Nathan Chauhan

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Nathan

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Chauhan

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Maintenance Supervisor

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Hospitality Digital Media

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**As of 8/23/2021, due to MyQ Chamberlain making changes to their login, this procedure does not work. I’ll post back when there is a fix.**

**New info as of 09/01/2021 (go to the bottom)

I’ve always thought Siri was lame compared to Alexa. Siri Shortcuts have totally changed my mind about that. In case you don’t know about Shortcuts they were introduced at the Apple WWDC in 2018 for iOS 12 and above. (I’ve decided I will use iOS to mean both iOS or iPadOS.) Shortcuts automate things and available for many things. The official Apple Shortcuts are referred to as Trusted. Shortcuts from third parties, since they are untested officially by Apple are referred to as Untrusted Shortcuts. Use them at your own risk, but in many cases, using some common sense, Untrusted Shortcuts just make life simpler. The best analogy I can offer is if you’ve ever gone to macscipter.net to get AppleScript help, same difference. On your iPhone, you will have to enable Untrusted Shortcuts. From Settings, go to Shortcuts then enable it here:

I’ve found two different versions of the MyQ garage Shortcuts. The first, you’ll have to input your myliftmaster.com email address, password and name of your device (it’s displayed when you login to myliftmaster.com) on all three Shortcuts, Open, Close & Toggle. But, those Shortcuts also work on Apple Watch whereas, for me, the improved Shortcuts work on the iPhone but not the Apple Watch. The improved ones have one Shortcut where you enter your myliftmaster.com info, then the working Shortcuts, Open, Close, Status & Hub use the info in the Setup Shortcut.

As from the Can Alexa Control my MyQ Garage Door Opener? post, if you use SimpleCommands with a location trigger, you’ll never have to talk to either Siri or Alexa. But, using your iPhone or Apple Watch can be much easier and perhaps more reliable than your Echo device. (I’ve had an Echo Auto since before they were released in the general population and it’s routinely flakey.) Now, you have a choice.

July 15, 2021 Addendum

If you discovered the shortcuts are no longer working as of this date, it’s because MyQ changed the API. Go into the shortcut and change the API text to JVM/G9Nwih5BwKgNCjLxiFUQxQijAebyyg8QUHr7JOrP+tuPb8iHfRHKwTmDzHOu, This will work, and with the newer Automation control in Shortcuts, you can automate this via Geofencing and you don’t need SimpleCommands, Alexa or Google Assistant for it to work.

September 1, 2021 Addendum

There has not been a fix posted as of this date related to the original post and Siri Shortcuts. But there is a workaround with additional capabilities.

The HomeBridge project was designed to provide integration for smart home devices which are not natively supported by HomeKit. This includes MyQ as well as several other popular brands. At the bottom of the linked page, you’ll find installers for a variety of operating systems, including macOS and Windows. Simply click the OS you need. This will take you to a GitHub page with easy to follow instructions. Should take the average person, even someone who may not be all that comfortable with technology, about 10-15 minutes total. One caveat, HomeBridge does need to run as a constant service, so if you have a computer that pretty much runs 24/7, then this is a great solution.

Once installed, you can search for the MyQ plugin or any other plugin which is supported. I added MyQ, TP-Link Kasa and Wyze. Now, a bunch of my devices can be controlled by Siri. Another added benefit, you don’t need to add Shortcuts. Once you have the devices added to Home you can simply say “Hey Siri, open garage” and she will comply (of course, you have to create an open or close scene in Home first.) I haven’t had a chance to test geofencing yet, but from the looks of some of the Automations built in to Home, I’m thinking it should work. If not, I’ll post another Addendum with a work around. Another nice benefit, if you have multiple smart devices in a room you’ve added, you can ask Siri to turn on the room and she’ll start everything in that room!

Good luck! I’m hoping HomeBridge will also solve future MyQ API problems which might crop up. Fingers crossed.

September 4, 2021 Addendum

Just like Siri Shortcuts, if a location trigger in Home is aimed at opening the home, such as what happens with the garage door, the user WILL NEED to confirm that trigger via a notification. So, no, it does not work in Home. But, there is an alternative THAT DOES!

If you’ve installed Homebridge, as outlined in the September 1, 2021 Addendum, you’ll want to add the plugin for a dummy switch. After the install is complete, you can give it any name that makes sense to you when the configuration pops up. That’s all the configuration you will do. Restart Homebridge and the Dummy Switch or whatever name you gave it will appear in the Home app on your Apple device.

Now, for the triggers where you won’t have to confirm anything. You’ll create two automations in the Home app. The first one, is the location trigger, “When Anyone Arrives Home.” Point that to the dummy switch and have it turn on. I set it to turn back off in two minutes, but you can pick any time frame you want. The second automation is the “An Accessory is Controlled” one. For this, you’ll set it up so that when the dummy switch turns on, it activates the garage door opener to an Open position. That’s it! When you get close to your home, the dummy switch turns on and activates the open on the garage.

September 18, 2021 Addendum

You can use SimpleCommands to produce Siri Shortcuts that work. See this.

You can find other tips by going to the blog homepage. You can find iHelp’s main offerings, here.