HAP specification too strict for horizontal awning

App & System Services General
piejanssens OP
Created May ’22
Replies 8
Boosts 5
Views 2.2k
Participants 10

Many customers of horizontal awnings complain that the logic is reversed. When the awning is extended it shows as closed and vice versa. When people talk or describe the state of the awning we say 'open' to extend and 'close' to retract. There are examples of people using it in scenes, or using Siri to ask to close all shutters and awnings, only to find the awnings fully extended the next morning after heavy rain. The overall status will also show the awnings 'Open' while they are not in use. This is all very annoying and confusing.

There doesn't seem to be a difference in language between English and French, Dutch, German, ... when describing the operation of an awning. One can quickly find videos and instructions on operating awnings when 'open' refers to extending the horizontal coverage and 'closing' refers to retracting the horizontal coverage.

Somfy (a manufacturer of motors for awnings and the Tahoma Switch = HomeKit Bridge) on their part claim that they cannot resolve this issue as they need to follow the HAP specification in order to pass HomeKit certification.

This characteristic describes the current position of accessories. This characteristic can be used with doors, windows, awnings or window coverings. For windows and doors, a value of 0 indicates that a window (or door) is fully closed while a value of 100 indicates a fully open position. For blinds/shades/awnings, a value of 0 indicates a position that permits the least light and a value of 100 indicates a position that allows most light.

-HAP specification 9.27 Current Position

This is where Somfy points to with the claim they are obliged to use value '100' when it's fully retracted (closed, reported as open in HomeKit) and '0' when it's fully extended (open, reported as closed in HomeKit).

Is this indeed a problem in the spec (i.e. should an awning's current position be determined like windows/doors?) or would Apple allow a manufacturer to interpret the spec according to what the user is expecting without loosing certification?

Replies  8
Boosts  5
Views  2.2k
Participants  10
Claude31 OP
May ’22

What I understand is that they consider awning as the cover of a shelter, or of swimming pool. So you close it to protect the shelter or cover the pool, which means it is fully deployed.

But you could file a bug report, at least to get an explanation.

A less confusing wording would be extended and retracted.

0
paulversteeg OP
Sep ’22

I experienced the same issue with the SUNEA io and the Tahoma Switch; The setting is reversed, meaning "retracted" is "open" within Homekit and "Deployed" is "closed in Homekit. @Apple & @Somfy, Please figure out a way to fix this.

Thank you,

Paul Versteeg

1
Carotolu OP
Apr ’23

Any news on a solution for this? It shouldn’t really be that difficult to add a button on the advanced section that inverts it. thanks carlos

0
ggpublic OP
May ’23

This is a real problem that not only affects the UX but will eventually damage awnings in circumstances when users asks to "close" all of their blinds' house while the weather is windy. In such case, their awning would "extend" and get crushed. I hears dozens of stories like this one. How come this topic, which has been reported a long time ago, is not sorted or at least considered ?

1
ybeaud OP
Jun ’23

That does not make any sense. So when I tell Siri to close my shades my horizontal awning is extending itself. Same with some scenario when I leave home, the horizontal awning goes down and if there is too much wind it may break it.

Please add a category horizontal awning that are not supposed to work as shades

1
Demonbase OP
Jul ’23

I'm also running into this issue, and would like to see this fixed. However, since there does not seem te be any response from Apple on this issue here on the forum, what would be the proper way to inform Apple about this?

0
mvmaastricht OP
Aug ’23

Same issue for me (and I think for everyone, because Apple does not seem to have been thinking about horizontal awnings, in which the logic "open" and "closed" are reversed as opposed to vertical blinds). For now I've deleted the standard Tahoma HomeKit support from my Home app, and use Homebridge on my Raspberry pi for Homekit support via the "Homebridge Tahoma" plugin. There, I checked the "reverse" checkmark. With that it works fine (and Siri actually opens the awning when I ask her to, in stead of the opposite).

0
pgielen OP
Apr ’24

Can we get a response for this. This behaver is real annoying

1
HAP specification too strict for horizontal awning
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