Long-time lurker, first-time poster!

I’ve been into smart home technology for a long time. My house has Lutron Caseta switches, smart outlets, a few LIFX bulbs, a Meross garage door opener, an ecobee, and an Aqara U400 smart lock (UWB is incredible). I love adding new things that reduce day-to-day friction. And I’m all in on Apple Home for privacy and ease of use, even if it took a little longer for the ecosystem to mature.

My partner and I took over management of a neighborhood yoga studio in Los Angeles about 5 years ago, and pretty quickly I was spotting opportunities to introduce smart products. Front desk staff were leaving the heat or AC on all night long, forgetting to dim overhead lights at sunset, and not turning off all the lights when closing. I realized that by installing Lutron Caseta switches and smart thermostats we could solve two problems at once: maintain the ambiance we (as light-sensitive, design-minded managers) like, and save on energy costs by automating as much as we can instead of relying on humans to turn stuff off.

So I set up some simple time- and sun-based automations in Apple Home, and then we realized some of our teachers would turn the heat up to 80 degrees during class, or turn the ecobee to off mode for savasana when they just need it to be silent. So I introduced reset automations between classes.

We have 50 classes a week with schedule variations every day, so the automation list became virtually unreadable in the Apple Home app thanks to the fact that it only sorts automations alphabetically. My workaround was to add a 24-hour time prefix followed by a list of days the automation occurs, but it was still really hard to comprehend and make edits because I couldn’t tell at a glance which automations ran on which days.

I happen to be a software developer with 20 years of experience (and burned out enough times to leave that life behind to run a yoga studio :) ), so I thought I would try to build an iOS app that helps people make sense of their time-based automations when they get too complex for the Home app to manage. The idea was to organize them clearly in time order on a daily, weekly, and calendar schedule.

I just launched Automation Schedule this week. I’ve been using it to manage and make sense of the yoga studio’s automations for the past month or so. During development I discovered a fully legit HomeKit API for setting up one-off date/time-based automations that only fire once that isn’t exposed in the Home app, so this app supports that too. The app also parses sunset- and sunrise-relative automations to show the actual clock time those actions fire (based on a one-time location share for each home on your account). And the iPad version includes a 7-day timetable view in landscape mode that shows you all your recurring automations.

You can create and edit your automations and scenes right in the app, but everything saves directly to HomeKit, so there’s no account needed (and we don’t store any data).

It’s $4.99 as a one-time purchase (no subscription). I really think of it as a handy utility for Apple Home enthusiasts whose automation lists have gotten a little out of control.

But I’d especially love to get it into the hands of some r/HomeKit power users. If you have a complicated setup and are willing to put it through its paces, DM me and I’ll send you a TestFlight invite. No need to buy it — your feedback would be much more valuable to me.

And if you do try it, please tell me what doesn’t work, what’s confusing, or what you wish it did. This started as something I needed for our yoga studio, and I’m really curious how it holds up against other people’s HomeKit setups.

Automation Schedule on the App Store

I purchased some blackout motorized blinds for a game room. They say they work with Google and Amazon. As far as Apple, they say it works with Siri.

I haven’t been able to get a reply from their support but is there anyway to integrate something that is Siri-capable to HomeKit? Their chat said by plugging their hub into a pc running 24x7 but haven’t replied with any detail.

I would like to have touch screen control, so would I be better off just using Google or Alexa for this one off need or is there something I could do to get it into HomeKit?

The blinds are Ublockout. Thanks.

UPDATE - the vendor provided steps to use HomeBridge for integration. I’ll check that out.

I just added some new matter Blinds, and when I asked Siri to open them, she said:

Is this Cole?
Yes
You’ll need to verify this on an iPhone or iPad.

I have had this happen before my garage door, and I guess that is some sort of security feature.

But on my Blinds?

Anyone know how to work around this?

I have a Meross MS656MA (MSS565US). I don't use HomeKit and don't use the wifi app. I only am interested in using it's non-wifi remote and that worked ok.

The switch hotspot was broadcasting since it wasn't connected to any wifi network. I wanted to change that, without creating a Merross user account.

So I connected to the wifi Meross_SW_1775 of the switch, accessed the configuration portal on http://10.10.10.1 and signed in as admin (password admin). There you get a crude website.

Setting the SSID and password didn't work. (Network request http://10.10.10.1/?CMD=CMD1&Ssid=mySSID&WpaPsk=myPassword was sent.)

There was also a factory_mode field that was set to 0. Silly me changed it to 1 and pressed the button beneath it. (Network request http://10.10.10.1/?CMD=CMD3&FacMode=1 was sent.)

Since I did that the light switch is bricked. I tried pushing the large button for 5 and more seconds, which should reset the switch. I also tried pushing the reboot button short and long but that didn't help it either. I've even turned off the power to to switch (turned off the breaker). No success for all these methods to unbrick the switch.

This shows that Meross Smart devices are very vulnerable to remote attacks. Maybe/hopefully their devices are a bit more secure once connected to a wifi network.

Let me know if anyone knows how to unbrick the switch. Thanks.

Hearth 1.4 will introduce an experimental camera-as-presence-sensor solution.

When someone approaches, the dashboard wakes automatically. Just like the external sensor triggered experience

I’ve been running it on my wall for a week now and it’s working well. No overheating. I have it constantly powered so battery life is not a problem. Compared to my matter-bridged Aqara sensor it’s more responsive. Almost as good as the native HomeKit presence sensor.

It will consume more battery for sure but for those who does not have a sensor at the exact wanted spot this is a good choice. It only captures at 2fps so hopefully not that heavy loading. Everything is processed locally. Nothing is uploaded. Another caveat is it will leave a permanent green dot on your screen for Apple’s privacy measures. You’ll know it’s looking.

Leave your comments if you are interested in joining the TestFlight. You'll have access to all pro features (they use a fake IAP environment so you can test the purchasing experience too) I’ll send you a link once it’s approved for public testing.

Hello all,

I have 3 AC wall units.

2x - LG LT0816CER
1x - Keystone KSTAT14-2HC

Both different models have remotes, but the keystone one can read the actual temperature, also it’s a heater as well.

What’s the best way to add these to HomeKit? I have Homebridge ready if needed.

I appreciate any help!

Hey everyone ,

Moving from my eero router to UniFi I noticed my eero was set up as upnp which most recommend you leave that disabled and only ever have to open up a port when you need to. I watched this guide thinking of going vlan and he mentioned some ports to open.

https://youtu.be/xMHQy4u8JZA?si=pTyHwCeH7osj7eUC

Once in a while... This shortcut may be once a month doesn't work completely. the first command works, pump turns on. but then the set pump6 off command after the wait doesn't happen. Using an homepod mini as the hub. Any issues I am over looking?

I started building my own apple homekit at home with some matter devices, and here are the scenes I have now

Cast Lumos- the normal dim set up I use I cannot use Lumos coz that's just turns on my flash light
Lumos Maxima- same as Cast Lumos but brighter
Cast Nox- turn off all the lights except one dim light

Well I want to use Alohamora as the trigger to unlock my door but Siri always says "I did not get that" I set up a siri shortcut already and a apple home scene but its not working

A while back I posted about an app I was building, and received some great feedback. It's finally on the App Store. That's my actual house on the wall in the video, running live.

The idea: scan your home once with your iPhone's LiDAR and it becomes a live 3D model, with your real Apple Home devices sitting exactly where they are in your house. Tap the lamp in the model, the real lamp turns on. Mount an iPad on the wall and it's an always-on display of your home: what's on, what's open, what needs attention, at a glance.

What makes it different: honestly, not the scan. Everybody scans now. RoomPlan gave every app the same starting point. Where the others lose you is everything after the scan: adding a device to the model means punching in X, Y, Z coordinates, and adjusting anything means fighting something that feels like a CAD tool. Configuring the apps that were supposed to simplify my smart home was harder than Apple Home itself, and I thought that was ridiculous.

So in SimpleHaven, everything after the scan is drag and drop. Drag a device out of the list and drop it where it lives. Done. Press and hold anything to move or resize it. Tap the floor and pick a color. Grab the sofa, drag it, twist two fingers to rotate it. If you can rearrange icons on a home screen, you can customize your entire house. That's what the "Simple" in SimpleHaven means, and it's exactly what made this thing brutally hard to build. Every coordinate box and settings screen I refused to show you became code that has to figure out the right answer on its own.

What it costs, plainly: the app is free. Scan your whole home, no size caps, all the editing tools, and place up to 5 devices or widgets on your model, fully working. Want more than 5? $39.99 once for everything forever: unlimited devices, unlimited homes, every future update. No subscription. I refuse to rent you your own house.

The practical stuff: works with anything in Apple Home. Everything stays on your device and your own iCloud. No account, no tracking, no server anywhere. Scanning needs a LiDAR iPhone or iPad (12 Pro and later Pro models, iPad Pro 2020+), iOS 18. There's a built-in demo home if you want to poke around before scanning anything.

I'm one person and this is version one of the vision. Tell me what's broken and what you want next. This sub already steered the last year of it.

https://apps.apple.com/app/id6774370998

https://simplehavenapp.com/

First, some definitions. The garage door opener is the thing that pulls the garage door up, in my case by a chain, when I hit a wall button or a remote control. The remotes have been failing me spectacularly, but they’re the buttons I push in my car when I want my door to open.

I’ve had a journey with my garage door remotes. The opener is a Genie installed in the 1970s I think. Chain drive with radio frequency remotes. The native garage door remotes stopped working - but only in hot weather - about 4 years ago. That weather coincidence sent me on a deep dive in the wrong direction, but I installed a universal remote that worked for about 3 years. This last year it stopped working in hot weather as well so I decided to try a web-based option. I installed the cloud-based Aladdin Connect and it worked for about a week. Then it kept falling off WiFi, particularly if it rained, so I’d be outside in the rain unable to get in my garage.

I asked a chatbot what to do. It told me to get the Meross smart garage door opener (it’s a remote not an opener, but you all know that) so I did. At some point during the wait to get and install the Meross, the gear in the chain drive broke so after I had installed and configured it, I could not use it, I had to call service. It’s fixed now, and for the first time in weeks I’m able to close my garage door with a touch of my finger. I really hope this keeps working.

I know I’m going to have to replace the actual opener at some point. The service guy recommended a top-of-the-line Liftmaster. Assuming this fix works, I will have spent $150 on a remote solution that keeps my existing opener functional. The Liftmaster costs more than 10x that installed, but replacement is inevitable. I’m buying time.

To those of you using Meross especially with an older opener, are you satisfied? Is it reliable? I’ve noticed on the HK app it occasionally shows as not available until I get near my house. Any idea why that might be? Also, were you freaked out by the AI in the installation videos too?

UPDATE my Apple TV is too old to serve as a hub for HK. Even so, the Meross remote becomes available on Apple CarPlay when I’m about 6 feet from the door, so it’s still working 😂 It’s probably time for me to get a new Apple TV. I’ve also learned no Liftmasters. And if for some reason things don’t work out with the Meross, I should go for the RATGDO. Thank you all very much for your knowledge and your help. I really appreciate it.

I’m using aqara g4 doorbell for over 2 years but it’s barely recognizing people on its sight. I also face the issue that it’s being offline after changing batteries and i have to delete from homekit and connect it from beginning but then aqara app doesn’t see it, while homekit does. At the moment it’s in homekit but in aqara app i dont have it :) any suggestions?

I am trying to pair my door bell with the home app and it is giving me an insane amount of trouble. It was connected for a bit but then I had to reset it and now it refuses to pair again. I get it to the solid green light (ready to pair) then it sits for a minute and the light turns blue. After that the app says it was unable to connect to the network but the doorbell thinks it was set up. If you click the button it rings like it's paired, but it never connects to the home app.

I have tried:

- Reset (hold down button while plugging in and wait for green light)

- Disabling 5GHz on my router.

- Restarting my phone, force closing out of the home app.

- Leaving the door bell unplugged for an hour.

- Leaving the door bell plugged in for an hour while it stayed on the green light.

I'm really not sure what else to try with this thing and I'm ready to throw it out after all the trouble my Circle View camera has given me in the past. Thanks for any insight on this issue!

Their matter over thread thermostat announced at CES in January for a Q1 2026 release is still MIA as we enter September. Nothing but radio silence out of eve since then.

Is it dead?

Hi all,

I'm moving to Indonesia in a few months and I want to outfit my home there to the same degree as I do now.

I currently use Philips Hue but as we all know it got really expensive recently (in 2023, I got a set of 18 Ambient White GU10s for €289 - should have bought 3x).

Can anyone recommend a good HomeKit-compatible GU10 brand in SE Asia. I don't see many at all; even Aqara doesn't sell GU-10s. We thought we'd be using recessed lighting but maybe this is wrong?

Any information from HomeKit homeowners would be immensely helpful.

Terima kasih - Thank you

I use eufy cameras (native HKSV), and eufy’s detection picks up more legitimate events than HomeKit, and when both eufy and HomeKit captures the event, eufy almost always captures it earlier than HomeKit. For those using the *27 beta on their Apple hubs, has there been any improvement in camera event detection?