Contact Sensor not seen as actual sensor in homekit

Hi i have created a contact sensor which is kinda working but i have two issues.

In the homekit app in IOS 10, i do see it as a contact sensor and it shows the correct state. but when i go to the automation tab, the option “A sensor detects something” is still grayed out. i was kinda hoping that once i have one sensor in homekit i could use this.

On the background, the sensor state is read every second, but in the IOS application it’s only updated when it’s refreshed from the IOS app. Is there a way to publish the state to all devices, so i see a state change in the homescreen once a door has been opened.

Here is the code of the contact sensor i’m using

var Accessory = require('../').Accessory;
var Service = require('../').Service;
var Characteristic = require('../').Characteristic;
var uuid = require('../').uuid;
var wpi = require('wiring-pi');

var DeurSensorPin=22; //sensor 2 GPIO25 
var lastState=0;
// here's a door device that we'll expose to HomeKit
var DOOR = {
  open: false,
  sensor: 0,
  read: function(){
    wpi.setup('phys');
    wpi.pinMode(DeurSensorPin,wpi.INPUT)
    var DeurSensorValue = wpi.digitalRead(DeurSensorPin);
    //console.log('read sensor',DeurSensorValue);
    DOOR.sensor=DeurSensorValue;
    if(DOOR.sensor==0){
       DOOR.open=false;
       if(lastState!=false){
         console.log('door is closed');
         lastState=false;
       }
    }else{
       DOOR.open=true;
       if(lastState!=true){
       console.log('door is open');
       lastState=true;
       }
    }
  },wait: function() {
     var seconds=1;
     var waitTill = new Date(new Date().getTime() + seconds * 1000);
     while(waitTill > new Date()){}
  },
  identify: function() {
    console.log("Identify the door!");
  }
}

// Generate a consistent UUID for our Lock Accessory that will remain the same even when
// restarting our server. We use the `uuid.generate` helper function to create a deterministic
// UUID based on an arbitrary "namespace" and the word "door".
var doorUUID = uuid.generate('hap-nodejs:accessories:contactsensor');

// This is the Accessory that we'll return to HAP-NodeJS that represents our door
var door = exports.accessory = new Accessory('ContactSensor', doorUUID);

// Add properties for publishing (in case we're using Core.js and not BridgedCore.js)
door.username = "AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:01";
door.pincode = "314-00-000";

// set some basic properties (these values are arbitrary and setting them is optional)
door
  .getService(Service.AccessoryInformation)
  .setCharacteristic(Characteristic.Manufacturer, "Door Sensor")
  .setCharacteristic(Characteristic.Model, "Nemef")
  .setCharacteristic(Characteristic.SerialNumber, "1");

// listen for the "identify" event for this Accessory
door.on('identify', function(paired, callback) {
  DOOR.identify();
  callback(); // success
});

door
   .addService(Service.ContactSensor,"Binnen Deur Sensor")
   .getCharacteristic(Characteristic.ContactSensorState)
   .on('get', function(callback) {
    DOOR.read();
    // return our current value
    callback(null, DOOR.open);
});

setInterval(function() {  
  DOOR.read()
  
  // update the characteristic value so interested iOS devices can get notified
   door
    .getService(Service.ContactSensor)
    .getCharacteristic(Characteristic.ContactSensorState, DOOR.open);  
}, 1000);

[ebaauw]

I think this is a limitation of Apple’s Home app, not of HomeKit. Using another app, like Eve, you should be able to define triggers on any characteristic with notify permission.

[viictor924]

Hi @madcat-nl, I was wondering if you were ever able to figure out the “when sensor detects something” automation rule. I heard this was a new feature in iOS 11 but I wasn’t able to figure it out.

I’ve got a temperature and humidity sensor connected to homekit but the “sensor detects something” automation is still grayed out. I was able to use the EVE app as a workaround but it would be nice if it was all done via the Home app.

FYI, I use a dht22 sensor via homebridge using this plugin: https://github.com/NorthernMan54/homebridge-dht