Device categories occasionally revert (“Fans” → “Lights”)

Bug Report

Describe the Bug

The Ring app for iOS allows you to specify a category for certain devices:

Occasionally, after restarting homebridge-ring, I see messages like this in my logs:

Pruning unused service 00000040-0000-1000-8000-0026BB765291 Living Room Ceiling Fan from Living Room Ceiling Fan

This message indicates that my “Living Room Ceiling Fan” fan device was removed from the Home app. In its place, homebridge-ring has created a new light device. When I check “Living Room Ceiling Fan”’s category in the Ring app, I see that it has been reset from “Fans” back to “Lights” (the default).

Is it possible homebridge-ring is inadvertently overriding device categories on startup?

To Reproduce

Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Add a device to the Ring app (for testing purposes, this can be a light device like the GE Z-Wave Plus Dimmer Switch or an actual fan control like the GE Z-Wave Plus Fan Control).
2. In the Ring app, set the device’s “category” to “Fans“.
3. Restart homebridge-ring. Notice that the device is successfully added to HomeKit as a fan.
4. Wait.
5. Restart homebridge-ring. It’s possible your device now shows up as a light in the Home and Ring apps.

This describes the circumstances in which I experience the issue. Unfortunately, I don’t have a more specific repro step 4. I’m not sure how much time must elapse, or whether time is incidental to the actual cause.

Expected behavior

I expect devices I configure as “Fans” to remain as “Fans” and not revert to “Lights”.

Screenshots/Logs

To workaround this issue, I set the device category back to “Fans” in the Ring app, then restart homebridge-ring. Then, messages like this appear in my logs, showing that the errant light device is removed (a fan device appears in its place):

Pruning unused service 00000043-0000-1000-8000-0026BB765291 Living Room Ceiling Fan from Living Room Ceiling Fan

Additional context

I run homebridge-ring as a launchd service: com.homebridge.ring.plist

Homebridge Ring Config

{
  "bridge": {
    "name": "Homebridge Ring",
    "username": "02:00:00:00:00:00",
    "port": 50000,
    "pin": "000-00-000"
  },
  "description": "Homebridge Ring",
  "accessories": [],
  "platforms": [{
    "platform": "Ring",
    "refreshToken": "[snip]",
    "hideCameraSirenSwitch": true,
    "hideAlarmSirenSwitch": true,
    "hideDoorbellSwitch": true
  }]
}

Environment

• OS: macOS Catalina 10.15.4
• Node.js: 12.16.3
• Yarn: 1.22.4
• homebridge-ring: 8.1.0
• homebridge: 1.0.4

[smockle]

Incidentally, since connecting outlets to my Ring Alarm (which inspired #493), I’ve also noticed outlets occasionally revert to lights.

[dgreif]

@smockle I completely agree with your logic. There are simply too many issues with handling this bug on the homebridge side. 🤞 maybe Ring will fix it some day