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Ignite TV Home Automation API

stepy2015
I plan to stick around

I think it would be great for Ignite TV to have some sort of an API preferably locally for interacting with the devices.

 

It would be great to be able to control my Ignite TV from my home automation hub (Home Assistant) and have it report back information such as play/pause status and what channel we are currently watching for use in automations, this is something you simply cannot do with IR commands and with the disappearance of the Harmony remote I think now is a good time for Rogers/Comcast to start opening up the platform.

 

Another great idea would be to give us some sort of phone status API endpoint so we could tell when someone is calling and who it is, so for example, I could use that in my home automation system to mute all the speakers in my house.

 

For the average consumer Rogers/Comcast should start thinking about Google Home/Alexa integration as it could prove very useful, I am shocked at how good the voice remote actually is, the only downside I can think of right now is the lack of handsfree control, which can easily be solved with a Google Home/Alexa integration furthermore this could serve as a accessibility feature as it will enable those who may have had difficulty using a remote the ability to use their voice to control their TV

 

 

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Re: Ignite TV Home Automation API

-G-
Resident Expert
Resident Expert

@stepy2015 wrote:

I think it would be great for Ignite TV to have some sort of an API preferably locally for interacting with the devices.


That would be really cool.  The good news is that Comcast has been working on integration for Home Automation for a number of years already.  They acquired Stringify a few years ago and they already have their own Home Automation product offering.

 

 

It would be great to be able to control my Ignite TV from my home automation hub (Home Assistant) and have it report back information such as play/pause status and what channel we are currently watching for use in automations, this is something you simply cannot do with IR commands and with the disappearance of the Harmony remote I think now is a good time for Rogers/Comcast to start opening up the platform.


The Comcast set-top boxes can be controlled over the network and some have written code to integrate with them:

 

However, I don't think that this functionality is enabled in the Rogers Ignite set-top boxes.

 

 

Another great idea would be to give us some sort of phone status API endpoint so we could tell when someone is calling and who it is, so for example, I could use that in my home automation system to mute all the speakers in my house.


I believe that Comcast has does have some level of integration for Home Phone, through their own framework, and this is how their On-screen Call Display is implemented.  However, I don't think that Rogers uses Comcast's solution for Home Phone, at least not end-to-end, and because Rogers definitely does have their own existing gear in the mix, I suspect that this is also why we do not have on-screen call display yet, especially if Rogers needs to write code that is compatible with Comcast's implementation.

 

 

For the average consumer Rogers/Comcast should start thinking about Google Home/Alexa integration as it could prove very useful, I am shocked at how good the voice remote actually is, the only downside I can think of right now is the lack of handsfree control, which can easily be solved with a Google Home/Alexa integration furthermore this could serve as a accessibility feature as it will enable those who may have had difficulty using a remote the ability to use their voice to control their TV


Comcast also has an Xfinity Stream client that runs on Fire TV sticks, and that also allows integration through Alexa... but Rogers does not offer such a thing yet either.

 

I suspect that we will have a Home Automation offering that integrates with Ignite TV some day, but most likely in the form of a product offering that we would have to pay for.

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Re: Ignite TV Home Automation API

Don_Ca
I'm a senior contributor
That would be great. Talk to Comcast, they make the platform Rogers uses and are the ones that would enable this to hapen.

Re: Ignite TV Home Automation API

-G-
Resident Expert
Resident Expert

@stepy2015 wrote:

I think it would be great for Ignite TV to have some sort of an API preferably locally for interacting with the devices.


That would be really cool.  The good news is that Comcast has been working on integration for Home Automation for a number of years already.  They acquired Stringify a few years ago and they already have their own Home Automation product offering.

 

 

It would be great to be able to control my Ignite TV from my home automation hub (Home Assistant) and have it report back information such as play/pause status and what channel we are currently watching for use in automations, this is something you simply cannot do with IR commands and with the disappearance of the Harmony remote I think now is a good time for Rogers/Comcast to start opening up the platform.


The Comcast set-top boxes can be controlled over the network and some have written code to integrate with them:

 

However, I don't think that this functionality is enabled in the Rogers Ignite set-top boxes.

 

 

Another great idea would be to give us some sort of phone status API endpoint so we could tell when someone is calling and who it is, so for example, I could use that in my home automation system to mute all the speakers in my house.


I believe that Comcast has does have some level of integration for Home Phone, through their own framework, and this is how their On-screen Call Display is implemented.  However, I don't think that Rogers uses Comcast's solution for Home Phone, at least not end-to-end, and because Rogers definitely does have their own existing gear in the mix, I suspect that this is also why we do not have on-screen call display yet, especially if Rogers needs to write code that is compatible with Comcast's implementation.

 

 

For the average consumer Rogers/Comcast should start thinking about Google Home/Alexa integration as it could prove very useful, I am shocked at how good the voice remote actually is, the only downside I can think of right now is the lack of handsfree control, which can easily be solved with a Google Home/Alexa integration furthermore this could serve as a accessibility feature as it will enable those who may have had difficulty using a remote the ability to use their voice to control their TV


Comcast also has an Xfinity Stream client that runs on Fire TV sticks, and that also allows integration through Alexa... but Rogers does not offer such a thing yet either.

 

I suspect that we will have a Home Automation offering that integrates with Ignite TV some day, but most likely in the form of a product offering that we would have to pay for.

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