How to set up Apple Home
Got a smart plug or bulb that says “Works with Apple Home” on the box? Here’s how to get it going on your iPhone. It takes about fifteen minutes, and you don’t need to know anything about networks.
What you need
- An iPhone or iPad. The Home app is already on it: the orange icon with a white house.
- An accessory with “Works with Apple Home” or the Matter logo on the box. Our picks are a good place to start.
- An Apple TV or HomePod. You can start without one, but you’ll want one soon (step 2).
Before you start, open Settings, tap your name, then iCloud, and check that Home is switched on. Your home is kept in iCloud, so it shows up on all your devices.
Step 1: Add your first accessory
- Switch the accessory on and keep it close to you.
- In the Home app, tap +, then Add Accessory.
- Point the camera at the setup code: eight numbers or a QR code, on the accessory, its box or the manual.
- Pick a name and a room, then tap Done.
Take a photo of the setup code before the box goes out; you’ll need it to add the accessory again. Keep names short: a “Lamp” in the Living Room means “Siri, turn on the living room lamp” just works.
Step 2: Get a home hub
A home hub is an Apple TV or HomePod that stays at home, plugged in. Without one, automations don’t run and you can’t reach your home when you’re out. One signed in to your Apple Account becomes the hub by itself; to check, look for Connected in Home Settings, under Home Hubs & Bridges. If you’re buying one just for this, a HomePod mini is the cheapest. An iPad can’t be a hub any more.
Step 3: Invite the people you live with
In Home Settings, tap Invite People and pick them from your contacts. They accept in their own Home app. You choose whether each person can change things or only switch them on and off.
Step 4: Make a scene and an automation
A scene sets several things at once. Tap +, then Add Scene: “Movie Night” might dim the lamp and turn the kitchen lights off. Then one tap, or “Siri, movie night”, does the lot.
An automation runs on its own. In the Automation tab, tap +, pick what starts it (a time, sunset, someone coming home or the last person leaving, a sensor) and what happens. A lamp at sunset is a good first one. Add a second automation to turn it off at bedtime; Home treats them as two.
When something goes wrong
- An accessory says “No Response”.
- Check it has power and your Wi-Fi works, then unplug it for ten seconds.
- The code won’t scan.
- Find better light, or type the numbers in using the option under the camera.
- Home says it’s already added somewhere.
- It still belongs to another home, maybe the last owner’s. Reset it (the manual says how), then add it again.
- It finds the accessory but can’t connect.
- Restart it and try again standing next to it. Cheaper plugs and bulbs only use 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi, which your router needs switched on.
- Automations don’t run.
- It’s almost always the hub. If Home Hubs & Bridges says Not Responding, restart the Apple TV or HomePod.
Where to go from here
Start with one room and one automation you care about, and live with it for a week. If your automations pile up and get hard to follow, ZoxoHome shows each one as a plain sentence and lets you try it before it runs. You don’t need it, though: everything here works with just the Home app.