My TOP 3 Smart Home Automations! (Super Easy Setup!)

[@ShaneCreates]

I want to showcase YOUR unique automations in a future video! Here's how to submit yours (please only HomeKit automations): Email [e-mail] with the following: 1. video footage/link of your automation in action (16:9 horizontal video). 2. Provide a detailed explanation or your automation and accessories used. ______________ Follow me online! ► Instagram - instagram.com/shanecreates ► Twitter - twitter.com/shanecreates ► TikTok - www.tiktok.com/@shanecreates ► Website: shanewhatley.com​

[@teegees]

Hey Shane I’d like to set up an automation that will randomly turn on and off a smart plug between two set times, in order to simulate someone being home. I want to use this automation when I am away for a few days or more. Can I do this with HomeKit or Eve?

[@cnyphotovideo]

Automations are incredibly useful for someone like me who is disabled, and uses a wheelchair. The one automation I have through HomeKit is lights coming on when I arrive home after sunset. Makes it feel much safer to arrive after dark. I also have through the Lutron app my Patio lights go on 50% from midnight till about five in the morning. And my driveway lights are on 50% just about that. Same schedule. Lighting is a great way to bump up the feeling of home security for everyone.

[@rsaylor78]

I haven't made the switch yet from Echo to Home Pod, But one automation I love is through Home Assistant. I have a Sense Power monitor and anytime the Stove is on for more than 45 minutes I get an announcement on all my Echo's that the stove is on. I also have announcements for when the dishwasher turns off and the dryer turns off. Another automation that you pointed out was the lights on at sunset. I really like that one and have been using it since I started getting serious about having a smart home. Since around October I've only been adding HomeKit compatible devices.

[@brianmiller5384]

Shane, great tips! I use ones very much like those in my house too. One other one I have set up is for my Roomba and Braava. I run them overnight and found they worked better with light, but had to keep lights on all night for them. I connected them to my Homebridge and now have an automation that turns on certain lights when they start their job and then turns them off when they finish. No more leaving lights on all night.

[@ShaneCreates]

That's awesome Brian! Nice job! 👏 👏

[@HughD]

Good video, Shane. I also have light-related automations based on the sunset/sunrise times, but also use the light sensor in the Eve motion detector that I placed in my sunroom. I've found that sunrise/sunset automations aren't so good when it's overcast outside as it is darker than it would be if the sky was clear. I watched the darkness and the light sensor level on my Eve and found that when it drops below 200 lux, just go ahead and execute an automation/scene (evening lights scene) to turn on my porch and driveway lights and also turn on a few interior lights.

[@ShaneCreates]

That's a good idea. I need to experiment some more with light level automations. I haven't done that in a while. Thanks for sharing!

[@hughrynal01]

@@ShaneCreates Got something similar for my kitchen lights. Automation set for them to come on when motion is detected but only when lighting level is below a set figure. Works a treat.

[@no-budhee6657]

I recently set one up for our thermostat. With hybrid work schedules, my wife and I might go into the office on Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Thursdays but not all the time so I don’t want to set a schedule to be away those days on our ecobee. I made an automation to turn the thermostat in away mode during those days when the last person leaves around the time we normally leave for the office. The trick is to make a schedule during office hours on the tstat and set it to the normal at home temperature, but have it start just before the automation time. That allows the TStat to return to normal automatically in the next at home schedule, which we have set tor 5pm. Also, in case we get home early, I have a secondary automation to resume normal schedule on the TStat.

[@Polkster13]

Love the video. Looking forward to your video showcasing other people automations and what they have devised. I'm not too sure about leaving lights on all night as that adds to light pollution at night. I use motion sensors and if motion is detected at night, the outdoor lights come on for a predetermined amount of time and then turn off. I also have outdoor cameras to record any motion events at night. Love seeing all of the wildlife that visit my yard at night. I use a personal automation when my alarm is turned off. It turns off white noise on my HPM, sets ceiling fan speed down to 25%, turns on the ceiling lights to 35% (so I'm not blinded), and gives me a run down of my day including today's weather and what is on my personal and work calendars. If I have an event on my work calendar, it tells who it is and how long it will take to drive to their house. I have contact sensors on my closet doors and my attic ladder door. When the door is opened, I have a scene that turns on the closet ceiling light/attic lights. When the door is closed, the lights turn off. I am using Lutron Caseta light switches and Aqara Contact sensors. I have motion sensors on my front porch, by garage door, in my Laundry room, Shop Storage room, Guest Bathroom, and Master Bathroom. At night, if motion is detected outside, the appropriate lights are turned on for 10 minutes and then they turn back off. Inside, if motion is detected during the day, lights turn on in my interior rooms for 10 minutes. At Sunset, if people are home, I have lights turn on in Living room to a certain level and then later during the evening I have them dim down until we go to bed. Then when I plug in my iPhone to charge (if it is at a certain time at night), I run my goodnight scene which turns off all of my lights except for my night lights. In the morning when my wife gets up and turns off her alarm, the outside lights by the garage and exterior door turn on. After sunrise, these lights get turned off. This way she can see to get to her car to go to work. These are just a few of the automations we have that we use each day.

[@ShaneCreates]

Nice automations Frederick, thanks for sharing!

[@aajhiggs]

At 3am every day, I have HomeKit reset the volume on my Sonos speakers to a low value so they don’t blast whoever uses them first thing in the morning. So much value in one tiny simple change! I also have a energy saving “clean up” that runs at the same time, it turns off any lights in the laundry and bathrooms that have been left on accidentally during the day as those lower traffic rooms just seem to experience the problem more than others.

[@mattsnyder4754]

I’ve found the best kind of automations to be “pairing” different accessories together. For example, my entry or mud room lights turn on every time the garage door or front door unlock. Or when I open a window, I want the HVAC to turn off. There are TONS of these little things where you’re always doing something at the same time as another thing. I’ve found them to be by far the most “natural” automations. Doesn’t feel like your house is controlling itself. You just all the sudden never have to take your boots off in a dark room.

[@chrisjamesbehan]

Love the snoozing alarm - to set the morning scene. Hadn't thought of that! I use Flics in two ways: 1. Inside the front door - 1-click = Hallway light on/off (using IF statement) - 2-click = Welcome Home scene (using IF statements for time of day) - hold-click = Leave Home scene 2. By the bed - 1-click = Nightlight on/off (using IF statement - also turns off ceiling lights) - 2-click = Morning scene (using IF statements for time of day) - hold-click = Goodnight scene I've tried to design the buttons to perform as expected by someone like my Mum, so 1-click is always on/off for one particular light fixture. Smart is great, Mum-proof is best!

[@ShaneCreates]

Nice! Thanks for sharing! Yes, having your buttons configured in a way that others can use them easily is the key!

[@gregg5958]

I use two of the three you featured: I have automations that turn off a light at sunrise. I often wake up before sunrise, turn on a light and then it gets left on. So now I have an automation that kicks it off if I forget. So handy. I also use a time automation to turn air purifier on or off each day. Then I use location automations to turn off that air purifier (and Christmas lights as well), if everyone has left the house. And turn back on when someone comes home. It works really well!! I love it.

[@ShaneCreates]

I might need to setup something similar for my air purifiers. Thanks for sharing!

[@robertdawkins3643]

We are on a time of use tariff for our electricity and peak cost are double off-peak. Set up automations to control all our panel heaters to turn on/off automatically during off-peak. Unfortunately our boarders feel it’s reasonable to turn the heaters on manually whenever they feel like it, so my new favourite automation detects when a heater is turned on and if it is during peak tariff, turns it off.

[@UnusualAttitudes]

Thanks for another great video, Shane; I’m actually changing my early morning automaton form a static one to a personal automaton based on my alarm, as you suggested. I’ve been really frustrated with the unreliability of automatons since iOS 16 launched- my outdoor smart LED lights come on with different colors, regardless of how I have them programmed, etc. I was waiting on ‘the new architecture Home app….aaaaaand they pulled it, as you know better than anyone.

[@jamiemorphy]

Two Favorites, one I just set up, used and Aquara Door sensor to turn on a closet light when the door is opened. It triggers a smart led light strip so that it comes on when open, and off when closed as the light often got left on and went un-noticed until main lights were shut off at night. Also, the led Lightstrip allows lighting lower in the closet which makes finding shoes in that closet easier. Second favorite is outside lights coming on via location (within 200 feet of house) when arriving home if no outside lights are already on at time.

[@ShaneCreates]

Great automations, thanks for sharing!

[@markjohnson2754]

Aside from the usual "lights on at night, off in the day" automations, I have an iPhone shortcut for my Pain Cave (exercise room) that fires up the Apple TV (and TV), opens my cycling app (Fulgaz), turns on the Eve Power Strip outlet for my trainer (Wahoo Kickr), and turns on two fans. So with a tap of one icon on the phone, everything is up and running and ready to go. Another icon does the same in reverse for when I'm done riding. Also on the Eve Power Strip is a dehumidifier that works with an Eve Weather device so when the humidity climbs above 55% in the room, it kicks on the dehumidifier. Then it turns off when the humidity drops below 50%.

[@ShaneCreates]

Hey Mark, nice automations! Thanks for sharing. Well done!

[@apexron8430]

Currently, the only home automation I have is with the living room floor lamp. I have four dimmer switches that fit in a standard electrical box with one sharing an electrical box with the garbage disposal switch and two sharing a double box. I have a remotely accessible thermostat and remotely accessible outdoor weather sensors. I have two goals that hopefully, future Matter/Thread devices can help with: 1. Update and maybe add dimmer switches that fit in a mixed switch environment so that I can automate but will also allow manual control. 2. Add an outdoor temperature sensor and new thermostat that allow me to control temperature based on time of day (which I do now, but part of thermostat) but also automate switching between heat and cooling. Current thermostat can switch modes automatically but solely based on room temperature.

[@ahgflyguy]

I have an automation that will tell me when any of a few critical sensors go non-responsive. These sensors monitor my garage door and some leak sensors. It takes a bit to set these up, but it’s very useful to know that if I haven’t gotten the notification that a critical sensor is offline, then it is online.

[@Dr_Cole]

I could not agree more: the true essence of a SmartHome is revealed via automations. And, whereas I have some fun and innovative ones (I will submit my fave), honestly the ones I enjoy most of via lights following me through the home. Nearly every room has a motions sensor - either Thread- or Zigbee-based allowing for quick response - so lights turn on when someone enters. Of the light is in a destination room (kitchen, bedroom, etc. - any place someone will be for more than 5 minutes or so), then the lights remain on. For passageways, the lights will turn off when activity is not detected after 4 seconds. I’ve refined them over time so that sun drenched rooms don’t turn on lights during daytime, if the light switch is turned on manually, then the automatic turn off doesn’t engage, and that at late night all of the lights turn on at just 20-25%. Next, I’ll be adding humidity sensors to the bathrooms with showers so that these lights don’t turn off during showers. I view the constant tinkering of these automations as the modern version of my father (an aerospace engineer) always tinkering with something in the garage that was already working.

[@ShaneCreates]

Thanks for sharing Dr. Cole! Some great automations and insight here.

[@generationgeek]

My main ones are very similar (a morning one where my switchbot turns on my espresso machine to preheat it, lights turn on at night, bathroom nightlight on after bedtime, etc.) but I switched from the away/home lights to motion sensing and/or the door unlocking because a lot of the times when I ‘leave’ I’m just running out to get mail or similar and don’t need anything to change. My fave right now requires HomeBridge (but might not if Govee updates their products) - it’s a trigger for when I turn on my Roku to turn on the TV’s ambient lighting. I recently got some NFC tags and am going to see how I can incorporate them into my setup, and try and see if I can get the Broadlink box to control my RF blinds!

[@DavidMcIntyrealphacam]

Hi Shane, another amazing video. One video I would like to see, is an away lighting video. Smartthings, has or had one like this called "away lighting". It is for security, to give the effect you are home. You can set 1 (or more) light to be on at one time and alternating to a different light at set intervals, giving the effect, someone is moving around the house. Not quite sure how to set this up, would be a nice security feature.

[@IskandarM_]

Caught your incoming message in one of your screen recordings 😂 Time to start using Focus Mode. Very very useful for me. I have a Personal Focus where everything is silenced except for messages from 3 of my favorite people. Useful when one or more chat groups start to get noisy. I use Sleep and Driving Focus as well with different configurations.

[@naspinec]

I have some automation I like : when I come home at night one automation switch my outdoor lights in the garden, unlock the front door and witch the ceiling light in the living room. Another turn the light automatically in the kitchen when I enter the room but only when the light under the cabinets or over the sink are off. The last one is my « good night » routine that switch off all the lights, stop the music on the HomePods mini in the house, stop the 3 appletv and arm the security system in night mode.

[@saugustineosabi]

I also have outdoor lights set to come on automatically at sunset and go out at sunrise. In addition my Yale assure lock automatically opens whenever I return home and above all notifies me if front door is not closed. Let’s hope our Schlage encode plus will have a door ajar sensor one day . Thanks for sharing

[@timhopkins23]

As the only coffee drinker in the house I love being able to set up an automation that only brews the coffee in the morning if I’m home. My wife loves having the outdoor lights come on when she gets home at night.

[@TheUnofficialMaker]

I'm waiting for smart robot to do my laundry and the dishes!

[@stephenl4845]

Shane, awesome as usual! I am trying to find a way to easily toggle an automation on or off. I have an automation that sends me a critical-level text through the Contoller app if a vehicle is on my driveway during the night. (I bought the Controller app after watching one of your videos, and love it) I don't always want that on for various reasons.Right now I have my automation check the power status of a dummy plug to determine if it should run. I realized that if I could easily toggle the automation on or off I would not need the dummy plug logic. I created 2 widgets from a Contoller app workflow to turn the automation on and off, but would prefer something inside the Homekit app. Have you tackled that one yet? Stephen.

[@petercassidy7854]

We like lots of natural light in the house. Our motorized shades are mostly used to block direct sunlight which is usually very strong. In addition to glare, the sun fades furniture and wood finish over time. Sunlight time varies over the year and whether it is cloudy or not. I have one automation that detects when the sun starts shining the window and closes the shades. Another automation monitors the sun's azimuth and opens the shades when the sun is no longer in view out the window. We initially used time of day for these automations but this results in the shades being closed more than they need to and closed on days they don't need to.

[@ShaneCreates]

Nice automation! Thanks for sharing!

[@campham6326]

How do you detect the sun from the window to create this automation?

[@petercassidy7854]

@@campham6326 I have three light sensors installed. The one I prefer uses the Eve Motion sensor, the other two were ones I built originally using a Raspberry Pi. While the RPi design is great in that there are no batteries and provides a finer resolution of the lux level trigger point, I recommend using the Eve motion sensor. It does the job, is a neater installation, and is less expensive.

[@SteveHinrichs]

Great video, I truly like automations in HomeKit. My favorite is my front lights controlled by the cameras and the main door lock. I have if my cameras detects motion at night time. My front lights come on automatically. I also have it set up at night when my front door is unlocked. The front lights come on automatically. Between the cameras turning on the lights when motion is detected and/or the front door is unlocked. I do not waist electricity at night and is safer with the front lights are controlled automatically when needed.

[@ShaneCreates]

Nice automations, thanks for sharing!

[@howardzhao4685]

Always enjoy your KZbin. I have been using lots of motion sensors through put house, included one in my mailbox that will trigger the hue light to notify me the mails have been arrived and if that have not been collected after certain time if I am home. I have also utilized outdoor motion sensors to change my walk way light sense when motion detected at night to provide some unique welcome lighting. Those are two of my favors in my HomeKit automation settings.

[@ShaneCreates]

Those are great, thanks for sharing!

[@christopherretford9998]

Another great video Shane. I think the you hit the nail on the head when you say “keep the automations simple”. The main problem I find with having a family is making sure automations are intuitive enough for everyone. Therefore right now I have sensors in every room that turn the lights on and off with presence. I am working on a small project to turn the shades when someone walks down the drive based on my Eufy camera because Mail men etc walk passed my window to deliver Mail, peer inside and start talking through the window which is annoying when I’m on the phone

[@ShaneCreates]

Thanks Christopher! Yea I wouldn't want my mail men peering inside my windows either. Sounds like you may have a good solution in the works. Good luck!

[@Quinten1994]

Could you make a video on how to set up personal automations using location or when connected to the homes wifi? My automations are running when I’m away from home.

[@ShawnFlan]

7:20 is actually really smart thank you Shane; didnt know this was possible.

[@ShaneCreates]

Glad it was helpful. Thanks for watching!

[@willmitchell255]

Another great video - thanks ! I have our outside lights to automatically come on when we come home based on anytime between sunrise and sunset then go off after 5 minutes. Additionally, we have a nightlight in the hall that changes to 100% brightness from the separate motion sensor, then returns to nightlight 5% mode after no motion sensed. All work perfectly. 🙂

[@compudude]

What nightlight do you have that let's you control brightness? I was looking for something like that just recently and wasn't having much luck.

[@selecta1210]

Awesome video shane, I think my favourite automations are some of the first ones I tried - an everything off button for each room (holding the hue button on the philips remote turns off everything, lights, radiators, fans, computer, tv’s to standby, music off etc), a bedroom nightlight that turns on if i lift my phone from the wireless pad (if it lights on its own during the night i know my phone isnt properly aligned) Also have a few automations triggered by Aqara light sensors - like picking up ps5 controller uncovers the sensor and starts the automation

[@Polkster13]

I set up a personal automation that gets triggered when the phone starts charging. I use a Speak command to have Siri say "Now charging your iPhone.". This way I know that it is charging correctly.

[@ShaneCreates]

Thanks for watching and sharing your automations! Great job!

[@RedIzFatal415]

Your videos are just simply amazing Shane. Showing much love from Va. I’m in the process of buying apple HomePods to utilize my Apple HomeKit and add automations. Right now I use google and Amazon echo for my every day routines.

[@ShaneCreates]

Thanks for watching Tonya!

[@RedIzFatal415]

@Shane Whatley you're very welcome!!!!

[@davidlittle6876]

I have an eve sensor on my master bedroom door and an automation to trigger when it opens on weekdays between 7 - 7:30 AM. when triggered, it turns on the light in my daughters bedroom, so that she knows it’s time to get up, turns on my Good Morning scene lighting throughout the house, turns on my coffee pot, and begins to warm my Tesla up (through watchla app)

[@TerryLeeWhite]

My Lock the Door automations are two parts. 1st automation is triggered when an entry door is closed. It then triggers a dummy switch that stays on for 10 minutes. The 2nd automation is triggered by the dummy switch turning off. It then checks to see if the door is still closed and if so it locks it. If not that means that the door is open again and it does nothing.

[@ShaneCreates]

Nice use of dummy switches. Thanks for sharing Terry!

[@kazemi88]

Mine are almost set the same. 1. Time of day (sunset and specific times) 2. Location (arrive home/leave home) 3. Security (if a door opens or slides at 1 am I have all lights come on and HomePods turned to full volume) great video

[@ShaneCreates]

Thanks for watching!

[@aprildonahoo8650]

My most used automations are telling Siri good morning and good night. It’s nice to go to bed and wake up and not have to touch a lamp. I also like an idea I got from you. I tell Siri Movie Time which turns my smart bulbs purple when I’m watching TV. I Because I live on my own, I also know that if I were to hear a noise at night, that my smart switches and bulbs could turn on my most of the lights in and outside my home with simply a voice command.

[@glennpreston7086]

I have a container koi pond on my terrace, when the temp. on the Eve Weather that sits on the terrace, hits 1 degree C it turns the heating post on in the pond. This prevents the water from getting too cold for the koi.

[@ShaneCreates]

Fantastic. I love it! You should submit this with a short video for the automation submission video I discussed (see video description).

[@knoteasy25]

Hey have you ever automated air conditioning through Sensibo and door window sensors to turn off ( not turn on ) if they are open. If not I think that would be great thanks.

[@nickpanzeca7640]

Great video Shane. I love my daily automations. I have a quick question: I can’t find smart bulbs I really love. What would you think of using a smart plug with a regular LED bulb instead of a smart bulb?

[@ShaneCreates]

Thanks Nick! I think there's nothing wrong with that if you simply want on/off control of the lamp. Of course you'll loose the ability to change colors. But a smart plug would work just fine if you don't care about that.

[@nickpanzeca7640]

@@ShaneCreates I have used bulbs that change color but quite frankly never use the color aspect. Thanks for your input and all that you do for the smart home community

[@angeljaimes3277]

Excellent video, like always…. ! Quick question, I finally have my smart switch and the Eve sensor ( Apple Homekit ) both so I try to create a automation that when motion is detected light switch turn on the lights and my LG tv ( witch is Apple Homekit compatible) will be turned on as well, but every time the sensor sense motion only the light switch respond . I try with asking Siri to turn on the tv and it works perfectly…. Any help with that …. Please let me know if you can . Thanks

[@martyparshall4368]

Great video. My favorite automation is pretty simple thanks to my flic buttons. My granddaughters play house is in our storage area and she can’t reach the switches yet. I put the button at her level and it turns on my workbench as well when I need it. What I’d love to see if anyone has it set up is to help me know my garage door got left open. I setup a dummy switch as a timer but no idea how to set up the automation to get a notification so I know to shut it. Just not figuring out how to get good if x and timer = y then send text or notify and maybe close automatically.

[@stealthman46]

Shane hooked me on the meross smart garage door “opener”. Very cost effective and simple to install, that has a timer built into the app which you dictate how long it’s open before sending a notification

[@ShaneCreates]

Timers are tricky in HomeKit if even possible at all. If you are using Homebridge and dummy switches, you should be able to configure your dummy switch as a timer. You could use that to automatically shut the garage at a certain time, but notifications are another story. You can use the 3rd party homekit app to create these types of notifications. I discussed that in a video recently here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/j4C0gX1vj7mDopI Also, depending on what garage door opener you are using, you might have the native functionality build in to the manufacturer's app, as @stealthman46 mentioned. I also still use the Meross garage door opener, and I have a simple notification configured through the Meross app that notifies me if the garage has been left open for an hour.

[@mosdef4008]

Hey Shane, Really enjoy your channel with your great contents weekly. About automation, I’m trying to create an automation that would tell time and announce today’s schedule for my Mom’s house. Would you be able to make a video about creating voice automations or a content that goes even deeper into automations with HomeKit devices? Would be gladly appreciate. Still following your channel. Keep on going!! Thanks for great hardwork! 💪🏾😎🇫🇷

[@myHomeKithome]

Love the video! Location-based automations I think are some of the coolest ones out there, but I tend to use time of day automations more because, well, I am a creature of habit.

[@ShaneCreates]

Thanks for watching Dustin! Funny how we all use our smart homes differently. I think the only time based automations I use are sunrise and sunset. But they are among my favorites for sure!

[@myHomeKithome]

@@ShaneCreates I tend to use a lot of sensor automation too.

[@jeffhoward2417]

Hey Shane, I've been using automations from the native Lutron app. Would like to hear more about "geo fencing" automations ex. when I am 100 m from my house lights turn on etc.

[@Rich33527]

Im always the first out of bed. My morning automation is activated by my bedroom door opening with the condition of my phone being off the charger. All the lights I want on downstairs come on and my TV starts up on the desired channel. Once I walk into the living room and the motion detector is triggered, a morning status report is read over my nest speaker giving me the weather outside and the forecast for the day and tomorrow. It also gives me any important events scheduled in my calendar. I dont use homekit though..

[@jay271190]

Great video as always! I’ve got some you’re sure to love, so please don’t rush to make the follow up video so I can find time to submit mine 😊

[@ShaneCreates]

No rush. Can’t wait to see your submissions!

[@terrycarlton6991]

Good stuff. I use all of these but I find that location (geo fenced) based stuff can be a bit flakey sometimes

[@ShaneCreates]

I've heard others say this from time to time, but mine have been very reliable. Maybe I'm just lucky.

[@gregg5958]

@@ShaneCreates So far mine are too. They weren’t at first, but setting up my “home” on my contact in Apple’s contact app seemed to help.

[@akayy12]

Just purchased a home and looking into converting a lot of Smart Home functionality. Have you noticed a positive change in utility costs because of the automations or the opposite because of the devices? Thanks for the help. Great videos!

[@ShaneCreates]

Thanks Austin! I admittedly am not one that monitors this too closely. Overall you should see a positive change. I know this is a big factor for many others. For example lights and other accessories are only on when I want them and my smart sprinkler system will skip watering days when rain is in the forecast (definitely saves money).

[@danfratamico]

Who makes the honeycomb lights at 1:08?

[@ShaneCreates]

Those are the Nanoleaf Elements

[@Ubonfromperth]

Im new to this and don’t fully understand but can I turn my Apple TV , my TV and my lights off at the same time with just one command?

[@ShaneCreates]

Yes, you can create a scene in the home app. But your lights and your TV have to support HomeKit.

[@smarshpopp]

When I select the "When People Leave" automation, "Anyone Leaves" is my only option and grayed out. Does this mean I don't have the other members of my household set up properly in the Home app or something?

[@ThomDeCarlo]

Shane, do you have any recommendations for Apple TV apps to view and activate HomeKit devices? I have the HomeCam app, which lets me see most of my cameras (not the Logitech Doorbell camera for some reason) but I’m looking for a HomeKit App like the ones Apple provides for all their other devices.

[@ShaneCreates]

I really don't use the Apple TV to control my smart home devices unless I just use the Siri Remote (which even that I use rarely). I'm not sure of any good ones off the top of my head. If you have a camera in the room, you should be able to access devices in that room through the camera display on the Apple TV.

[@Talban]

I realize you may have just used stock footage for the intro scene, but it showed you turning on a light by tapping the icon in the Home app. A few system updates ago, Home started making me open the button, presenting me with a switch that I now have to flip. Is there a way to force it back to the old system of smily tapping to activate? That switch crap is for the birds.

[@ShaneCreates]

No stock footage in this one. It's all me. To answer your question, you can still toggle switches and lights in the home app, you just have to specifically tap on the icon rather than the text or the larger part of the tile. If you tap on the name or the larger part, it will open the accessory. Tapping on the icon will just toggle on/off.

[@Talban]

@@ShaneCreates Thanks, that helped a lot.

[@alainrobert9096]

I have a light strip on the back of my computer desk for ambiant lighting. What I would like to do is having it going ON automatically when I unlock my computer and go OFF when I put my computer in sleep mode... Is there a way to do it in homekit ? Thx for your help. I really enjoy your channel !

[@ShaneCreates]

Thanks for watching Alain! There is no way to do this exclusively in homekit, but I have a feeling there is a workaround using shortcuts or some other apps. I'll have to think about this one. And maybe someone else will chime in with a suggestion.

[@Polkster13]

You could put a sensor on your chair and if you are sitting, turn on the light and then turn it off when you get up. If it was me I would put a smart button by the door to your office. Press the button once turns on an Office Time scene (turns lights on, sets other options). A double press of the Botton will run a Cancel Office Time scene.

[@georgehardisty8948]

This might be useful to people with Circle View doorbell. Because the motion sensor is so sensitive I added an automation for the porch light. If it detects motion if light sensor is below 10 Wait 2 seconds if motion is detected turn the light on wait for 2 minutes then turn the light off.

[@ShaneCreates]

Nice workaround! I love creative solutions like this. Well done!

[@dmiroy]

Thanks Shane. 👍

[@marcdupuis4679]

Hi Shane. Thanks again for your great videos. Excuse my silly question but I always wondered how HomeKit determine that your home or not when you live in an apartment complex if you want to create an automation based on that.

[@ShaneCreates]

Hey Marc, thanks for watching. Homekit uses your iPhone's location (or Apple Watch, etc) to determine your location.

[@marcdupuis4679]

@@ShaneCreates And what If you go for a walk only with your Apple Watch leaving your iPhone home. What then…….

[@BrentWolsey]

Marc, I’m not 100% sure on this, but I believe it’s based on which device you tell Apple to use to determine your location. If you tell it to use the phone and you leave the phone at home when you go for a walk, it won’t trigger the automation.

[@ShaneCreates]

@@marcdupuis4679 You can specify which devices determine your location through the Find My app.

[@marcdupuis4679]

@@BrentWolsey thanks a lot. I’ll take a look and try to find out eventually.

[@ugh635]

My sunrise automation is a wled light under the bathroom sink that turns off at sunrise. At sunset the wled light under the bathroom vanity turns on as does the lamps in the living room. But when I wake up, none of the downstairs lights come on/come on super bright when motion is sensed. Living room stay off and the dining room and kitchen only turn on about 30% before 8am

[@ShaneCreates]

Love it! Thanks for sharing!

[@ugh635]

@@ShaneCreates I'll be living alone again (my son starts a job out of state next week) and it's nice to have the lights go on automatic. Especially my bathroom nightlight so I don't have to deal with a super bright hall light if I wake up at 3am. My living room lamps dimm when the TV is turned on (i have a Samsung tv).

[@damienvandenbergh1250]

You mentioned you have automation set up to close blinds just after sunset. Is this possible in the Home app? The option I can find is at sunset but it’s usually still light outside. I want to trigger mine to say close blinds 30mins after sunset.

[@ShaneCreates]

Yes you can do it in the home app. Just tap the little "i" icon next to sunset. If you look closely you can see me do it in the video here 4:05

[@djjluvv]

Hey Shane im loosing my mind over a automation or shortcut to share my Wi-Fi and password from a nfc tag, i could have swore you did a video on how to do this but i can find anything 🙈

[@bobcochran1925]

I use automations a lot but find that sometimes they don’t run or only partially run. Kicking off the scene used in the automation manually fixes the problem. Is there a slick way to set up my automations to run twice regularly? I’m thinking this might solve my [occasional] problem.

[@ShaneCreates]

If I understand correctly, there are probably a few ways to do this. If scheduling, you can just schedule one automation a minute or two after the first. If using some other trigger, you can probably use "convert to shortcut," then activate the scene, wait 30 seconds or so and activate the scene again.

[@davidquirk2105]

Did you change your under cabinet lighting to work under the microwave as well or does it just appear that way to me? I swear it looks like you have lighting under the microwave but in the video you had cut the light strips and connected them with some wire so there wasn’t lighting between the microwave and the stove.

[@ShaneCreates]

Nice catch! Yea about a year ago I did a little update on the project. I added some LED channel diffusers to the lower lightstrips to help reduce the glare on the countertops. While I was at it I decided to go ahead and add another strip under the microwave for more light, since it would be in the channel diffuser and not stuck directly on the microwave. So far there have not been any issues with it.

[@davidquirk2105]

@@ShaneCreates Cool! Which diffusers did you end up using?

[@treasaparsons4828]

I don’t see the Eve Outdoor Camera/Floodlight. I’m having trouble with automations, I only want my light to come on from 5pm and shut off at 7:30am, it keeps messing up or the light doesn’t shut off, do I need to set 2 different automations? I don’t understand all the different settings.. Can you please help me? I’ve watched a few of your videos but I still don’t understand. Help 🙏🏼

[@treasaparsons4828]

Question this was my question that you didn’t get to in the Q&A live video. I now know you own one so can you help?

[@davidredmond8562]

How are you resizing the tiles for devices in the home app? My devices take a full row.

[@ShaneCreates]

If you long press an accessory, tap "Edit Room View." Then tap an accessory again and you'll see a little arrow icon in the upper right of the tile. Tap that to make it bigger or smaller.

[@davidredmond8562]

@@ShaneCreates Found that now, but it only seems to give me two size options, none of the half row styles I see your using here, 0 likes

[@ShaneCreates]

​@@davidredmond8562 I'm assuming you have the text size in your iPhone's settings set larger than mine. With larger text size, there isn't enough space from two tiles per row.

[@jsac3939]

Shane what blinds do you use?

[@ShaneCreates]

I have the Soma Tilt for on all the Venetian style blinds.

[@Calany001]

Very simple automations in my house. Lutron Caseta Switch in my pantry with a Ring sensor on the door brought together in marriage by HOOBS!! Love not having to turn on/off my pantry lights.

[@ShaneCreates]

Very nice! I have a couple of similar simple automations for many closets. Love them!

[@theirukandjisyndrome]

Nothing special, but I have an automation set so that my sons nightlamp changes color when I come home at night. I don't know it he understands yet, but one of these days I'm sure he will associate it with me coming home when I'm away at work and stuff.

[@EmilTheoneandonly]

super cool

[@chuckkeyser5586]

As always, a great video! For me, the sunrise and sunset automation works great. I haven’t updated to the new architecture yet, so I guess I’m lucky. Also, our FAVORITE automation is one that checks time of day and depending on that time, it turns on our toilet light either to 10% or to 100% for a fixed amount of time based on motion detection. The other one is a time based automation that at 8:00 pm, it sets all the lights in the house down to a lower level to create an ambiance that we call ‘TV Time’.

[@ShaneCreates]

Great automation ideas. Thanks for sharing Chuck!

[@TimDeWaele]

the new architecture brought me changes that I regret.

[@mactibi]

I don't know why, but it has never worked for me to turn off the lights if everyone leaves the house. Upon arrival, it works to light up, but not when leaving home.

[@gregg5958]

It’s possible that arrival sees you hope because you are hitting the wifi and it’s finding you. But doesn’t know when you are out and about. I was given this advice and it seemed to work for me: In Apple’s contact app on everyone’s phone, make sure each person’s own default contact card has the address details filled out for the home. Then when phone leaves “home” it should trigger.

[@TimDeWaele]

I havé à scène named cozy. When the natural light in the living room drops below 16 lux, this scene turns on. If the natural light in the living room rises above 22 lux, these lamps go out again. So this scene not only turns on in the evening, but also when it is gray and rainy outside.

[@ShaneCreates]

Great automation, thanks for sharing! May I ask what device you are using for the light sensor?

[@TimDeWaele]

In the past I liked to make automations with a timer in HomeKit (turn off after … minutes ) so the light didn't stay on for too long. If there was nobody in the toilet, night hall, entrance, garage I settled the timer for example 5 minutes. With every new motion the timer went back to 5min. Now that timer do not reset so the light go out every 5 minutes. I Donk know why Apple did this. Also the lights don’t go out if the light already was on before the automation start. 😮

[@Polkster13]

Check out the new Aqara Occupancy sensor that will be coming out soon. It is WiFi, works without a hub, does all processing locally, and even if you are sitting still will still know you are in the room. Use motion sensors to turn on the lights and occupancy sensors to turn off the lights.

[@rickpeterson9615]

Geofencing for your air conditioner

[@hastingb2045]

Can someone tell me everything I need to turn on my laundry room lights like in the beginning of his video?

[@ShaneCreates]

I'm just using a motion sensor and a smart light switch, automated in Apple Home.

[@hastingb2045]

@@ShaneCreates thank you for the quick reply!

[@militaryav8r]

What are you using to automate your shades? Are you happy with it's performance so far?

[@ShaneCreates]

I am using the Soma Tilt and Soma Connect. Full video on that project here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bHPIdGivaM1kj9k Overall I am happy with the performance. They are not perfect, but with few options for something like this, they have been great over the past year or two.

[@militaryav8r]

@@ShaneCreates thank you!

[@racefreakmel]

I love using the sunrise/sunset automations. Sadly, they no longer work since home kit architecture update. Only those with specific times work.

[@michelhardy3197]

Strange, I’ve been running the new HomeKit architecture for a few weeks and sunrise/sunset automations are running fine for me.

[@abbofun9022]

I found that modifying existing sunrise/set automations caused them to go wobbly. However, create them and then don’t fiddle anymore seems to work after giving them a day or so to settle across the HomeKit house. Guarantees utterly absent of course 😀

[@davidwright6105]

I was wondering if it is possible to have my Apple Watch turn to do not disturb when I walk into church. Like maybe when the watch switches to the church's wifi system the watch turns on do not disturb and turns off do not disturb when I leave. Can the Apple system to this.?

[@Polkster13]

On your iPhone, create a personal automation with a trigger of "When I arrive" and set location to the address of your church. Set time to "Any Time". Choose Next. Under Add Action, search for "Focus", and select "Set Focus" and then pick the focus mode you want. Select Next. Name the automation and pick Done. Then create a new personal automation for "When I leave" and set location to the address of your church. Repeat the above steps to the appropriate focus mode.

[@Polkster13]

Make sure you Apple Watch is synced with the Apple Phone and it is using the focus modes set by the phone.

[@davidwright6105]

@@Polkster13 Thanks for the info. I have made an automation as you described.

[@rimileitao]

Why would anyone keep the outdoor lights ON at night? Make no sense!

[@iktservice4you]

Very interesting, but HomeKit automations drive me crazy. So unreliable it is not aceptable. Don't you have this problems?

[@MangoMatt]

2:45 You’re really stretching this video if it takes you this long

[@MangoMatt]

Oh no sorry… 3:24

[@ShaneCreates]

If only there were chapter titles and time codes in each video for your convenience … oh wait …

[@pudellvr]

One thing I have missed since going HomeKit is having “She who shall not be named” read me news from my favorite news provider. Would love to hear a work around for that.

[@ShaneCreates]

You can ask your HomePod mini "what's the news" or "what's my update"

[@andyb8656]

Recommeding antivirus for mac / ios sounds like a program is scam itself.

[@lthomas63]

👏👏👏❤️❤️❤️

[@LarryRichelli]

Until this home automation gets a lot more plug and play for the common person then I am not interested. For young, enthusiastic guys like you the intricacies and complications might be understandable and easy and fun for you but to the average person...not!

[@sirdrums]

I think the real power of automations comes with the combination of the triggers (presence-time of day). I've got an automation that will turn on the christmas tree lights on 7am only if me or my wife are in home. The christmas tree lights will turn off at 11pm if we are home, or whenever we both leave home, and will turn on again whenever one of us arrives home and opens the front door (provided it is between 7am-11pm).

[@ShaneCreates]

Thanks for the comment. Yes, I agree. Using conditions like time of day, location, or any other number of things, can really take your automations to the next level.