HomeKit Rooms, Zones & Scenes: A Complete Guide
The Limitations of Apple HomeKit and the Role of the Home App
A notable deficiency exists within the Apple HomeKit ecosystem. While HomeKit allows for the organization of smarthome devices into rooms, zones, and scenes, functionality is dependent on individual app support.
If a specific application lacks support for these features, users are restricted in their control options.
Currently, no smarthome applications enable the creation of scenes incorporating products from multiple manufacturers.
This is where the Home app becomes essential, addressing both of these limitations.
Understanding Rooms, Zones, and Scenes
The distinctions between rooms, zones, and scenes are vital for effective device management, enabling control based on location or intended use.
- A room serves as a virtual representation of all smarthome devices within a physical space, such as a bedroom.
- A zone is a grouping of rooms; for instance, the living room, kitchen, and dining room could collectively form a "downstairs" zone.
- A scene is a compilation of devices, drawn from any room or zone, activated simultaneously to achieve a specific outcome – a movie-watching scene might dim lights and close curtains.
The Challenge of Cross-Compatibility
Many individual smarthome apps facilitate the creation of rooms, zones, or scenes, but typically only for devices from that single manufacturer.
It isn't possible to directly create a comprehensive room within the HomeKit settings on an iPhone that includes all smarthome products in a given space.
The HomeKit framework recognizes the concepts of scenes, rooms, and zones, but relies on apps to provide the necessary instructions.
If you purchase smart bulbs from one company and a smart power strip from another, the availability of scene, room, or zone functionality is entirely at the discretion of those companies.
Furthermore, these applications generally lack the ability to communicate with each other, hindering the execution of unified commands to Siri.
For example, a command like "Siri, turn off the bedroom lights" may fail if the lights are controlled by a lighting scene from one company and a room-based identifier from another.
The Solution: An Open API
If a company doesn't integrate the required functionality, users are left without a solution, as Apple did not build overriding features into the HomeKit app itself.
However, Apple’s decision to leave the HomeKit API open allows developers to create applications that bridge this gap and provide the missing functionality for HomeKit users.
Essential Requirements
This guide requires a few key components to ensure a smooth experience. You will need an iOS device operating on iOS 9.0 or a newer version. Additionally, ensure you have at least one HomeKit device already set up and prepared for use.
Finally, you’ll need the Home application, developed by Matthias Hochgatterer, which is available for $14.99.
Is the Home App Worth the Cost?
The question of whether Home justifies its $15 price tag is easily answered. We confidently state that it represents the most valuable $15 you can spend within the HomeKit ecosystem.
A comprehensive evaluation of numerous HomeKit control applications revealed significant shortcomings in all but Home. Its refined design and extensive features lead us to believe it should have been the standard interface for HomeKit from its inception.
Beyond Scenes, Rooms, and Zones
While this tutorial concentrates on organizing your HomeKit accessories into scenes, rooms, and zones, the Home app provides further capabilities.
These additional features include the creation of triggers, seamless integration with the Apple Watch, and the ability to control your devices remotely.
Organizing Your HomeKit Devices
- Scenes allow you to control multiple accessories with a single tap.
- Rooms help categorize devices based on their physical location.
- Zones provide a broader organizational structure for larger properties.
Effectively utilizing these features within the Home app will greatly enhance your HomeKit experience.
The intuitive interface makes managing your smart home devices simpler and more efficient than ever before.
Setting Up the Home App
Related: Understanding How to Reset Your HomeKit Devices and Configuration
Establishing the Home app is generally a simple process, provided your HomeKit devices are already installed and connected to either your iCloud account or iOS device.
The HomeKit system is structured around a single user within a household acting as the administrator for all connected equipment. This administrator then grants access to other users through a sharing feature. Should administrative control be inadvertently assigned to an incorrect account – for example, a child’s iCloud account – a reset of your HomeKit configuration will be necessary.
Aside from this potential issue, the setup procedure is typically uncomplicated.
Initiate the Home app, and you will be presented with the default home selection screen. Since no homes have been defined yet, it’s time to create one and specify which devices the app will control. Select the "+" icon located in the upper right corner.
Provide a name for your home and then confirm your selection. For many users, this will be the sole home entry created. However, if you possess HomeKit enabled devices at secondary locations, such as a vacation home or office, adding multiple homes is easily accomplished.
Returning to the main screen, you’ll observe the newly created home entry. Tap on it to proceed to the accessory discovery stage.
Select the "+" icon in the upper left corner.
It’s important to remember that the Home app can only detect HomeKit accessories that are both connected to your local network and already added to your HomeKit account. Ensure proper configuration beforehand to prevent any difficulties. (If you are new to HomeKit and require assistance, consult our guide regarding the Philips Hue bridge installation to understand the accessory setup process.)
The accessory list will populate automatically with all HomeKit devices on your network. Should you add further devices in the future, you can revisit this screen and tap the "+" icon in the upper right corner to initiate a new accessory scan.
You are now prepared to configure rooms, zones, and scenes within the Home app.
How to Create Rooms, Zones, and Scenes
The process of establishing rooms and associated elements – zones, scenes, and triggers – mirrors the simplicity of the initial setup. We will begin by examining how to group smart home devices into rooms.
Philips Hue bulbs serve as an ideal example for this demonstration. While the Philips software is robust, it primarily supports scenes. Consequently, the Philips application and Siri integration are limited to controlling lights by turning them on, off, or activating a specific scene.
However, a simple voice command like "Siri, turn the bedroom lights off" cannot be directly executed. Siri lacks awareness of what constitutes a "bedroom" until explicitly informed.
Within the Home app, select "Rooms" from the bottom navigation bar, as illustrated above.
Initially, your entire home will be presented as a single "room" to ensure compatibility with room-based commands. To create a new room, tap the "+" symbol located in the upper right corner.
Name the room and save the changes. In this instance, shown above, we established an entry for "Bedroom" to enable HomeKit/Siri to recognize which smart bulbs are located within that space.
Selecting the newly created room will display a blank screen. The consistency of the graphical user interface (GUI) design is noteworthy.
Tap the "+" icon in the upper right corner and choose the smart home devices to include in this room grouping.
It's important to note that the identical lamp names in the screenshot below are due to a recent Hue bridge reset and a failure to assign unique names to the lamps. The Home app simply retrieved the unchanged generic names from the bridge.
With the smart home devices now assigned to the "Bedroom", the room name can be used in voice commands. Previously, Siri was unable to respond to the command "Turn the bedroom lights off," but now, thanks to Home, she can.
You can now replicate this process to create zones, scenes, and triggers.
A zone requires at least two rooms to be grouped together. For example, if you have smart devices in the bedroom ("Bedroom") and your child's bedroom ("John's Room"), you can create a zone called "Upstairs" and add both rooms. Then, a command like "Turn the upstairs lights off" will control all smart bulbs in those designated locations.
Scenes function similarly, but are not limited to devices within a single room. A scene, such as "goodnight," can turn off all lights, adjust the thermostat, and activate smart locks – encompassing all devices included in your bedtime routine.
Furthermore, the triggers system offers event-based automation. You can create triggers based on the time of day or input from a HomeKit device. For instance, lights could turn on when a back door unlocks, or flash red if an alarm is triggered, provided the devices support the necessary event system.
The Home app enables the effortless creation of rooms, zones, scenes, and event triggers, regardless of whether the device manufacturer natively supports these features.