Chamberlain discontinues its HomeKit hub for myQ garage door controllers

Chamberlain Group, makers of myQ connected garage door openers, is discontinuing its myQ Home Bridge Hub, a device whose sole purpose was to connect myQ-enabled garage doors to Apple's HomeKit smart home platform.

myQ is a smart garage door controller technology built into a garage door opener or a separate retrofit wireless hub and that connects your garage door to Wi-Fi. It lets you open and close it from anywhere using the myQ smartphone app.

The MyQ Home Bridge Hub, which extended that control to the Apple Home app, has been out of stock on Chamberlain's website for a few weeks, and the company confirmed to The Verge that it has been discontinued.

"As our products continue to develop, we have decided to cease production of our myQ Home Bridge Hub," George Raas, Group Product Manager for Chamberlain Group, said in an email. He also confirmed that the existing Home Bridge Hub will continue to operate "for the foreseeable future".

He said that since its launch in 2017, less than 1 percent of myQ users were using the myQ Home Bridge. Considering how expensive it used to be, its price has varied from $70 to $90 over the years, this isn't entirely surprising. It's a high price to pay to add Siri voice control and Apple Home app compatibility to control your garage door.

When asked, Chamberlain didn't offer any alternative solutions for its HomeKit users. "We aim to provide compelling smart home solutions as we continue to work with leading connectivity brands to deliver products and services that complement the smart home."

However, myQ has a checkered history of sharing its technology. It charged users for a while for smart home integration with Google Assistant and IFTTT. Despite partnering with Amazon for Amazon's garage delivery service, the myQ doesn't work with Alexa for smart home control of your garage door. And while you can integrate the myQ Door with some smart home systems, including Ring and IFTTT, you're limited in what you can do with those integrations compared to using myQ's own app.

If you have a Chamberlain garage door opener (and you probably do — along with its affiliates Liftmaster and Craftsman, Chamberlain owns more than 65 percent of the U.S. market), you can easily add an additional third- Can use side tool. Retrofit Smart Controllers can't use Smart Home Controls, should you need to. Products from Tailwind, iSmartGate, or Meross -- which can work with Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and Apple HomeKit -- require special adapters to work with Chamberlain Group brand openers.

The upcoming Matter smart home standard may fix this problem for users of myQ and HomeKit. Garage door controllers are part of the first substance specification. When the new standard arrives this fall, it's possible that Chamberlain's Wi-Fi-connected controllers may be upgraded to support Matter. Apple is fully committed to the matter, so it may bring a way to connect the two without the need for a now-discontinued hub. The Verge has contacted Chamberlain, a member of the Connected Standards Alliance (the organization behind Matter), for clarification. If we hear back we will update this story.