Glitchy and Unreliable HomeLink: A Work Around... Alexa->LiveKey->MyQ apps

[izNos]

I've had alot of difficulty with HomeLink in general. Even with geofencing, the touch screen activation of both a gate activation and garage activation are glitichy. The signal seems to bounce a bit and the devices aren't nearly as responsive as when I use the manufacturer remote or HomeLink on other cars I've owned with physical buttons. I've always had the MyQ app which allows my LiftMaster devices to work seamlessly through my phone via cellular or WiFi signal. This morning at the Lucid Owner's meet up at the new Plano/Legacy West studio, I met 2 other owners with similar complaints.

A good workaround for this is to use Alexa in the car to activate the MyQ app. Problem is that MyQ is not compatible with Alexa. A little googling and I found this workaround using another app called LiveKey that is free. The site below maps out how to get it to work.

Note: The instructions included use a program SimpleCommand which is now defunct and has become LiveKey. It works essentially the same way except with that substitution.

Connect MyQ to Alexa: FAIL

UPDATE 11/14/20203: Chamberlain shuts down 3rd party API access This article used to be a tutorial on how to use the SimpleCommands app to connect MyQ to Alexa. This was the best, free method to connect MyQ to Alexa. It allowed you to open and close your garage door with Alexa commands. However...

thesmartcave.com

It took me about 15 mins to set it all up for both open and close commands for both my Gate and Garage door openers. A simple "Alexa- Open Gate" when I'm pulling up to my house now works perfectly and consistently.

 

[Bobby]

I've had alot of difficulty with HomeLink in general. Even with geofencing, the touch screen activation of both a gate activation and garage activation are glitichy. The signal seems to bounce a bit and the devices aren't nearly as responsive as when I use the manufacturer remote or HomeLink on other cars I've owned with physical buttons. I've always had the MyQ app which allows my LiftMaster devices to work seamlessly through my phone via cellular or WiFi signal. This morning at the Lucid Owner's meet up at the new Plano/Legacy West studio, I met 2 other owners with similar complaints.

A good workaround for this is to use Alexa in the car to activate the MyQ app. Problem is that MyQ is not compatible with Alexa. A little googling and I found this workaround using another app called LiveKey that is free. The site below maps out how to get it to work.

Note: The instructions included use a program SimpleCommand which is now defunct and has become LiveKey. It works essentially the same way except with that substitution.

Connect MyQ to Alexa: FAIL

UPDATE 11/14/20203: Chamberlain shuts down 3rd party API access This article used to be a tutorial on how to use the SimpleCommands app to connect MyQ to Alexa. This was the best, free method to connect MyQ to Alexa. It allowed you to open and close your garage door with Alexa commands. However...

thesmartcave.com

It took me about 15 mins to set it all up for both open and close commands for both my Gate and Garage door openers. A simple "Alexa- Open Gate" when I'm pulling up to my house now works perfectly and consistently.

MyQ is compatible with HomeLink (the Home app) on your iPhone. “Hey Siri open the garage” works just fine.

 

[izNos]

it does, but I wanted it through Alexa so I can use the steering wheel activation button and do it though the car.

 

[HC_79]

One thing to also note is LED globes can interfere with the garage door frequency and prevent things like homelink devices from opening the door. I had this issue on my previous Audi sporadically not opening the door and once I switched out the globe it worked with no issues.

I just remembered this as I installed 5000+ programmable RGB\LED lights on my house the past week and it's basically stopped the door from responding to homelink until the car is practically touching the door.

 

[Bunnylebowski]

MyQ is compatible with HomeLink (the Home app) on your iPhone. “Hey Siri open the garage” works just fine.View attachment 6896

How did you get MyQ to work with HomeKit? I had to set up a Homebridge to get it to work.

 

[Alex]

How did you get MyQ to work with HomeKit? I had to set up a Homebridge to get it to work.

I don't know how he did it, but I used a "LiftMaster MYQ 819LMB MyQ Home Bridge." It's a discontinued product now, but Amazon still sells it:

https://www.amazon.com/LiftMaster-MYQ-819LMB-Home-Bridge/dp/B075RQVSY7

 

[Bunnylebowski]

I don't know how he did it, but I used a "LiftMaster MYQ 819LMB MyQ Home Bridge." It's a discontinued product now, but Amazon still sells it:

https://www.amazon.com/LiftMaster-MYQ-819LMB-Home-Bridge/dp/B075RQVSY7

Yeah I have the HOOBS box so just downloaded their MyQ homebridge and it worked. But it would be nice to cut out homebridge entirely.

 

[Alex]

Yeah I have the HOOBS box so just downloaded their MyQ homebridge and it worked. But it would be nice to cut out homebridge entirely.

I guess we are taking about 2 different "HomeBridges":

1. https://homebridge.io/ – works with a variety of devices
2. https://www.amazon.com/LiftMaster-MYQ-819LMB-Home-Bridge/dp/B075RQVSY7 – works only with MyW devices

Since HOOBS box is just an abstraction layer on top of homebridge.io, it's currently easier and cheaper to just run homebridge.io on a Raspberry pi. I may just do that for my vacation home rather than a Liftmaster Home Bridge.

 

[Bunnylebowski]

I guess we are taking about 2 different "HomeBridges":

1. https://homebridge.io/ – works with a variety of devices
2. https://www.amazon.com/LiftMaster-MYQ-819LMB-Home-Bridge/dp/B075RQVSY7 – works only with MyW devices

Since HOOBS box is just an abstraction layer on top of homebridge.io, it's currently easier and cheaper to just run homebridge.io on a Raspberry pi. I may just do that for my vacation home rather than a Liftmaster Home Bridge.

Yeah I got HOOBS cuz I wanted the simplified UI so I wouldn’t have to spend as much time on it cuz I don’t understand programmer brain haha. HOOBS was super easy, just plug in and follow instructions. But yeah it’s basically a RaspberryPi for a lot more $ with better packaging/interface.

 

[Pishster]

I did the LiveKey and it works well. What works even better now that we have CarPlay is connecting Siri with LiveKey.

https://livekey.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4420815939213-Apple-Shortcut-Control