HomeKit Automations Just Got WAY More Powerful (Controller for HomeKit)

[@ShaneCreates]

Thanks to Level Lock for sponsoring this video! Check out their products here: go.magik.ly/ml/28q8a/ Get 30 days of free access to the Controller for HomeKit app (new and returning users): go.magik.ly/ml/28q8f/

[@lancewebb8813]

Am I losing my mind or are there currently no smart locks that support Apple Home Key using hands-free unlock with Ultra Wideband (UWB). These new locks would need to have the UWB chip? Are we waiting for CES?

[@ShaneCreates]

Correct there are not any locks that support this yet.

[@willmitchell255]

I'd really prefer that Apple create a more powerful Home experience without having to resort to 3rd party apps.

[@TheLegendryZelda]

Same

[@BigIron8711]

Thanks Shane for all the work you’ve put into presenting these demos. I totally agree with you guys on this. Homekit is ten freaking years old, and the automation hasn’t improved; the iconography still suck, and the interoperability…well, you get my point. Not cool to be dependent on third-party apps after ten years.

[@helioyanagita]

This ☝️

[@Romanus-]

Yeh I think they are missing a huge market. I’d imagine they are doing what Apple normally does which is be very deliberate and not rush anything out. That’s what I’m hoping at least. If they really focused on building seamless smart home integration with advanced features people would pay a subscription for it. At least I would. I refuse to spend the time it takes to go through these clunky workarounds that require a million different actions just to complete what should be a simple task

[@davidgreen3723]

I think Apple prefer this model. - this is a paid app, and Apple get a % of all transactions through apps, therefore for them this is a win win - a 3rd party develops the app, it makes the eco system more valuable to customers, and they get paid for it… but I agree it would be better if this was native.

[@barbutman]

Great video! We need 3 things in Controller: 1. Duplicate commands 2. Repeat loops 3. SET A LIGHT TO ADAPTIVE MODE!

[@carlossap]

Adaptive mode is not available on the api. 3rd party devs can’t use the option

[@danlysk]

Thank you for this video! I bought this the other day and got lost. With your help I totally get it now! Thank you again so much.

[@ShaneCreates]

Thanks for watching. Glad it was helpful!

[@Slackbabbath]

We use presence to unlock the doors. It’s easier than pulling out a phone or entering a code

[@bravomike09]

Thanks for that Shane! Well done! Would be nice to see functions added for convenience and expediency like duplicate, copy, repeat, etc. The ability to shortcut repetitive additions to code is always nice.

[@iChaseCorals]

I have an old Mac mini M1 just sitting around. Can i install controller app on it an have it run as a hub?

[@RDlinkenhoker]

"An old Mac mini M1..." Tell us you're a geek without telling us you're a geek. LOL There are people who'd consider an M1 Mac mini to be state of the art. 🤣

[@jackdenenberg1788]

Agree. I have a Mac mini that's always on for Signals hub to run - This seems like this is a miss

[@BrandonDoyleMN]

That’s pretty neat!

[@SvenHerrmann-gv4mh]

Really interesting, love your videos.

[@MortyP]

Shane, your videos are always a hit! I spotted something at the bottom that might need a little jazz: “Stop the current workflow and start a new one” in the “Restart Workflow” section. This way, it won’t be like a motion sensor that needs a timeout before it notices your *waving your hands sporadically* dance moves. Am I off the beat here? What’s your take?

[@GYATEZ]

Great video! I was curious on this Controller update. Too bad it needs to run in the foreground on ATV. That makes it look usable for me, as I have no spare devices that will run Apple Home. Thanks Shane!

[@justinrpowers]

Thanks Shane, great video - installed Controller for HomeKit on my spare 4k Apple TV, set it as primary hub, can't enable it hub mode? Has anyone else tried on Apple TV?

[@ronyoung3623]

One question about long term use. If you put on an older / unused iPhone or iPAD, what happens when the OS won’t be updated on that device because it’s too old. I can see the APP at some point requiring a specific iOS / iPAD OS and you are stuck and need new hardware. to extend the use of the software, it would seem you should be on a newer device which can be expensive. Curious on thoughts?

[@GBric]

Does the flashing of lights work together with getting an imessage on your iphone ??? Been searching for a direct way to do it

[@lkkk-r]

Hey Shane, I have a Ikea smart button, I want to use it outdoor for a doorbell. I have a customized sound for it as well, but it takes almost 10 seconds to play. Is it possible to reduce delay?

[@SimoneFrancazi-dj9ny]

Hi Shane, is there a minimum requirement for an old iPad or iPhone ( in terms of os or hardware) or I can use any? I don’t have an old one so I want to buy a refurbished one but the cheapest that is compatible with

[@BenDMitchell]

Hi Shane--- I have a smart lock Home app question. I have a smart lock hooked up with automation so it turns off at 11 PM. Now when I unlock the door in the morning, I get a notification but when the door locks at night automatically I am not getting a notification. I am the organizer of the home so is that why? The reason I mention that is other members of the family are getting the notifications when the door locks. It is just me as the organizer that is not getting the notification from the automation. Do you have any idea as to what is going on? Should the organizer get notified from automations?

[@ShaneCreates]

Hey Ben. Notifications are set for smart devices in the Home app on a per device basis. But if you are getting a notification when the door unlocks in the morning, it sounds like you have Activity Notifications enabled on your phone for the lock. There is no reason why you should not get notifications in the evening as well. Make sure you don't have focus modes or do not disturb set that would prevent notifications for the Home app to come through in the evenings.

[@BenDMitchell]

@@ShaneCreates so even though I am the home organizer who set up the automation, I should still be getting a notification for when the automation kicks in?

[@ShaneCreates]

@@BenDMitchell yes if notifications are turned on

[@amshaq007CR7]

Thank you Shane I got my gifts 🎉

[@ShaneCreates]

Awesome!

[@JFP-ktl2]

Would hub mode work on the upcoming Apple Hub with a screen?

[@8Arachne8]

Think I’ll wait for Apple’s big 2025 Home OS year. Fully expecting workflow capabilities with the release of a dedicated hub with screen. The update to shortcuts and automations was a good step forward.

[@Kelto66]

Can you make a workflow on one device (Like a laptop) and push it to the phone? That would be nice so you can use a laptop to easily make them.

[@ShaneCreates]

Yes you can create the workflow on any of your devices.

[@SomeGuyIsWorking]

Subscription based and as long as it’s in the App Store. No thanks. Home assistant can do all of this and more. Also almost anything in Home assistant can pair with home kit. Home kit is only good for the normal user (others in the home)

[@ShaneCreates]

Home assistant is not for everyone (and that is ok!)

[@gregghayes6710]

Great video Shane, Ken you build one of these automations in Controller on your iPhone but have it run on an Apple TV? Or, do you have to somehow build it on the Apple TV?

[@ShaneCreates]

Thanks Gregg! You can build the automation on any device running the controller app (as I did on the Mac) and they sync across devices. As long as you have a device running in hub mode, doesn’t matter which device you build the automation on.

[@onevoice5383]

Great I’m gonna go out and buy $1000 phone for this hub!

[@gavproductions]

Can this be done in apple’s shotcuts? I need the stop automation when motion is (re) detected again with my FP2 sensor

[@ShaneCreates]

There is not a good way to do this in shortcuts.

[@gavproductions]

@@ShaneCreates Thanks Shane - always great info!

[@justinrpowers]

The stop automation is worth buying a lifetime pro subscription, I have FP2 & FP1 that need it. Just need the enable hub mode to work on Apple TV, dont have spare Iphone or Ipad that can run the latest IOS..

[@Dr_Cole]

I have the lifetime license for Controller and have plenty of old iPhones for this use. I also just bought the HomeyPro, still in box. Are these now substantially overlapping in capabilities that only need one or will the HomeyPro are a good bit more? BTW, I love these videos as they hit on my next steps. I know there are fewer of us but with your numbers, I suspect enough of us medium level users to warrant these videos here and there.

[@ShaneCreates]

Thanks for the feedback! There is some overlap but homey pro will still give you more capabilities, like being able to integrate other devices into HomeKit otherwise not supported, creating virtual switches, etc.

[@ThomasKanarek]

What new doorbell you using?

[@ShaneCreates]

Right now I’m using a Reolink WiFi doorbell, connected to HomeKit via scrypted. But I hope to run PoE sometime soon and switch to a PoE doorbell for an upcoming project.

[@ThomasKanarek]

@ gonna make that switch over to UniFi now that you got a gateway?

[@ShaneCreates]

Thinking about it!

[@karzolia8476]

I’m using the unifi g4 pro doorbell. Connected by POE. And integrated into HomeKit via Homebridge.

[@gveresUW]

Hey Shane, have you found a way to do a text-to-speech Intercom to all of the speakers in your house? I have a door sense on my freezer door and when it is open for 3 minutes, I want to send a message to all of my speakers in the house to say "The freezer door is open". You would think that something like this would be easy to do in HomeKit but it seems almost impossible. I was hoping that with Controller in hub mode it would be possible.

[@samerighneim]

Use shortcuts, set text (ask each time) and next action is the intercom.

[@gveresUW]

@@samerighneim I don't understand. When I am creating a workflow in Controller, the only actions for the steps include: Execute Scene, control accessories, controller accessory, get accessory state, create time based autoamtion, de/activate automation, if/else, wait, monitor value, notification, call url, output. I don't see how to trigger the shortcut

[@samerighneim]

My apologies was short, I meant that you can send an announcement to all homepode speakers with text you can type or pre type inside the shortcuts app. But what speakers do you have? I assume in shortcuts app you can still play sound of Siri reading text ?

[@gveresUW]

@@samerighneim no problem at all. I appreciate the help. All my speakers are home pods. My understanding is that a shortcut created on my phone can use intercom. I have created a shortcut in the shortcut app that sends a voice message that the freezer door is open and siri reads the text out to me just fine. I guess if I run HomeKit Controller on an old iPhone and then create the shortcut on that iPhone, I just need to figure out how to have Homekit Controller run the shortcut.

[@samerighneim]

@ got you, for me it works to other devices, but perhaps because I set to allow announcements delivery to all devices of the members as Im homepod admin. Try the announcement settings and set announcements delivery settings to the members and homepods

[@周新凱-d9d]

I don’t know if I can get a hold of you but I have

[@lthomas63]

awesome videos as always, Shane! I can’t wait one day until you can just tell Apple Intelligence to set up this automation, do you know what the minimum requirements to run controller for HomeKit are on a Mac? For example, can I set it up on my 2012 Mac mini that is running Catalina?

[@ShaneCreates]

Thanks for watching Larry. Right now you can only run Hub mode on an iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV 4K. You can use the Controller app on your Mac, but you can not use it in Hub Mode.

[@lthomas63]

@ thanks Shane, would be nice if they added the ability to use an old Mac mini that you have lying around to use as the home hub for controller for HomeKit.

[@DTech101]

Shane good vid, but I’m like a pig in mud with home assistant 88 automations 19 in HomeKit so I can get Siri to announce and now I’m making stuff from my dashboard disappear ie only need to see smoke alarms when they are going off, only need to see smart plugs if they are switched off or in use, I’ve made my gaming computer work in reverse when it pulls 40watts the smart plug disappears so no one can turn it off accidentally. Never thought I would be so much into Home Assistant! And the amount of devices that I can integrate is it matter, thread, zigbee, Bluetooth, RTS wifi? Only protocol I’ve not got is ZWave and don’t think I ever will. Was a proper Apple fan but they dropped the ball twice one killing home pod then having to revive, Siri still not the best so what I can automate without voice is a winner for me and the last HomeKit is weak not enough development over the years for a big company like Apple

[@dmhchris]

Native Apple Home app can do these too. No need to buy another app or have another device running as a hub

[@ShaneCreates]

You cannot do most of this natively in the Apple Home app.

[@cambuslangsteve9797]

So I have to have an iPhone, iPad or HomePod to be allowed to use this ? I think i will give it a miss.

[@onac3079]

Yeah that is a pretty big limitation. I luckily have an iPhone X sitting in a drawer and this just gave me a use for it!

[@onac3079]

Don’t think Homepod works. iPhkne, iPad or AppleTV

[@bubffm]

This is where Homekit is just getting totally messy and unusuable and you wish you would be on Home Assistant

[@BadgerBob]

Until Apple improve HomeKit, running home assistant makes way more sense than this.

[@RDlinkenhoker]

Not necessarily. I have Home Assistant running, but 97% of what I have in my home that integrates with HA also integrates with HomeKit natively. And almost all the functions I want pretty much work within HomeKit. There are a couple of things I want my home to do that require me to make an integrated device from HA back into HomeKit, but not enough to go through the rabbit hole of becoming a total HA geek. I might have to get there at some point, but something simpler like this for one-offs is a good intermediate step. As they say, there is more than one way to skin a cat.

[@Bigglare]

No, I use home assistant for all my automations. Great video though.

[@Bigglare]

And home assistant is free. :-) and is running on an old busted up laptop with a dead screen that was sitting in garage.

[@pleaseletitgo1818]

I’m confused of why you felt compelled to even comment

[@JEEVANMARATHE]

​@@pleaseletitgo1818 He might want people to choose wisely.

[@carlossap]

@@pleaseletitgo1818feel better about themselves

[@Bigglare]

@@pleaseletitgo1818 hey, let it go.

[@archero0714]

Sorry but needing a dedicated (always power on) device seems like a huge negative to me.

[@boomboomboba]

They need to list the prices for this. I don't want to download it to find it costs more than I want to pay. Prices are not even on there website or their App download page.

[@ShaneCreates]

Prices are listed in the App Store for this under “in-app purchases”