Home Assistant and Apple HomeKit Integration

Home Assistant work really well with Apple's smart home platform HomeKit. This tutorial walks you through connecting Home Assistant to Apple Home so as you can control your Home Assistant devices and entities from your iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch or using Siri. If you have a 'Works with Apple HomeKit' compatible device then you can also pair it directly with Home Assistant to make it available to your automations.
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[@EbrahimHasan]

This couldn't be any simpler to follow. Thanks a bazillion.

[@SpeakToTheGeekTech]

Thanks!

[@spaltmass]

1:17 Homekit integration (Apple Homepod needed for automation) 6:46 homekit controller integration

[@darib842]

This is Awesome! I paired it with the Google Assistant SDK to be able to control any "Works with Google Assistant" Smart Bulbs from HomeKit!

[@SpeakToTheGeekTech]

Very nice! I never thought of double-hopping HomeKit to Google via Home Assistant!

[@josheh4]

I'm here! Haha. I'm watching this video to make sure I set things up right, and see if I can catch any additional tips for setup. So far it all seems good!

[@TerenceAferSA]

Exactly what I needed & well presented. Thank you!

[@SpeakToTheGeekTech]

Thanks, glad it helped!

[@TheDiabeticWay]

Seen many videos to try to help on this kind of setup and none o fthem have helped as much as yours! Taken me a while to do this but once I saw your video it all makes sence now on all the things I was doing wrong before! No matter what I was asking no one could help me! Great video hope you do more! Thanks!

[@SpeakToTheGeekTech]

I'm glad it helped :)

[@substandard649]

This was exactly the overview i needed. Thanks

[@SpeakToTheGeekTech]

Glad it helped!

[@TheBroz]

Great video. I’m doing tons of research ahead of setting up my smart house from scratch. I do think that Apple Home and HomeAssistant might be the right solution for us.

[@SpeakToTheGeekTech]

I find that it's a great combination - Home Assistant contains all of my devices and automation logic, Apple Home is just a really quick to access user interface for them.

[@Lissipol2111]

Thanks for the video, really helpful! So do I need to always type into the config if I want to add a new device, or is there a simpler way? Btw where do I find the product names to add into the config? Thanks!

[@SpeakToTheGeekTech]

Yes if you want to do it this way and filter what appears in Home. You get the entity IDs by looking at the information of the entity you want to add in the gui or by searching in settings > devices & services > entities

[@walberg61]

I used the well-known button to import the homekit integration, I now get all those QR codes but in my Home app I get a lot of input things with unclear names, moreover everything is actually entered as a switch (which then does nothing) my intention was to bring a lot of devices to the home so that they would be easier to operate. I now also see that you have entered some text in configuration.yaml, on the Home Assistant page itself there is a very long input with a lot of filters and bells, where can I find a text file for the simplest configuration?

[@SpeakToTheGeekTech]

All of the instructions on how to do that are in the video

[@walberg61]

Let me try it another way, which brand outlets can i setup in HomeAssistant and then also put in Homekit? i know its not really Homebridge but it seems Homebridge does not work in European outlets.

[@SpeakToTheGeekTech]

It’s done by device type, check out the HomeKit page on the HA web site for details, I wouldn’t know any better than Google would sorry

[@miguelavello7493]

Very Helpful. The video was great and I was able to use it in my HA. THANK YOU ... John ???

[@SpeakToTheGeekTech]

You’re welcome. Who’s John??

[@miguelavello7493]

@@SpeakToTheGeekTech For some reason I thought it was your name.... haha. Thank you so much your videos are awesome.

[@walberg61]

Tried a lot of power plugs, even the ones that should be Homekit compatible (like Iqore) but al the devices are in Apple home only as a switch, no power measures?

[@SpeakToTheGeekTech]

If you add directly to Apple Home but use the Eve app instead to control them then you get additional info such as power and energy.

[@walberg61]

@@SpeakToTheGeekTech Nope, i just tried the EVE app, and only on off no power measurement.

[@edndomotique9556]

Thanks for tour video … i install home assistant and homebridge bridge … homebridge bridge appear on Homekit … but on HA , it as me to pair and want code 8 Numbers .. impossible to find .. can you help me ? And i cant find Port ? Thanks you …😢😢😢

[@SpeakToTheGeekTech]

Homebridge is something different that I don't cover in this video.

[@SandeepSawhney]

Thanks :) helped a lot. Enjoy the Coffeeeee :)

[@SpeakToTheGeekTech]

Thank you!

[@photosandclips9452]

If TV has apple home kit support only you will use HA for integration, so qute

[@VW_Fan]

Great Video! How would I go about setting up my Apple TV as a hub so I can control the devices outside of the home please? Thanks

[@SpeakToTheGeekTech]

Hi - try the guide on Apple's web site. It's pretty much just a case of enabling it: support.apple.com/en-gb/HT207057

[@danielbass09]

Hi John. Have you done any integration with devices that “aren’t” smart that have API access. For example. I would love to be able to check solar output and production from my fronius inverter via APIs and then have devices in my house turn on or off depending on how much solar we are producing. Like if there was no sun would be great to turn off appliances etc automatically to save draw of power from the grid.

[@SpeakToTheGeekTech]

Who's John?? If something is accessible or controllable via an API then yes, Home Assistant should be able to control or read data from it. Quite often someone has written an integration or add-on that will do all of the hard work for you, but sometimes you have to just read the API documentation and figure it out. Home Assistant supports RESTful sensors for reading data from a REST API (such as power, status, etc) and REST commands for sending commands back to the API (power toggle, relay on/off, etc). I've used those several times for various things but they're created on a case by case basis because they're unique to the API you are interfacing with.

[@TheBroz]

Amazing video. I’m about to jump into home automation and HA is likely what I’m going to go for. Can I just confirm that with this method there’s no need for a HomeKit hub like an Apple TV or HomePod?

[@SpeakToTheGeekTech]

If you want to use Apple’s Home app to control Home Assistant devices and you are not on your local network then you do need an Apple hub to facilitate that

[@TheBroz]

@@SpeakToTheGeekTechHmm, done done the initial part of this config and the iPhone is failing to connect to the bridge. Connecting times out with accessory not found after scanning the QR. Phone is on the same network. Also tried on iPad, the same iPad I used to configure HA.

[@andreii6463]

@@SpeakToTheGeekTech i have the exact same issue. I got "Accessory not Found" message when trying to connect to the HomeKit bridge from HomeAssistant after scanning the QR code. @TheBroz did you manage to get it work?

[@CodySmiley]

So an iPhone is required to pair HA with Home on macOS?

[@SpeakToTheGeekTech]

Or an iPad, yes, basically iOS or iPadOS. There's no way to add a device yet using Home on macOS. Blame Apple :( support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/home/hmead877ec9c/mac

[@tempdemp1622]

Wonderful video ... I have just installed the Aqara G4 Doorbell , which works well with the Aqara App and Apple Home . How do I integrate it with Home Assistant ? The Homekit Controller gives a message "No unpaired devices could be found" . Do I have to install the Homekit Bridge first ?

[@SpeakToTheGeekTech]

Have you already paired the G4 with Apple Home (on your iPhone, etc)? If so, then you wouldn't be able to pair it at the same time with Home Assistant using HomeKit. It's one or the other via that method. But I would urge caution at the moment - that particular device and Home Assistant don't appear to be playing too nicely together at the moment according to what I've been reading - developers are still fiddling and trying to make sure it's fully supported. Rumours are that the Matter integration (still in beta) will be the best option for you. If you enable the Matter add-on/Integration in Home Assistant, and also convert your HomeKit setup to Matter (if everything you have is compatible), then it should be easier to share devices between services. I've not tested any of that though, and I don't have an Aqara doorbell to test it out with either.

[@cloud5887]

Is home assistant powerful enough to run an automation like this? 1. Turn on TV at 4pm everyday 2. Navigate to AppleTV and move button right/left/up/down 3. Press button on AppleTV ?

[@SpeakToTheGeekTech]

Hi, yes that is possible: www.home-assistant.io/integrations/apple_tv

[@Casajulianmg]

How to install or enable HomeKit controller

[@SpeakToTheGeekTech]

It’s built in so nothing to install, it automatically detects your HomeKit devices so as you can configure them, as shown in this video

[@gazm2k5]

If I buy a smart lock that only has bluetooth, has HomeKit support, do I just need to get a bluetooth dongle for my Home Assistant machine?

[@SpeakToTheGeekTech]

I can’t answer that for definite sorry, you would need to confirm that the lock in question has Home Assistant Bluetooth support. I’m not even certain that the SwitchBot lock works over Bluetooth with HA.

[@hessulipoika13]

Could you make video how to integrate HomeKit to new HA green?

[@SpeakToTheGeekTech]

It's the same regardless of hardware it's running on.

[@aborttoorbit8766]

Nate the Great!

[@SpeakToTheGeekTech]

Huh??

[@rodrigoruiz976]

Can I have the Home Assistant device off but still have my smart controllable via Home app? I just want HA to also control my lights via a Windows PC.

[@SpeakToTheGeekTech]

If your devices are connected to Home Assistant and presented to the Home app from Home Assistant using the method shown in this video then no, you must leave Home Assistant turned on. The only way devices are controllable via the Home(kit) App when Home Assistant is off is if they are HomeKit / Matter compatible devices and have been paired directly with Home.

[@rodrigoruiz976]

@@SpeakToTheGeekTech that’s exactly what I want, have HA pairing after the HomeKit pairing. So when my PC is on, I can control using HA. Is that possible? Some people sair the only way was to remove the device from HomeKit, add to HA and then use an integration to expose it to the Home app, but that would require the HA server to be constantly running.

[@stevereynolds3754]

Thanks for the tutorial - will this allow me to control an HA script (that subsequently controls the turning on and off of an HA entity) via Siri on a homepod? I am trying to replace my google voice assistant stuff and homepod option would be great.

[@SpeakToTheGeekTech]

Yes, you can present a Home Assistant script entity to the HomeKit integration and it will appear in Apple Home as a switch that you can turn on or off

[@stevereynolds3754]

@@SpeakToTheGeekTech great thanks - it worked!

[@evilboy7548]

Do I have to unpair it from HomeKit to connect it Home Assistant?

[@SpeakToTheGeekTech]

Usually, yes. But you can then link Home Assistant to HomeKit and share the device back again that way. That's what I do so things are controllable in both HA and HK.

[@evilboy7548]

@@SpeakToTheGeekTech Thanks you.

[@GabrielSoldani]

Do I need an Apple TV for this to work? The Home app help section makes it seem like you need one to act as your home automation hub, but it seems like Home Assistant does this job in this setup, right?

[@SpeakToTheGeekTech]

Which direction? If you are using the Home app to control your Home Assistant entities then you only need an Apple hub (Apple TV, HomePod, iPad) if you want to control them that way when you leave your home. The hub would act as a bridge to the internet. If you are controlling HomeKit devices using Home Assistant then no other hub would be needed.

[@meetadityanihlani]

So HomeKit can be used by just altering the config file and not having to install the HomeBridge OS alltogether?

[@SpeakToTheGeekTech]

Correct. If you are already using Home Assistant and want to control those devices using Home, just enable the HomeKit integration in Home Assistant's config. No need for HomeBridge at all.

[@catalinmereanu497]

this will also work outside local network? if so, it's needed to forward 51828 port? (tcp/upd)

[@SpeakToTheGeekTech]

To access HomeKit devices from outside of the local network you do not need to forward any ports, but you do need to have an Apple Home hub such as a HomePod, Apple TV, or always-connected-always-home iPad.

[@WayneKellen]

I keep getting to the Connecting to Bridge part and it doesn't find it. Do I have to be on the same network as my Home Assistant server for this to work?

[@SpeakToTheGeekTech]

Yes you do - you must have local connectivity directly between your iOS device and Home Assistant for that initial pairing to work. Once paired you can use a bridge (such as the HomePod or Apple TV) sitting on the same network as Home Assistant to give you HomeKit access outside of that network.

[@kylenic33]

I've recently moved home and looking to integrate some smart features, I quite like the idea of it all being in HA but exposed to Apple Home (but not tying us down to it). Have you tried the Aqara light switches setup directly in HA?

[@SpeakToTheGeekTech]

I've never used any Aqara products myself but I hear they are quite good - their Zigbee products are all on the zigbee2mqtt compatibility list which suggests that if you have a Zigbee mesh already running with Home Assistant, they should be able to connect directly through that. There's also a cloud-based integration for connecting to the Aqara hub should you go that direction instead.

[@simdevils]

Hey, i am guessing you do interface with HomeKit. There seems to be in this empty space where there arent Home Assistant youtubers than mainly use HomeKit to interface, most people use Homebridge, Homekit or Home Assistant. A video idea, Home Assistant's WLED integration doesnt give the same result compared to Homebridge when it comes to homekit output (the effects and stuff is missing)

[@SpeakToTheGeekTech]

I'll put it on my list to investigate, thanks.

[@spaltmass]

are you able to automate things with Homekit Integration without Apple Homepod?

[@SpeakToTheGeekTech]

Once integrated with Home Assistant then any Home Assistant automations you create will run on Home Assistant and control those HomeKit devices, no HomePod needed. A HomePod/iPad/Apple TV is only needed in order to access Home Assistant devices which you have presented to the Apple Home app remotely (when you are not at home on your local network). If you don't want to do that, you can just use the Home Assistant app remotely instead.

[@spaltmass]

@@SpeakToTheGeekTech thank you! got it running yesterday night. homeassistant is insanely capable. very good software to build automated stuff upon :)

[@bazcurtis178]

I have added two IKEA bulbs to HA via ZHA. One has shown up in the Home app, but the other has not. I am not sure how I got the first one added. How do you added devices later?

[@SpeakToTheGeekTech]

If you followed my guide as per this video, I'd have suggested you work on an allow-list only basis. So if you want to share something with HomeKit from Home Assistant you must edit your configuration.yaml, find the HomeKit section and add the entity id to the 'include_entities:' section. I demonstrate adding additional entities in the video.

[@bazcurtis178]

@@SpeakToTheGeekTech Strangely, I have nothing in my config file. I just set it up in the GUI. The fix was easy in the end. It was a reload of the HomeKit Bridge, no reboot required. Tomorrow, I will be moving more bulbs. I will see if they come over directly or I need to reload again. Thanks as ever.

[@bazcurtis178]

I did have to reload HomeKit Bridge for the two new bulbs to come in. All working great with ZHA now.

[@florent6382]

Hi there Cool video Have you been able to integrate devices that are Home Kit compliant, like a camera for ex ? I got this nice Aqara G3, and can't see it anywhere.

[@SpeakToTheGeekTech]

Thank you and yes, I have a Roku and a Netatmo weather station connected to Home Assistant using the HomeKit ‘Device’ integration

[@florent6382]

OK thanks. That's odd, I can't get my Aqara G3 to show up anywhere. Door sensors are easy, but this one won't work.@@SpeakToTheGeekTech

[@theattorney6072]

My question is do you really need home assistant if you already have homekit ?

[@SpeakToTheGeekTech]

Well, if all you ever need to control is HomeKit-only devices in a fairly simple way then no. If however you want massively complex automation logic and the ability to control pretty much any smart device ever, then yes, you need Home Assistant sitting right at the centre of it all. It's all down to what you want to achieve.

[@GralynVillage]

Hello, do you know how to re-generate the Apple pairing code or where it’s stored in HA. HA devices were deleted in HomeKit by mistake & it requires the HA pairing code to re-install it back into HomeKit.

[@SpeakToTheGeekTech]

I did the same thing :) the quickest way I found was to remove the HomeKit integration, hash out the config, restart, un-hash the config and change the port it’s using, restart again and the QR code for pairing should appear in notifications again

[@GralynVillage]

Thanks

[@chenks76]

is this method different compared to just adding a "homekit bridge" via the "add integration" button? from what i've tested it seems to do the same thing but without the need to do anything in the configuration.yaml file.

[@SpeakToTheGeekTech]

It's identical, yes. The GUI version wasn't available when I made this video. However, if you use the GUI then you currently end up trying to send every sensor/control in a particular domain to Home. Each Home has a device limit (100 devices I think) and you can quickly hit it. I still prefer to use the configuration to specify exactly which entities I am sharing with Home. It also means sensitive devices aren't accidentally shared, for example if you have a door lock and you don't want your HomePod to control it.

[@chenks76]

@@SpeakToTheGeekTech good point, i would prefer to cherry pick which devices/entities i expose to homekit. i assume that can't be done using the UI method and can only be done by manually editing the yaml file? would i need to delete the existing bridge and re-create to achieve that?

[@SimonLeslieTan]

Wrong. U can choose to include or exclude entities when you use the integration method. OP's method is outdated.

[@chenks76]

@@SimonLeslieTan from 5 months ago 🙄

[@GralynVillage]

Can both integrations be installed?

[@SpeakToTheGeekTech]

Yes, and you can have multiple instances of each. So HomeKit can run on lots of different ports sharing different entities with different Apple users. HomeKit Controller can run as many times as you have HomeKit devices that you wish to pair with Home Assistant