How to Control Smart Home Devices Through Apple Home
It may not make as many headlines as Apple Intelligence or Satellite Messaging , but the Apple Home app and the HomeKit standards that underpin it continue to be updated on iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and other Apple devices. This means that if you want to create a smart home within the Apple ecosystem, you can do so.
You’ll find that not as many devices work with Apple Home compared to Google Home or Amazon Alexa, which is partly due to Apple’s stricter device compatibility requirements: devices must be able to offer basic functionality, such as offline mode, and must meet security standards such as encrypted cloud video storage.
However, the number of compatible gadgets is growing all the time – here is the official list . Apple Home also now supports the Matter standard , which should mean more choices for smart home devices in the future—assuming manufacturers continue to implement consistent protocols in their future hardware.
As you’d expect from Apple, everything is intuitive and simple and should “just work” (at least in theory). This guide focuses on the Home app for iOS, but the equivalent app on iPad and Mac works very similarly.
Adding devices
Download the Home app on your iPhone, and in the Home tab, you can tap the + (plus) sign in the top right corner and then Add an Accessory to add something new. The next steps will depend on what you’re adding, but in most cases you’ll be prompted to scan a QR code on the device or simply hold your iPhone near it (check the instructions included with your smart home gadget if necessary). you’re not sure).
As you add a device, you’ll be asked to give it a name and indicate which room in your home it will live in. If you don’t have any rooms set up yet, you can create one along the way. This is to make it easier for you to identify and manage your gadgets when you start building your smart home.
When you’re done, you’ll see a widget for your new device in the Home tab of the Home app. Tap once to access the gadget’s features (to turn the smart light on or off), press and hold, and then select Accessory Settings to customize it—you can change its name, the room it’s in, and more other on this screen.
You can get more options by clicking on the three dots in the top right corner of the Home tab. You can change which devices appear in this tab, view individual rooms, and change room settings, from the wallpaper used on their specific screens to the devices grouped in that room.
Adding a hub
You don’t need a special hub to control your smart home with Apple Home, but it helps: It means you can control your smart devices when you’re away from your home Wi-Fi and set up smart automation. The hub is also necessary if you want to add gadgets using the Matter standard. It’s worth the investment if you want to improve the capabilities of your Apple Home system.
You can use an iPad, any HomePod or HomePod mini, or an Apple TV 4K 2nd or 3rd generation as a hub. However, if you need to support Matter devices and the corresponding Thread standard, you’ll need a HomePod 2nd generation, HomePod mini, any version of the Apple TV 4K 2nd generation or Apple TV 4K 3rd generation with Ethernet support (not just Wi-Fi ).
At least the setup is pretty simple: when you add a HomePod or HomePod mini to your Wi-Fi network, it automatically becomes the default Apple Home hub (and you can’t change that, even if you have an Apple TV 4K too). . If you have an Apple TV 4K instead, go to Settings , then Users & Accounts . If you’re signed into iCloud with the same Apple account you use on your iPhone with the Home app, the hub is created automatically. .
The iPad is the final option: it gives you control outside the home as long as the iPad is on, but you miss out on some of the latest Apple Home updates (including Matter support). If you want to use an iPad, open Settings , then tap on your name and iCloud and make sure Home is turned on under Apps that use iCloud . Go back to Settings , then tap Home and Use this iPad as a home hub .
Adding scenes and automation
Once you’re set up and comfortable with using Apple Home to control your smart home, you can start to get more creative with what you do. One of the key benefits of using one app to control multiple smart home devices is that you can get them to start and respond to each other.
Scenes are essentially groups of settings that change together. A good example is the night scene, where you can turn off the heating and turn off all the smart lights with the press of a button. To create a scene, from the Home tab in the Home app, tap the + (plus) button in the top right corner and select Add Scene . You can choose one of the templates or create your own.
Automations are a little more complex and can be created from the Automation tab in the application. Click the + (plus) button in the top right to get started: You’ll be asked to choose a trigger to automate, such as someone coming home, a sensor detecting something, or simply the time of day. . After this, you need to decide what the result will be.
So, for example, you can set all smart lights to automatically turn off when your iPhone detects that you’ve left the house. All of these scenes and automations can be configured once you’ve created them, either by long pressing on the Home tab or by clicking on the Automations tab – each scene or automation has its own settings screen where you can make changes or delete them from the Home app.