This is a general question:
Do Zigbee devices in general get Firmware updates through their branded-HUB?
I can understand that my IKEA or Philips devices may not get Firmware updates through my Homey, but what if I had a IKEA-hub or Philips-hub? Would my devices be updated? Or is it the case in general that Zigbee devices do not get Firmware updates and you are “stuck” with what was put into the devices at the factory?
Another way of looking at this is: Will we as Homey users potentially “lose-out” on new Firmwares that get pushed to devices, but only if they are connected to the manufacturers HUB?
Yes. All devices gets their updates by the specific brand hubs.
If a brand allows you to download firmware files (like IKEA does), in theory you should be able to update the firmware without the need for a brand-specific hub (for instance, you can update IKEA devices over-the-air using deCONZ instead of an IKEA hub). However, a lot of brands simply don’t publish the firmware files, so you’re stuck with the brand hub if you want to run updates.
Wow! That is impressive! Have you tried updating the IKEA devices like you mentioned? Does IKEA publish release notes somewhere as well?
Not yet, because my IKEA devices are still connected to an IKEA hub (that I bought because other users were having issues with pairing IKEA devices with Homey directly, and I wanted to prevent that so I used the IKEA Gateway app for Homey instead).
However, I will probably start using deCONZ for all my Zigbee devices soon (when I move house), including the IKEA devices, so I’ll have to find out if it works or not 
https://ww8.ikea.com/ikeahomesmart/releasenotes/releasenotes.html
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Have you already tried updating your Ikea devices without the Ikea hun, @robertklep?
I have my Ikea devices for quite some while now, so updating would be a good idea perhaps.
Though the Ikea hub isn’t very expemsive this would be ok too.
Either way, I would have to connect my devices to the Ikea hub,. Will I lose connection to Homey then?
If so, could I simply reconnect them to Homey after updating and will my flows and settings still be ok?
Would be nice if Homey detected it is the same device, and simply “overwrites” the existing device…
I am on Homey v5 btw.
I stopped using the hub when I moved to deCONZ and Home Assistant, now deCONZ is managing all my Zigbee devices (including IKEA). I updated the firmware of a few of the IKEA devices through deCONZ some time ago, although I can’t remember which ones (and at the moment my thinking is, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”).
If you want to update the devices through the hub, you need to pair them with the hub. I don’t think you can easily move them back (that is, without a full re-pair) to Homey again afterwards.
