Hi everyone,
I’m having a strange issue with Apple Home that only affects my Apple Account.
I keep getting the notification “Home Hub Not Responding” (my HomePod is shown as not responding). The weird part is:
It only happens on my Apple ID.
Other members of the Home don’t see this issue at all.
If I simply wait about 30 seconds, the notification disappears on its own and everything works normally again.
During that time, accessories are still mostly working, and after the notification disappears everything is completely fine.
I’m running iOS 26.
Has anyone else experienced this? Is this a known iOS 26/HomeKit bug, or is there something wrong with my Apple account or Home configuration?
Any ideas or similar experiences would be appreciated. Thanks!

This seems like it should be easy but it's kicking my ass. I want a button on my Home Screen that when pressed will shut off lights after a predetermined time. I created a shortcut and put it on my Home Screen: Wait 60 seconds - Toggle Accessory or Scene, Lights Off. If I trigger it and don't put my phone to sleep it works. If I trigger it and put my phone to sleep and put it on my nightstand it doesn't trigger the lights. When I tap my phones screen to wake it there will be a message asking if I want to trigger the scene..... WTF. Why won't this work/how do I achieve this??

Hello Team,

I have many devices running successfully and flawlessly with an Apple TV 4K set up as my home hub up until this point, I thought I was the HomeKit guru, adding things and enjoying the automation.

I recently purchased a device, which I believe is a matter unit however, I just cannot get it to connect. I get an error consistently of no thread border router. This is the first matter product that I have had I believe and I’m of the understanding that the Apple TV 4K should work perfectly as the hub/border router please correct me if I’m wrong.

This has been wrestling me to the ground. I have tried everything. I have put both the Apple TV and the phone both on the same network to no avail. Other devices I can get to connect easily just several days ago. I connected TCL tv. I really don’t know why this is coming up with this error.

Is there something I am missing?

I have a Homekit smart lock. Can I set something up that unlocks the door if 911 is called via SOS on Watch or iPhone while in the home (not when away, so geofenced)?

Please help. New to automations and I want to simply have my dads home pod announce the following each morning at 7am:

Good morning. Today is (date) at (time). The outside temperature is (temp)

That’s it. For some reason when I set up the intercom function to speak and then choose the date and time from “get current weather” it does it all out of sequence despite having it entered in the sequence I specified.

Thx in advance

I am trying to "construct" a simple automation using my Kasa Light Switch ( programable ) and my HomeKit.

I want my one Kasa light switch to turn on when HomeKit "sees my phone" and turn of the same lights after I arrive home after lets say three minutes.

Whatever I tried it just does not work,

Appreciate any help.

Hi! I want to buy a simple set up for lights and ambient lights at home without breaking the bank. Was wondering what was the best option available and I do have these bulbs ( in the picture) that haven’t used for a while. I’m willing to change a couple of overhead lamps (it’s a rental), or buy a couple of lamps to use with smart bulbs + a few ambient lights. I’m seeing those Oasis everywhere, are they good? Any recs would be much appreciated… I don’t need anything super fancy, just want to be able to use a few iPhone shortcuts/automations. Thanks!

I’m putting together a complete Aqara smart home setup at my parents place. The main goal is simple: run everything through the Apple Home app so they only ever use one app. They’re fine with tech but not big geeks, so I want it to be reliable and easy, not complicated.

Here’s what I’m installing:

• 3× outdoor cameras (Camera Hub G5 Pro)  
• 1× video doorbell (Doorbell Camera G400)  
• 12× window/door sensors (Sensor P2)  
• 1× smart lock with keypad (U200)  
• 1× hub (Hub M3)  
• 3× smoke detectors  
• 1× pet feeder (C1)  
• 1× touchscreen panel (Panel Hub S1 Plus)

The S1 Plus panel is the most important part for me. The whole reason I’m adding it is so my parents can just look at the screen and see the cameras, and when someone knocks or rings the doorbell, the panel shows who’s at the door, without anyone needing to pick up a phone. So my biggest question: does this actually work well in real life? Does the panel reliably show the cameras and pop up the doorbell automatically when someone’s at the door?

A few other things I’d love your thoughts on:

1.  What’s the best order to set everything up in so it all connects smoothly?  
2.  With 12 sensors spread over three floors (including the basement), will the connection stay strong everywhere?  
3.  Are the cameras and doorbell reliable inside the Apple Home app, or do some things only work in the Aqara app?  
4.  What are the most useful everyday scenes or automations you’d set up for parents, things like “leaving home,” “goodnight,” or the doorbell turning on a light at night? Looking for simple, genuinely useful ideas.  
5.  Did I miss anything important? Any small, cheap add-ons that make a big difference without adding much cost?

I’d rather keep it simple and dependable than fancy. Any advice, real experiences, or tips would be a big help as this is my 1st setup. Thanks!

Hey, guys

Recently, I bought two light bulbs from the Philips Hue-series and a Hue-Bridge. I really like the fancy light colors and the scenes, but since I use some Apple Products and intend to buy an Apple TV sometime, I wanted to bring it all together within the Home-App.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to figure out, how to make it work. All the tutorials I read feature buttons and functions within the Hue-App, that I don't even have and in general I find Philips Hue (with all it's third-party-apps) to be pretty confusing and frustrating.

Could you guys tell me how to set those lamps up?

Thank you for your time!

Kind regards

My HomePod mini is randomly playing music. I think it’s from one of my Apple TVs. How do I stop this from happening?

My husband is hopeless at remembering to lock the front door, also he is hopeless when it comes to checking his phone, so we installed the Yale Assure lock and the Homekit on our apple TV. I have an automation so that the door is supposed to lock when the last one leaves home (which is usually him). It hasn't been working, then I realized it's because it sends him a notification, which he doesn't see. Grrr. Is there a way either I can get the notification or for it to go to both of us when the last person leaves home? Or a way the door can lock without a notification at all?

Hey, so I have my Smart Home running with Apple Home and my sound system consists of Airplay compatible Sonos devices (Beam Gen2 + 2 Era 100). I wanted to be able to have custom text spoken to me just like with alexa, when triggered by an automation.

I found this video, which helped me 99% of the way (credit where credit is due): https://youtu.be/cxXj_Eb7w6I

BUT you DON'T need an Apple Music subscription in order for your customised audio file to be synchronised from your Mac to your iPhone.

You can just connect your iPhone via cable to your Mac and sync the music library manually. in the Finder on Mac.

I find this suitable, since you're already going through a not so easy process of having this functionality, that a few extra clicks are bearable in my opinion 😉
Hope this helps!

I had some automations running 1-1/2 years ago, more or less, relying on setpoint from my Mysa thermostats. At some point, the automations broke, and I realized that the setpoint was no longer a parameter that was exposed. Now it only exposes current status, current temperature, current humidity.
I used to be able to read the setpoint, make decisions for actions and/or change the setpoint with a formula. Now because it’s not exposed I can’t do this.
Who decides what is or is not exposed? Mysa or HomeKit? Thanks

I have a lot of HomeKit motion detectors and automations that work really well. However, when I have a bad migraine I want to have the set differently. Is there such a thing as a status toggle that I can put on my network that I can activate and then read that status in the automation definition to see if the toggle is activated to do something different.

For example, my bathroom lights turn on when I walk into the room. But when I have a bad migraine, I walk into with my eyes closed and press a button to switch to a second scene that is low light.

If I had the status toggle I won’t turn it on via a button or scene and the bathroom would just switch to the second scene automatically. Then when the migraine is done, I’d turn the status toggle off.

I have an ESP32 that I am going to tinker with to see if I can build something that helps me, but wanted to ask if there’s something that already exists. Do y’all know of anything? Thank you kindly.

Hi all,

I’m trying to automation where my Ecobee is the trigger event. I have the following hardware.

Ecobee Smart thermostat enhanced.

Tapo smart plug. The Tapo smart plug powers fans I have put into our upstairs HVAC return to force the return of the hot air into the ductwork from the vaulted ceiling. It’s the farthest from the HVAC in the basement, and doesn’t pull the hot air in otherwise.

I’m trying to set up an automation such that when the Ecobee turns on the furnace fan, the plug is turned on. When the Ecobee turns off the fan, the plug is turned off.

I’m a software engineer, and I know I could write something custom to do this, but I was hoping it would be easy to automate with HomeKit. Unfortunately, I don’t seem to be able to select the thermostat as an input trigger. Has anyone successfully worked around this issue?

Thanks!

Essentially it’s based on occupancy.

* It checks the weather and if it’s below 14c, heating comes on if between 9am and 8pm

* If there is occupancy between 9am and 8pm light and lamp come on

* If there is occupancy between 9pm when the 11pm only lamp comes on.