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by jrnichols 559 days ago
3 ceiling fans by "Carro USA." Supposed to be compatible with smart assistants, turns out there are Siri Shortcuts and that's it. The backend is Tuya, but "Smart Life" which isn't compatible with any of the Homebridge plugins that I have. So aside from using the absolutely horrible Tuya app, or the Carro app (which is simply the Tuya app rebranded) there's no way to digitally control these fans. The smart ceiling fan market is a mess, and so many of the manufacturers rely on what is essentially bargain basement garbage from China. It's sorely disappointing.

Also, the Boxee Box. Worked great with Boxee for a little bit, and then it all fell apart and Boxee ceased to exist.
1 comments
stwr 558 days ago
Have you checked if it can be flashed with Tasmota/ESPhome, etc? I believe it can be integrated with homekit.

I used to obsess back in the XBMC days (my teens) about boxee and the boxee box (never bought it) thanks for the blast from the past!

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jrnichols 553 days ago
I did look into something like that, and someone did accomplish it with a similar model.

https://1projectaweek.com/blog/2022/2/8/converting-a-carro-h...

I also realized that the skill necessary to accomplish this was way above my comfort level. I did see a product called the Bond Bridge Pro that has good reviews. The FCC ID for the fans isn't listed in their database yet but it may still work. I haven't had the time to dig further into it.

XBMC was a lot of fun back in the old days. As I got older, I definitely got lazier with stuff like that, went to an Apple TV, and was happy there. :)

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