Supported devices and protocols

BluConnect brings devices from different brands together in one app. This page first explains how each kind of device is added, then, for technical readers, the protocols used. For every device, the app shows all of the settings and states the manufacturer provides; no feature is hidden.

How do devices connect?

The most direct path is chosen for each device: local network first, manufacturer account as a last resort. If the same device is found through more than one path, it appears as a single device; commands go over the local path first and fall back to the cloud.

• No account Local network: your phone talks to the device directly on the same Wi-Fi. No account or password is needed; some devices ask for approval when first added ("Allow" on the TV screen, a 4–6 digit code or the button on the bridge). It keeps working even if the internet goes down.
• Account Manufacturer account: only for devices with no local protocol. You connect your account once through the manufacturer's own sign-in page; on supported devices a local key is fetched once, and from then on control runs over the local network.
• Home Hub Optional home device: for Zigbee devices, local devices while you are away, and routines that keep running when your phone is off. Without a Hub, the whole app (including Matter) works from your phone.

Which devices can connect?

What matters is less the brand than what the device supports. If your device or its box shows one of the following, it can be added to BluConnect.

Apps supported with cloud sign-in (account)

If you use your device with one of the apps below, signing in once with that app's account brings all of your devices there into BluConnect. Wherever possible, sign-in happens on the manufacturer's own page; we do not store your password. With apps that can provide a local key (Mi Home, Smart Life, eWeLink, Home Connect), the devices are then controlled directly from your phone over the local network, without the internet; no Home Hub is needed.

What can you do?

• Every setting: every setting, state and program the manufacturer provides (wash programs, fan speed, target temperature, filter life, energy…). Common ones get dedicated controls, the rest are in the "All features" list.
• Full-screen remote: on TVs and sound systems, directions, volume, channels, launching apps and typing text; only the buttons the device supports are shown.
• Routines: run devices from different brands with one tap, or by time, sunrise/sunset and device state.
• Notifications: a notification on your phone when a laundry or dishwasher program finishes, a routine runs or a device state changes.
• Energy and bills: hourly and daily consumption, each device's share; for devices that do not measure, an estimate from power rating and time switched on. With your own tariff (time bands, tiers, distribution fee, taxes; any currency), today's bill, this month's bill and the end-of-month estimate.
• Cameras: live view and snapshots, pan and zoom on PTZ cameras; on the home screen and on the wall panel.
• Location: routines that run when you arrive home, leave home or when nobody is home (even with the app closed); see who is home.
• Shortcuts: home screen and lock screen widgets, Control Center buttons, Android Quick Settings; Siri and Shortcuts on iPhone.
• Wall panel: turn a tablet into your home's control panel; in kiosk mode the panel cannot be exited without a PIN.
• Robot vacuums and audio: vacuum map, room and zone cleaning, no-go zones; favorites, queue and room grouping on Sonos.
• Multiple homes and members: home, holiday home and office kept separate; invite your family to all devices or only to the rooms and devices you choose.

Bluetooth and infrared

Bluetooth Low Energy devices (SwitchBot bot and curtain motor, thermometer, Xiaomi sensors, Bluetooth-only HomeWhiz appliances) are controlled directly while the phone is nearby; their state is read while the app is open.

Classic Bluetooth audio devices such as headphones, speakers and soundbars appear in the phone's Bluetooth settings but are not exposed to apps (Apple and Android reserve this connection for the system). If these devices have Wi-Fi, we control them over Wi-Fi; otherwise you can add them as an infrared remote.

Infrared remote: a built-in code library for TVs, satellite receivers, soundbars, projectors, air conditioners and fans; a remote that is not on the list can be learned button by button. The signal is sent with a Broadlink RM4 mini/pro or an Android phone with an infrared blaster (iPhone has no infrared blaster). An Android phone can also connect to the TV as a Bluetooth remote.

When do you need Home Hub?

Most homes do not. It helps in these cases:

• Zigbee devices (with a Zigbee coordinator connected to the Hub).
• Controlling local devices while you are away from home.
• Scheduled and triggered routines that keep running when your phone is off: the Hub joins your phones' Matter network and includes local devices in routines too (without a Hub, time and sunrise routines run from our server using your cloud accounts).

Home Hub runs on a computer, on a Raspberry Pi or as a Home Assistant add-on, and pairs with the app using a 6-digit code.

Technical: protocols

Discovery uses mDNS/Bonjour, SSDP and Bluetooth scanning on the same Wi-Fi; for devices that do not announce themselves, TCP/UDP probing on the local network. The paths of the same device are merged into a single device by serial number / MAC address.

Technical: security and data

• Local traffic stays between your phone (or your Home Hub) and the device; it does not pass through our servers.
• Refresh keys for manufacturer accounts are kept in an encrypted vault (Supabase Vault); the phone only receives a short-lived access key. Tuya and eWeLink requests are signed on the server; the app carries no secret keys.
• Manufacturer passwords are not stored; wherever possible, the manufacturer's own sign-in page is used. The only exception is HomeWhiz, which provides no refresh key: the password is kept in the phone's keychain and, so that routines keep running while the phone is off, encrypted only on the Hub if the home has a Home Hub, otherwise in the encrypted vault (Vault); removing the account deletes all of it.
• Local pairing keys (TV certificate, device key, Matter network keys) are kept in the phone's secure storage; they are backed up encrypted to your account and come back on a new phone and on your home members' phones. They are not given to members with guest access.

See the privacy policy for details.

Device missing from the list, or having a problem?

BluConnect is an app that keeps evolving. We cannot test every model of every brand we support ourselves; we may meet some devices for the first time in your home. If a device does not work as expected, is missing a feature or you see an error, write the brand, model and what happened in Account → Feedback; we ship fixes in updates.

Suggest it in the app via Add device → By brand → "Brand not listed?" or Account → Feedback; the brand and model are all we need. If you use Home Assistant, every device added to HA also appears in BluConnect. You can also write to us at contact@bluconnect.app.