How to Use Home App on iPhone & iPad for iOS 10.0

After you update your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch to iOS 10, you will see a new Home app on your Home screen. This lets you control your HomeKit accessories by using your iOS device. You can instantly turn on or off your appliances and even check the person knocking on your front door. In addition, you can also use Apple TV to control all accessories!

With more than 50 brands of home accessories around the world, you can connect all your devices using Home app. Since more accessories are becoming compatible with Home app, you can rest assured about your home’s security.

Control Your Rooms with Home App

Using your Home app, you can easily control the accessories in all your rooms by making group accessories. Depending on your accessories’ location, you can command Siri to turn the lights on or off in the kitchen or turn on the air conditioning unit in the master’s bedroom. Devices that support 3D touch can also do more complicated actions such as dimming the lights or adjusting the thermostat.

Control Accessories Using Your Voice

You can also use your voice to make commands. If you are going to work or somewhere with your friends, you can just say “Going out” to turn off all lights and to lock the front and back door.

Use Apple TV to Complete Tasks

You can also use Apple TV to complete tasks even if you are still at work. All you have to do is to trigger home accessories according to the time of the day, your location and more. Setting it up is very easy and we will show you how.

How to Add Accessories

Before we start, make sure that you have HomeKit-enabled accessories. Sign into iCloud and enable iCloud Keychain and Home for adding accessories and editing users. To add an accessory:

1. Turn on the accessory and make sure that it is close to your iPhone or iPad.
2. Open Home app and select Add Accessor
3. Tap the Add (+) button and wait for the accessory to appear on your screen.
4. Select the accessory and tap Allow when prompted to Add Accessory to Network.
5. Enter the code on the accessory or documentation. You can also scan it using your camera.
6. Edit the details about your accessory such as its room location and name. This lets Siri identify your accessories easily.
7. Tap Done once you are finished.

How to Add Rooms

You can easily control your accessories by creating rooms such as living room and bedroom. This lets you turn on and off your accessories by room. To add rooms:

1. Open the Home app and choose Rooms
2. Tap the list icon located in the upper left corner.
3. Tap Room Settings and tap Add Room.
4. Simply enter the name of the room, such as Living room, Kitchen or Bedroom. You can also add a wallpaper by tapping “Choose from Existing” or “Take Photo.”
5. Tap Save to finish.

To assign accessories to a room:

1. Open Home app and tap Rooms
2. Look for the room where your accessories are and tap Details.
3. Tap Location and choose a room for your accessory.
4. Once finished, tap Done.

How to Manage Accessories

After you add all your accessories in their corresponding rooms, you can control them easily with your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.

• Turn on and off your HomeKit accessories from Home tab or from Rooms
• Use Extra features for accessories such as controlling the temperature of thermostat or controlling the brightness of your lights.
• Check the status of all your accessories if they are on or off by going to Status and Notifications.

Create Scenes to Control Multiple Accessories

Scenes let you control multiple accessories with just a tap. For example, you can make a scene named “Going out” that turns off lights and locks front and back doors. To create a scene:

1. Open Home app and tap Home or Rooms
2. Tap the Add (+) icon then select Add Scene.
3. You can check the suggestions given or make your own.
4. Choose the accessories you want to add for the scene.
5. You can see the preview of your scene by tapping Test This Scene.
6. Tap Done.

Control Home Accessories with Siri

You can control all your homekit accessories using your Voice. Some commands that you can tell Siri to do are:

• I’m back (scene).
• Set brightness to 50% (light feature).
• Turn the lights off in the kitchen.
• Turn the air conditioning unit in my bedroom.

Siri cannot control some accessories when your iOS device is unlocked. You will have to unlock your device first before Siri takes the action. For instance, Siri cannot unlock the main door if your iDevice is still locked.