Linking a Honeywell Lyric Alarm System to HomeKit

Hey DIYers. I'm Jorge from Alarm Grid. Today we're going to be going over how to connect your Honeywell Lyric, well Resideo now to Apples HomeKit app. Now what HomeKit is, it's an app that you can download on your iOS device, whether it's an iPhone, a tablet. And with the HomeKit app, you actually be able to Control Home kit enabled devices. The Lyric, with the new firmware update, is capable of being controlled by HomeKit, however just a couple of things to keep in mind that I'm going to be going over in a second. First thing, HomeKit only works through Wi-Fi. All right, so if your Wi-Fi goes out and you're only using HomeKit, it won't work. Second thing, HomeKit, it comes on new Lyrics, however it does still need to be enabled by the monitoring company. If you have an old Lyric and you have an older firmware, you do need to get a firmware update which you can do from the panel. But either way, no matter if it's old or a new Lyric that's on the correct firmware, you still need to have it enabled by a monitoring company. These systems do not come with HomeKit enabled out of the box. The alarm company needs to enable it for you. Now if you're going to be monitored with us, we enable HomeKit on any of the plans. So it doesn't matter if you doing self monitoring or central station monitoring or a combination of both, we enable HomeKit on every single one of our plans. So if that's something that you guys want to do, feel free to go out and contact us and we can go out and get home kits set up for you. The third thing is what I was talking about before, the firmware, you need to make sure that the panel is on at least firmware version 1.07. If it is not on firmware 1.07, again, you can have your monitoring company send the firmware update manually from the Alarm Net 360 servers, or you can do it on the panel. I'm going to show you guys right now just a quick video on how to confirm, first of all, before you even try setting up HomeKit that you have the panel on the correct firmware. So the first thing we do is we're at the main screen. We're going to go ahead and hit Security. One second, sorry, my system just rebooted. I actually did a firmware update before the video. So there we go. I'm going to hit Security. I'm going to go to Tools. When I'm in Tools, I need to enter in my master code not my installer code. My master code, which is defaulted at 1234. If you enter in your installer code, you actually go into programming so make sure we enter in the master code right now. Next we're going to go to Advanced. From there we hit system information. And on the first line, you'll be able to see REV which is the revision of the panel. Mine just got updated to the newest one, which is 1.09. Yours, if it's lower, you will need to update it. Remember to use HomeKit, you need at least 1.07. All right, so I'm going to show you guys real quick. Hit OK. Back out to the main screen, back. And now I'm going to show you guys how to update the firmware from the panel, which does need to be connected to Wi-Fi by the way if you're going to be doing it. And you go to Tools. Now we enter in the installer code. My installer code is 4112. 4112, and right there you will see an update firmware button. If your panel is not up to date, then you can just go ahead and hit update firmware. The button will go gray, and then you just hit the Home key, the green key, to go back to the main screen. And the panel within about 15 to 30 minutes, depending on your Wi-Fi speed, and depending what revision you're going from and then too, it may be about 15, 30 minutes. Maybe a little bit longer. Again, they've revamped the system with so many firmware. They come out at least every quarter of the year, so sometimes they do introduce new features which take a little bit longer to download so it's just something to keep in mind. So after you've confirmed that you're on the correct firmware, that your panel is connected to the Wi-Fi, you've updated the firmware, and that the HomeKit feature has been enabled on your panel from an alarm company, now you can go ahead and grab your tablet or your iOS device tablet or iPhone. All right, so today I want to be using my iPad. And let me go ahead and open it up. Very first thing you guys want to make sure you do, the tablet, make sure it's connected to the same Wi-Fi network that your alarm system is connected to. If they're not connected to the same Wi-Fi network, it will not work. All right. So after you've confirmed the same Wi-Fi, you now want to make sure that you go ahead and have the HomeKit app downloaded. All right, some people may already have it on their phone, which is perfect. If you do not have it on your phone, then you will need to go to your app store and download the home app. Give me just one moment while I get my tablet set up here. All right, now I have my tablet set up. I have it connected to the same Wi-Fi network that the Lyric system is connected to. And I have my home app downloaded, which I'm going to go ahead and open. It should be cleared. I haven't added any devices, so I'm starting fresh for HomeKit. The first thing you're going to need to do is go ahead and hit Add accessory. When you hit Add accessory, the HomeKit app is going to ask you to scan the little HomeKit barcode but we don't have a code and we can't scan it, so we're going to hit the little orange option right there underneath that says don't have a code or can't scan, question mark. You hit that option, and then it's going to give you all the nearby accessories that have HomeKit enabled and that are connected to the same Wi-Fi network. As you see, I have two Lyrics as my nearby accessories. I'm going to select the Lyric that's right here. You obviously will only have one because you'll be dealing with one in your home or business. So I'm going to go ahead and hit on my Lyric. It's going to ask me to enter the HomeKit setup code. At the same time, my panel is going to ask me to authorize the pairing code. You're going to need to enter in your master code on the Lyric system. So my master code right now is defaulted at 1234. It's going to give me a numerical code. Now I can either type it in manually or I can simply do the use camera, and then I can scan the number and it's pretty quick actually. It identifies 18546147, and then it starts adding the Lyric system to HomeKit. And it has been added. Now you can go ahead. You can click on the Lyric name. You can delete it and put whatever you want. I'll put video room Lyric. The room you can play around with the rooms, dining room, living room, bedroom. This is if you have like, let's say, lights, switches, anything like that around the house, you can always switch the room. And I'm just going to hit done. Now I have my HomeKit app. I have my Lyric system learned into my HomeKit. And if I use my HomeKit, I'm just going to press and hold on the Lyric. I'm going to hit Arm Away, and it's instantaneously you'll see the Lyric system arms. Away. Armed away. Exit now. I can do off. Disarmed. Rest to arm. Time. Now the HomeKit app, there aren't any censors learned into the home kit app right now, because my panel does not have any sensors in it. But if I had front doors, windows, motions, anything that's programmed as an entry/exit perimeter, Interior Follower, or interior with delay, those will all come up in the HomeKit up. Now those are usually doors, windows or motion sensors so those will come up in the HomeKit app. Now one important thing that I did mention earlier about your iPad being on the same Wi-Fi network as your Lyric Alarm system, some people may just be getting monitoring, and they may just be using the HomeKit app to control the alarm system. Something important. And if you want to have remote control of your Lyric system through HomeKit, you do need to have a HomeKit hub at the house. Now I believe that can be an Apple TV can be used as a HomeKit hub, and an iPad that's on the correct firmware version can also be used on the HomeKit hub. But again, as a HomeKit hub. But again, remember they have to be connected to the same Wi-Fi network. If the Wi-Fi goes down for any reason, the power goes out, HomeKit will not work. Now, if you're being monitored only, that's perfectly fine because the system is still going to be able to send out signals as long as you have a steady or backup communicator. And then the other thing to keep in mind is HomeKit is not really a substitute for Total Connect 2.0. Total Connect 2.0 is Honeywell's application that you actually use for the Lyric alarm system if you're on the correct plan. Now most people will substitute HomeKit for Total Connect not knowing that HomeKit only works on Wi-Fi. There is no steady option for HomeKit. Total Connect on the other hand, if you have Wi-Fi and settier, and the Wi-Fi goes down, Total Connect will still continue working on steadier path. Which is why we always recommend if you're planning on you're interacting with your system remotely, always still get Total Connect 2.0 in your monitoring plan. The only time you should really, really want to get HomeKit is if you have a HomeKit devices such as lights, switches, thermostats, locks, and you want to be able to create scenes with your HomeKit devices based on the status of your alarm system. So for instance, I might have everything in my house HomeKit-- lights, locks, thermostats, and I'm looking for a system that does HomeKit. Well the Lyric would work you can bridge them all together and you can make a scene so where if the system, the Lyric system is set to Arm Away. You can have your thermostats raise the temperature, your locks will lock, your lights will turn on or off. Different people have different scenes that they're going to be creating, but that really is the only thing HomeKit really should be used for. Obviously you can use it to arm or disarm, but you should not rely on it to give you notifications as Total Connect would be the best option for that. Now if you guys have any questions regarding the HomeKit and getting it set up to the Lyric system, feel free to send us an email to support@alarmgrid.com. if you guys found the video helpful, make sure you hit like underneath, subscribe to the YouTube channel, and hit the little bell icon so when we upload new content you guys get notified. I'm Jorge, and I'll see you guys next time.