They support HomeKit and while their own API technically isn't open, it's documented and has libraries to interact with it programmatically.
The downside of Zigbee is that, as a user, there isn't a strong ecosystem of DIY IoT solutions like there is with, for example, the wifi-connected ESP8266/ESP32 chips. And, of course, it requires a hub and some degree of knowledge to set up.
At the moment I'm evaluating launching a small IoT startup/side-business in an underserved market. As much as I love Zigbee, these devices will probably end up being wifi. I'm not an expert in the hardware side of things, and the ability to pay <$1 for an ESP chip that does everything I need off the shelf is great, and I don't want to create a hub or require users to buy a (often $80+) hub just for my set of (<=$5) devices.
Although it'll be wifi-based, I plan to make these guarantees:
- The cloud service (supported by a small yearly subscription) will stay online for at least 1 year after the last device is sold.
- When the service is shut down, its software and hardware will be released under an open source license.
- The subscription fee will never be increased faster than inflation rate.
- 3rd party analytics software won't be used and data will never be shared with 3rd parties (outside from Stripe during checkout). In all cases a minimum amount of data will be collected.
Maybe this'll make my product slightly less likely to appear on the @internetofshit Twitter account[2].
It's a really nice standard, I hope it takes off.
Edit: oh and it has already taken off as much as it will, the ZigBee alliance is working on a an ipv6 based standard.
Luckily, as you probably know, you can connect all those different protocols together with homeassistant. So you can use pre-built solutions for some devices and DIY for others and still easily connect them.
But if you do go Wi-Fi, why use a cloud service at all? Is there a specific reason not to go with mDNS/DNS-SD and handle everything on the local network?
[0] https://www.ikea.com/de/de/p/tradfri-gateway-weiss-40337806/
Do you mean they don't as a matter of manufacturing, or that you have blocked them yourself? (I ask because I am also interested in getting some lights, but would also like them to be local-network-only.)
Typically, manufacturers sell you a "bridge" or "gateway", which is a networked device including such a transceiver. You could isolate this single device from accessing the internet or you could just not rely on any closed option. You can buy a USB Zigbee transceiver for 30 EUR and use it with your PC or a Raspberry Pi.
