Eve Button, a button to control HomeKit

Today we tested an accessory that add a physical button to HomeKit, with which you can control accessories and environments. What use can it have? It sure surprises you.

A button for HomeKit?

It may be one of the reactions that many of you have when you know about this Eve Button. Isn't it just the opposite with HomeKit? Home automation seeks to eliminate physical buttons and control everything through automations or with our own voice, but there are times when a physical button is comfortable, very comfortable, and even more so when it is not a conventional button, but a home automation button. like the one offered by this Eve Button. A single button with which we can execute three different actions, either activate one or more accessories, or run environments.

It is a small and light accessory, thanks to the aluminum and plastic with which it is built. Its square shape has an anodized aluminum frame that is very reminiscent of the iPhone 5, with beveled and shiny edges. In the previous part we can see the logo of «Eve» and the central button, a mechanical button that when pressed illuminates a small red led. On the back we find the battery housing, a small Cr2032 easily replaceable when used.

Thanks to Bluetooth connectivity, the autonomy with a single battery is about 6 months, although obviously it will vary depending on how we use the button. The HomeKit protocol has improved a lot and the delay that Bluetooth devices suffered at first no longer exists. What we must bear in mind is that the range will be limited, about 10 meters more or less, so the button cannot be too far from our accessories center, unless we use the extensive coverage that Eve offers us and that we analyze in this article.

Eve includes four small rubber stickers in the box that can be glued to the Eve Button so that it does not slip on the surface on which we place it and so that it does not damage it if we place it on a delicate surface. Its size is small enough that we can leave it almost anywhere.

Control of accessories and environments

The configuration of this device in HomeKit is done with the well-known procedure of scanning the QR code on the back and following the steps that the Home application is giving us. We find an extra step that in other devices we do not have: the configuration of the actions of this button. We can configure three different actions: a single press, double press and hold. Each of these actions can control one or more accessories, or an environment.

My configuration consists of turning on the two amps in my living room with an intensity of 50% one and another of 30% by making a single press of the button. When I press twice, the movie environment is activated, in which my lights are dimmed to watch TV in a more pleasant environment. And finally, the one that most of my family uses: Good evening, with which I have finally managed to make no one at home use the physical switches of the lamps, which caused my automations to stop working. Now they hold down the Eve button and everything shuts down, and finally everyone is happy at home, without having to convince anyone to use the HomePod or their mobile to turn off the lights.

By supuesto we can also use Eve's excellent app to configure the device. Its interface is quite different but it is a really good application that you can download for free from the App Store (link) and that also allows you to control any device, not just those of the Eve brand.

Editor's opinion

In an ideal world where we all use HomeKit the way it's not supposed to be, a product like Eve Button might not make sense. But in my particular case, this physical button has given me what I was missing: a HomeKit device that everyone at home agrees to use. Finally my lights work as they should, my automations are always ready and my environments available, thanks to the fact that everyone turns off the lights using HomeKit, not the physical switches of the lamps. Also, I also end up using it on many occasions. For € 31 it costs on Amazon (link) no more conflicts with HomeKit at home.