HomeKit is an Apple framework that allows home automation devices from different manufacturers to work together the with iOS, tvOS, and watchOS in the form of Siri commands and the Home app (Figure 74).
Apple maintains a list of compatible HomeKit devices. If you’re looking at a home automation device, check for the HomeKit badge.
HomeKit typically works over your home Wi-Fi network or Bluetooth. But a hub allows you to control your devices when you’re outside your home Wi-Fi network. It’s also required for automations—see Automate Your Home.
There are two types of HomeKit hubs: a third- or fourth-generation Apple TV, and an iPad running iOS 10 or later.
If your Apple TV is signed in to the same iCloud account as your iOS devices, it acts as a HomeKit hub automatically, as long as it’s connected to power and your home network (the Apple TV can function as a hub even while asleep).
Your iPad running iOS 10 or later can function as a hub if it’s signed in to the same iCloud account as your other devices, and if you tap Settings > Home and enable Use This iPad as a Home Hub. The iPad must remain powered and connected to your Wi-Fi network in order to function as a hub. (If you leave the house with your iPad, it will cease functioning as a hub until you come home!)
In the Home app, a home is the top-level container, which encompasses all the other categories that I cover. A home can be a home, an outbuilding, a second home, an office, etc. For most practical purposes, a home is distinguished by a Wi-Fi network.
The Home view in Home lets you control your homes, listing your favorited scenes and accessories on the screen, which you can rearrange by tapping the Edit button. The Home view also shows the status of your devices. Here are some tips to help you get started:
If everything goes right, the recipient should receive a notification on their iOS device(s). Once they accept the invitation, they will have access to the home from the Home app.
A room is, well, a room in a home. It makes the most sense to set up HomeKit Rooms to align with actual rooms in your house.
The Rooms view shows all the accessories and scenes associated with a room. Home starts you with a Default room that cannot be removed, but can be renamed. I like to use it as a sort of staging area for new accessories, but I don’t associate it with any rooms in my house.
You want to set up a room for each room in your home that has HomeKit devices installed, for two reasons. First, it makes organization much saner. Second, when your rooms are properly configured, you can give Siri commands like, “Turn the Living Room lights off.”
An accessory is an actual HomeKit device in your home, like a light bulb, lock, garage door opener, or thermostat.
In the Home or Rooms view, tap the plus button in the upper-right corner and tap Add Accessory. The app prompts you to enter or scan the HomeKit code for that device, which can be found on the device itself and/or on the package (Figure 75). After scanning the code, follow the onscreen prompts to set up your accessory.
Sometimes, you need to set up your HomeKit device with the vendor’s app before you can use it with Home. For example, if you buy a set of Philips Hue smart light bulbs, you must use the Philips Hue app for initial setup and pairing with HomeKit. Check the documentation of your HomeKit devices for details.
To move accessories between rooms, switch to the Rooms view, press an accessory, and tap Details. Tap Location to see a list of rooms you can assign the accessory to.
By default, Accessories are visible only in the room to which they’re assigned, but you can favorite an accessory to have it show up in the Home view and Control Center—see Discover Control Center Functions.
All Accessories are available in the room that you assigned them to, but Favorite Accessories are available in both the Home view and Control Center. To favorite an accessory, go to the Rooms view, press an accessory, tap Details, and enable Include in Favorites.
No matter where you find an accessory, controlling it works the same:
These accessory actions can be performed only in the Home app:
Those accessories disappear from the Home and Rooms tabs, replaced with the group you created.
Now that you understand the basics of homes, rooms, and accessories, it’s time to learn about scenes, which are the most important aspect of home automation.
Scenes are combinations of HomeKit commands. For example, I might have a scene called Chill Out that turns my living room lights blue, lowers the brightness to 40 percent, and turns the thermostat down.
Like accessories, favorite scenes are available from the Home tab and Control Center.
Your careful setup of homes, rooms, accessories, and scenes pays off when you want to control those things via Siri. Here are some examples of things you can do:
For the basics of using Siri, refer back to Speak to Siri.
If you have a compatible hub (refer back to Establish HomeKit Hubs), the Automation view lets you automate your home devices with triggers.
Here’s a look at your trigger options:
Your automations are listed in the Automations view. Tap one to adjust its settings.
You can enable or disable an automation, adjust the trigger conditions, change how accessories and scenes are affected by the automation, and delete the automation.