How to master these easy Apple Home automations

[@RoccoBartolotta]

Can you make a scene and/or automation showing how to control theater room projector, receiver and lights? I can’t figure out how to get these devices to turn on together since the projector and receiver need to be turned on even after they get power from smart plug. Btw love the videos. I’m brand new to the smart home world and your videos are easy to follow.

[@cyclingchantal]

2:41 the automatic turn off isn’t very reliable overhere. Light gets switched on with Hue motion sensor, but Home doesn’t always turn it off after 2 mins. Quite annoying.

[@EricWelander]

Interesting...bummer! Thanks for sharing. I haven't seen these problems, but I often don't use the time function. Life with toddlers is rarely that predictable lol!

[@carlsarazin]

Thanks for the great content Eric... Something that I've been trying to do with my Aquara Door Sensor(p2) is, O want to use it on my Standing Freezer to alert me if the Freezer door has been open for more then 2 minutes ??? Looks like you alert when open or close but can't find any Delay options ? and also ... is there a way to alert only me ? (my iPhone)? Thanks

[@Patrick76399]

Since the Apple Home app doesn’t have a dedicated circadian rhythm feature I would be interested in a video seeing how you would set this up. How would you gradually change the color temperature from sunrise to sunset instead of picking set colors at set intervals? How would you gradually change the brightness from sunrise to sunset instead of picking set brightness options at set intervals?

[@jarrett123]

I’d love to know this too!

[@AlexManMe]

We need some advance ones, for example: 1. to dimb the lights to 80 percent when no motion is detected then turn off the lights if no motion is detected after 10 more seconds because it will allow people to move around and not be in darkness if the motion semsor gets it wrong. 2. to have a lux sensor! to turn on the lights if presence is detected and it is dark in the room, if it is bright enough, do nothing

[@krs6445]

I have an automation requirement. I want to use a smart plug to put a device in timeout. I have wifi router that I want to go off for 30 minutes then cut back on automatically. 1. Tap shortcut "Wife Timeout 30 mins" 2. Router plug power cuts off for 30 minutes 3. Router power cuts back on automatically 30 minutes later.

[@NeoVdV]

I'm a complete newbie with this. Is it possible to turn on/off an outlet when in turn on/off my wifi or BT on my iPhone ? So that the outlet doesn't stay on when I'm not connected. ??

[@frankvet1]

If there is no way to alert me (text for e.g.), I really have other ways to automate my home that WILL alert me via text. Apple- what gives?

[@ChrisOram]

Not only was the quality of information high, but the production value was amazing. Great visual explanations - very impressive bro! 🎉

[@EricWelander]

Thank you Chris!

[@Viewer765]

@@EricWelander Eve motion sucks automation never turns off

[@gabrielegelfofx]

How to trigger a shortcut like this? When the door is open Siri says (through the Homepods) "The door is open"

[@marcus3jankowski]

Hey Eric, this is super helpful. I have a question. I am trying to have my Aqara vibration sensor notify me when my washer machine finishes. I have a scene that will sound on my HomePod mini that it’s finished. I am having a hard time with the complex logic to avoid having it go off with the random stops throughout a wash cycle. Would you mind doing a video or pointing me in a good direction of how to do this?

[@EricWelander]

This is one of those scenarios that sounds simple but is actually very tricky due to the vibration sensor having no knowledge of the wash cycle. I would look to doing the automation in something like Home Assistant or another automation platform where you could check for something like if vibration stops for 5 minutes, then play the sound on a speaker.

[@FabianoChagas]

Awesome video as always. One of the things I miss when programming the automations is a "timer" function. I needed to do a sort of workaround with "repeat", "counts" and "waits" components ... which sucks. Cheers, Eric!

[@EricWelander]

Thanks! Yes Fabiano. This is a sorely missed feature in Apple Home and I plan to discuss ways to work around it in future videos, but short answer is it mostly involves automations outside Apple Home.

[@kmiller3535]

So to be clear, if you don’t have an IPod or Apple TV HomeKit will not work? I have an apple laptop and was going to try to incorporate Kasa smart switches and plugs in with HomeKit

[@TheRiderGuider]

Correct, yes, you need a HomePod or an Apple TV as the hub. To be fair they're worth having regardless, having this feature is an add on.

[@dankelley9361]

Excellent demonstration of how to use Apple HomeKit with some various sensors. You mentioned thread/matter, I was wondering if you get an Apple TV device, will that also work as a thread border router? Thanks, not an Apple user, but getting there😁

[@PastaDNA]

Thank you for sharing - comprehensive yet simple. I have a few dead zones in my house. I purchased a WiFi booster but now everything runs through the booster and is actually a weaker signal? Thoughts?

[@mastershoe2707]

Great video Eric. Are you using smart lightbulbs in your outdoor driveway automation or smart switches? Thanks.

[@tomsop]

I was the early purchaser of the betafpv nano rx for ELRS - I have the same unit that you could not upfate firmware on unless you took it apart to depress an interior button. Betafpv knew they sold me a defective unit and did not reach out to fix it. I will never be one of the first people to buy RC products - I had a tendency to do that since we were starved for new proucts during and after the pandemic. Not any more - I will not be a beta tester again for any product, whether betafpv or caddx.

[@m.j.r.technologyreveiws1075]

Apple should allow us to make 'Automation Scenes' that don't have to show the Scene Icon in the Home or Room Screens but are specific to automation only and there should be no limit to how many you can make.

[@mbizozo6271]

They are so easy to set up, I loved them. Just need more support from manufacturers.

[@Dactylonian]

Excellent overview, as usual, Eric! I have a question… in your away from home scene/automation, how would you make it so that a light turns to a specific color and brightness level and not just on or off? For example a Nanoleaf bulb that you want to turn on to a specific setting I’ve downloaded to it (Christmas) with brightness at 50%? And then when you return, that bulb changes to 100% soft white.

[@EricWelander]

Thanks! You can long press on those accessories in the automation pane and set a color and brightness level. If you are looking to use a specific preset from Nanoleaf that has animations, you should tie that to a HomeKit scene in the Nanoleaf app and then have that scene be the effect of the automation you setup in Apple Home.

[@uniqueflh2941]

Good overview Eric. Automations (as well as Shortcuts) are a spectacular way to control the Home. Without trying to get too far off the topic of your video, as I know it’s somewhat of an ‘introduction’…My (current) dilemma is limit that Apple Home has for the total amount of Automations/Shortcuts we can create. While I believe the ‘average’ Smart Home user will never reach this limit…there is a small percentage of us ‘power users’ who have large ecosystems and complex Automated control structures. Even after going thru my Automations and removing unused items, I’m still at a point where I get a ‘Cannot be Completed’ message when trying to create & add a new Automation/Shortcut.

[@EricWelander]

Thank you! Yes that is an annoying limit, and unfortunately it means we need to pair down automations in Apple Home and move some off platform. I hope they raise these limits for automations and scenes in the future.

[@tomsop]

Hi Eric - doe this aqara sensor work directly with homekit or do you need a hub? The description at Home Depo was not clear. Is there a direct to homekit sensor if this is not it?

[@EricWelander]

The P2 sensor does not require a bridge/hub and talks to your Apple Home hubs over Thread. Older door and window sensors from Aqara DO require an Aqara bridge.

[@markboling5404]

What doorbell camera are you using

[@jwelsh2]

Hello Eric and thank you for your helpful video. Question: Using Apple Home, do you have to have a HomePod or AppleTV in order to set up Automations? If yes, leave it to Apple to completely suck.