PLEASE tell me my HomeKit issues will stop here

App & System Services General HomeKit

Created Oct ’15

Replies 22

Boosts 0

Views 19k

Participants 17

I seriously hope this will be the last time I have to write this. Especially that i called Apple literally 5-6 times and ALL 5-6 times each rep said, and i Quote, "HomeKit?, Whats that?" Yes, Apple tech support. So heres my dilemma. No matter what i do, i can not access my devices remotely. Believe me when i tell you, I'm not new to automation. I currently have, over 50 HomeKit devices. June 2nd, i rewired my entire house with hardwired Lutron in wall dimmers, plus plug in dimmers, iDevices switches, Elgato weather, ecobee 3, ismartplugs, over 30 phillips hue bulbs and i can't access a single device remotely. And please, PLEASE, realize that i have already done ALL the basics a thousand times.

i am on iOS 9.1, signed into iCloud with keychain and Apple TV 3rd Gen running 7.2, everything on same Network, so I have no idea what it could be. Once Apple support figured out what HomeKit was (lol), they directed me to the developers site to try to find some answers. I haven't yet, but as I'm writing this a few things popped in my head.

First, Apple TV, I have it hard wired to router, would that make a difference? .....well just unplugged it and connected it through wifi, so thats not it. BTW, i have already signed out and back into iCloud on all devices including Apple TV. I just can't figure it out, especially that Lutron, within its own app, DOES work remotely, Ecobee too. I have and use every JHomekit app in the app store, with iDevices being my main go to app due to its most tight knit integration with HomeKit and iCloud.

SO PLEASE, somebody give me some insight on what they think it could be. I have gotten rid of some extremely expensive equipment for HomeKit. As soon as it was announced, I made my decision that HomeKit would be my automation platform. I'm so sorry I did that right now, but the only thing saving me, is that in due time I'm sure it will be all fine. I just cant for the life of me figure out whats going wrong.

Thank you very much in advance for all, responses, advice, and opinions.

Boost

adevntx OP

Jan ’16

I'm researching HomeKit and Lutron Caseta and have yet to learn a definitive answer to the following: do I NEED to purchase the Lutron Caseta smart bridge if I have an Apple TV 4? Or, does the latest firmware on Apple TV 4 obviate the need for the Lutron Caseta bridge altogether?

Thanks much!

devinWang OP

Jan ’16

How can i remote control device using iCloud or AppleTV ? I can not find any guideline and resources. Can you tell me ?

G Black OP

Feb ’16

You will still need the bridge. The Apple TV is required for remote homekit access (outside of your house) as it manages the communications from your home network to iCloud. The bridge is required to connect your dimmers to your home network which is how it will then communicate via Apple TV.

mschwabel OP

Mar ’16

Thanks for this post. I was also having problems with HomeKit and Apple TV providing remote access to my Schlage Sense. Followed the steps you outlined, and I'm up and running.

flappah OP

Mar ’16

Homekit's Remote Access feature is beginning to become a bit of a headache for me. Have tried pretty much any trick in the book I found (Apple's own support page next to all the suggestions I've encountered). I still have to execute the exact steps JuST BLeSSeD laid out but since that's a bit of a chore (I've got quite a few Apple devices lined up using the same iCloud account and resetting the HomeKit configuration yet again is not something I'm very eager on repeating a few times). I will try to factory reset the 4th gen AppleTV since I'm trying this all with a 3rd gen AppleTV. My layout is as follows. I've got 8 Elgato Eve Energy outlets registered in HomeKit and I've setup a HomeBridge that connects the Netatmo weatherstation to HomeKit. When in range of the devices (Bluetooth for the Eve's and Wifi for the Raspberry PI that's running HomeBridge) everything works smooth as silk. However when outside of range it seems to become a matter of chance. Now and then it works (sporadically, like once or twice a day). Usually I'm treated with errors (The accessory cannot be reached at the moment or HomeKit reported a communication failure). I've tried to access my HomeKit devices on either iOS9.2 (running on the iPhone 6s Plus) and iOS9.3 (running on an iPad Air 2). It is a bit frustrating since I don't seem to be able to setup a 100% reliable infrastructure.

flappah OP

Mar ’16

I'm beginning to wonder about the bluetooth options of the AppleTV3. Could it be that the earlier models (I've bought mine pretty much immediately when the 3 got released) don't support the Bluetooth LE protocol? The thing is I also never have been able to setup my 3 using the automatic setup with an iPhone. The 3 just doesn't see the iPhone.

petber OP

Apr ’16

I juat bought my first homekit device, an Elgato Eve Energy in order to monitor the charging on an electric car. Like everyone above I couldn't get the Remote Access to work, even after multiple cycles of signing in & out of iCloud on every possible device, including the Apple TV (4th gen), rebooting. I couldn't even get it to work with the iDevices app.

What finally made it work was to reset the HomeKit Configuration in Settings / Privacy / HomeKit. This prompted me to re-create the homekit device settings, I used the Elgato app. After a single singing out and back in to iCloud on the Apple TV everything started working.

My setup includes iPhone 6S, Apple TV 4th gen, iPad Air 2 all running the latest OS versions (developer betas).