamberlain is already a WiFi unit, I only wanted the Meross to be able to use Alexa to open my doors through routines (ever since Chamberlain decided to be @!%#$ and block their API to kill the Alexa skill). I also use location-based routines to open my door as soon as I enter my geofence, so it's opening when I come down my street. The only trick to this is you have to use a Custom Action in the Alexa Routine, which essentially tells Alexa whatever you would normally speak to Alexa, like open my door. I'll also mention that since I do not have the wires connected to the Meross unite to detect if the door is in the open or closed state (since the MyQ app does this already), the Meross app uses the same command and acts as a toggle. So my Alexa skill uses the close command for both open and closing. The only caveat (and disclaimer) to this is that if the door happens to be open (let's say by a family member) and I come home, my location-based routine will close the door. This will close the door with no warning, unlike the old MyQ Skill which caused the opener to beep several times as a warning. So it's VERY IMPORTANT to have the safety sensors working properly and the close force set adequately so the door will stop both when the sensors are tripped and if the door hits any resistance.

Hope this helps others. For $30 it was well worth it to have Alexa control back.

Sponsored