How to Allow Others to Control Your Apple HomeKit Accessories
One downside of a smart home is that it’s hard for house guests to use the technology.
But an advantage of Apple’s HomeKit protocol is that you can share control of your home with others, no matter their location.
Why Would You Want to Share Home Control?
When you’re at home, or even away at another location, there are a number of ways to control your Apple-friendly smart home.
The HomeKit protocolallows you to interact with smart home devices, like a smart lock or smart bulb, using your Apple device like an iPhone.
As you might have imagined, problems arise when anyone not sharing your Apple ID wants to also control smart home devices. It just takes a few steps to give other the ability to control your smart home, as long as they also have their own Apple device.
So when friends or family spend time at your home, they can easily interact with all of your devices.
How to Invite Someone to Control Your Apple HomeKit Home
The first step to allow smart home control from someone else is to send an invitation.
To get started, open up the Home app on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac. Next, select theMorebutton and chooseHome Settings.
If you have more than one home, choose the Home you’d like to share and then pickHome Settings.
Next, selectInvite People. On the next screen, you will need to enter the other person’s Apple ID they use with iCloud.
To accept the invitation, the other person should open the Home app and selectMore. Then after choosingHome Settings, selectViewunder Invitations. Finally, chooseAcceptthenDone.
When you want to control that Home, select theMorebutton and the name of the home.
Manage Remote Access for Other Users
Setting up an Apple Home Hubwill allow you to control smart home devices when you’re not in the range of your Wi-Fi network.
If you have a Home Hub already set up, you can customize the permissions for anyone you have invited to control your home.
To customize remote access, select theMorebutton in the Home app. Next selectHome Settings. Under thePeoplesection, choose the person to customize control. There are two options.
InControl Accessories Remotelyyou can choose for users to interact with HomeKit devices from any location when turned on. When off, the other person can only control accessories when in the range of your Wi-Fi network.
You can also select whether to allow invited users to add or edit HomeKit accessories and other automation inAdd and Edit Accessories.
Stop Sharing Home Control
To ever stop sharing home control with another person, here’s how.
An invited guest can also leave a home. ClickMore > Home Settingsin the Home app and choose the home you want to leave. Then selectLeave Homeand thenLeave.
Troubleshooting Home Sharing
There are a few steps to try if you’re having problems sharing home control with others.
Make sure the person you’ve invited is running the most recent Apple software and are signed in to iCloud.
Also, inSettings > [Your Name] > iCloud, make sureHomeis turned on underApps using iCloud.
Finally, make sure that you and the other person haven’t blocked each other’s Apple ID or phone number.
Bring Apple Smart Home Control to Others
With just a little bit of work, it’s easy to share control of your smart home so anyone you choose can enjoy the technology.
And it’s easy to even customize remote access for others so they can control devices when not in range of your home network.
We’ll show you how to add a smart home product to Apple’s protocol with the Home app.
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