iOS 15 Home app and HomeKit have excessive battery drain

Hey all - let me try to summarize my thoughts on the issue based upon these replies, some research, and digging into Wi-Fi networks.

A few quick notes: this doesn’t appear to be caused by specific HomeKit devices or bridges. There’s no theme to whether you have a Lutron or Hue or other bridge. The issue persists. Additionally, adjusting settings in the Home app or iPhone/iPad doesn’t resolve the issue. I’ve tried every permutation of setting including deleting my entire Home and factory resetting my iPad, and the issue still persists.

Root cause: it seems like the root cause is due to Apple’s implementation of Thread. I’ve noticed that if I am either off Wi-Fi or on a different Wi-Fi network than my HomePod devices that the issue does NOT occur.

Digging into my Wi-Fi logs via Pi-hole (and looking at several other threads on this topic), my iPhone and iPad are constantly sending out requests to HomePodName.openthread.thread.home.arpa.

This is occurring thousands of times a day and I’m guessing it’s impacting battery life.

I contacted the Thread group and they confirmed this is not the expected behavior.

As such, we’ll have to wait for a fix to the HomePod and/or Apple TV to resolve this problem.

Note- the scenario I described above will impact anyone with a HomePod mini or Apple TV 4K (latest gen).

I went with my own nuclear option. I removed my home. Setup a Home Assistant server. Added all my devices to Home Assistant. Created all of my automations in HA and then presented HA to HomeKit. Only 1% battery drain all night.

Hello Ktrap,

It sounds like you want to know why the Home app is using so much of your battery. We understand how important this is to you and we are here to help.

This article may be able to provide some general tips: Maximizing Battery Life and Lifespan

If you select show battery usage what percentage of your battery is being used by this app? Are you able to check your notifications to see which device sends you the most notifications? Also, which iOS version are you currently using?

Cheers!

Ktrap,

Thank you for those details.

Have you restarted your iPhone since you first noticed this: Restart your iPhone

Also, let's try to closer the application and test: Close an app on your iPhone or iPod touch

If the issue persists, can you provide your exact iOS 15 version? Let us know if anything changes.

Good Luck!

Ktrap,

Thank you for providing that update. Now we know the issue is isolated to the notifications from the Home app.

We can verify your device is backed up and on the latest iOS 15.1 version: Update your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

Once you verify that, turn on notifications and test to see if the issue persists.

Let's also add HomeKit notifications to Scheduled Summary and test to see if you notice a difference. This article may be able to help: Use notifications on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch

Specifically the section titled "Schedule a notification summary."

Let us know what you discover.

Good Luck!

@Hfjustin great idea! If you set up a Home Assistant server and then present it to HomeKit, don't you still need to have an Apple TV (or HomePod or iPad) acting as a home hub in order for you to control your HomeKit devices while you're away using the native Home app?

It seems to me what we all have in common is an Apple TV or HomePod at home, which act as a home hub by default. So I'm wondering if your setup still allows remote control without an Apple TV or HomePod at home.

Same issue with iphone 7. I've got plenty of homekit devices and this issue seem quite recent (with upgrade to IOS 15.1).

I have tried almost everything without success:

• Homekit notifications to OFF
• Background refresh for apps to OFF
• Delete and recreate my "home"
• Phone reset (no restore from backup)

My wife and my daughter dont have this issue even if they are part of the home setup.

What I can see from network packet sniffing, the Iphone wakes each 5 to 10 sec to send multicast packets related to homekit subsystem. It should be what kills the battery. Turning the Wifi off stops the drain completely

Maybe it's not the Lutron bridge then. What HomeKit devices do others have? Here's my list:

• Philips Hue Bridge (2nd Gen -- the square one)
  • Model: BSB002
  • Firmware: 1.49.1949107040
  • I have a bunch of Philips Hue lightbulbs, motion sensors, and switches.
• Ikea TRADFRI Gateway
  • Model: TRADFRI gateway
  • Firmware: 1.17.19
  • Several smart power plugs and window shades.
• Lutron Caseta Wireless Smart Bridge
  • Model: L-BDG2-WH
  • Firmware: 8.6
  • Window shades, wall light switches, and a plugin dimmer.
• Apple TV 4K (2nd Gen. -- May 2021 release)
  • Unlike the three bridges above, Apple TV is connected via WiFi, not ethernet.

Not sure this will lead us anywhere, but:

• Philips Hue bridge (2nd gen), I think around 15 lamps, motion sensors and buttons
• Meross smart plugs
• a good number of Eve 'stuff'
• Sonos speakers
• 2 apple tvs, 2 homepods

The same issue for me and I have even tried deleting the home app.

I read in another thread from some people having these issues that have similar components in their home setup as mine and I am wondering now if that's what may be causing the issue.

In my setup I have:

• Unifi devices for wifi and network
• Lutron bridge and switches for lights and fans
• 2 Arlo cameras and
• A Hue bridge so I can use my old hue remotes to control the Lutron fan switches.

Do you have a similar setup? Maybe we can isolate the component causing the issue if that is the case.

Thanks in advance.

Finally, I fixed it!

I can acknowledge that the following procedure worked for me for two different iPhone 12 with two different Homes and two different Apple accounts:

1. Make an iPhone iCloud Backup based on iOS 15.6
2. Upgrade iPhone to iOS 16 PB2
3. Open Home App. on iPhone
4. Connect iPhone via USB to a Mac
5. Set iPhone into Recovery Mode and proceed with recovery to iOS 15.6
6. When prompted, decline that you want to participate any longer on the iOS 16 PB program
7. Restore iCloud Backup

Eventually, it's enough to make a full restore via Mac with iOS 15.6 without PB 16 but in my case/s it worked like this.

Battery drain is fixed and down from > 60% to < 5%.

Hi, i got the same issue.

As you see between 5-6 am the Home app drains several percentages of battery on my iphone 12pro.

There was no notification.

my software version is 15.1.1

it is really annoying:(

Thanks

I noticed I don't see any background activity by the Home app when my iPad is plugged in. But when it's not plugged in, Home app is showing 20+ min of background activity every hour. Anyone else noticing this?

I have the newest line of Apple devices.

My iPhone 13 and 11 Pro / iPad Pro 2021 and 2018 and other devices are completely discharged at night without use for 4 months.

It is impossible to use anything at home without charging 3 times a day. Apple urgently fix the problems or refund the money. I'll have to look for another company.

Home Kit.