How to Use Apple TV, iPad or HomePod as Hub for Controlling Your HomeKit Devices Remotely

Mar 19, 2018 08:18 EDT

Here's a complete guide on how to use Apple TV, iPad or the HomePod as a Home Hub for controlling all your HomeKit-enabled devices remotely.

Away from Your Home? Don't Worry, You Can Still Control Your HomeKit Devices if You Have an Apple TV, an iPad or a HomePod

Once you jump into the HomeKit game, it's only obvious that your newfound hobby is going to grow by a huge margin in a course of few months. But the fun goes through the roof once you realize that you can control everything HomeKit-enabled straight from the Home app on your iPhone or iPad, regardless of where you are. Of course, you can't just do that out of the box, there's a little bit of setting up to do, and we'll walk you through it.

Make iOS 14 / iPadOS 14 Instantly Faster on iPhone and iPad [Tutorial]

What You'll Need

For this to work, you are going to need either an iPad (running iOS 11), a fourth-generation Apple TV or a HomePod running the latest firmware from Apple. Also, these devices must be signed in to the same iCloud account which you used to set up your HomeKit devices. If you don't fulfill either of these requirements then you are out of luck.

iPad

Note: Your iPad must be connected to WiFi and stay at home at all times in order for this to work.

Launch Settings.
Scroll down and tap on Home.
Now enable the 'Use this iPad as a Home Hub' option.

Apple TV

Note: if, for some reason, you don't see the My Home option on your Apple TV, you might want to set up your Apple TV from scratch using your iCloud account.

Launch Settings.
Select Accounts.
Select iCloud.
Now enable the My Home option.

HomePod

Just set up your HomePod using your Apple ID and it will automatically turn into a Home Hub for your devices. There's no setup process at all. Needless to say, the HomePod is forged to be a Home Hub right out of the box.

From here on in, if you walk out of your house, away from WiFi and connected to cellular only, you can still summon your HomeKit devices using the Home app. This means you can control lights, turn off your air-conditioning, close the blinds, pretty much everything and anything as long as your home WiFi works like a breeze.

While you are here, you may also like to check out the following: