Apple Home sync error when connecting to Philips Hue Hub

After months of working fine, I am no longer able to control Phillips Hue lights with HomeKit. HomeKit accessories from other manufacturers are working fine.


  • All the Apple and Hue software and firmware is up-to-date.
  • I have restarted all the Home Hubs, the Hue Hub and my router.
  • I have removed Hue accessories from Apple Home and unsynced Hue from Apple Home using the Hue app.
  • I am unable to add Hue to Apple Home; instead I get a "Apple Home sync error" message.


All the Hue accessories are working fine in the Hue app.


It is frustrating knowing what is causing this issue. Any suggestions gratefully received.

Posted on May 7, 2023 8:11 AM

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Posted on Nov 30, 2023 7:14 PM

TLDR: if you have Xfinity, get the upgrade to the DB8 modem. It solved my issue.


Ok, update- so apparently it WAS some kind of network issue, brought about by the matter update that Hue pushed out which did not work. My network could see the bridge but was not allowing a connection to go through between the bridge and Apple. Hue told me to have Xfinity (my internet provider) check for network issues on their end; however, would not tell me what exactly to look for, so the network IT guys were unable to find a problem. They did tell me there is a new, updated, gateway available that they could send out to me which would get me faster speed. After searching for solutions, myself online, I came across a reddit post that said someone was able to fix their issue by replacing their existing Xfinity gateway with the newest version, the DB8 gateway. I contacted IT at Xfinity again and determined that they were in fact wanting to send me the DB8, so I said sure. I mean at this point; my next step was to go scorched earth on HomeKit anyway, so it was worth a shot.


The new gateway arrived and I installed it, and low and behold- the bridge now connects with HomeKit again! Yay1 The downside? I had to figure out how to split the bands apart (out of the box it combines the 2.4, 5 & 6 together into one signal). why you ask? Because the new gateway had a new SSID so nothing ELSE in my system recognized the network so EVERYTHING else in my HomeKit had to be removed and reinstalled. Exactly the scorched earth I was trying to avoid. On the plus side, hours later everything is reinstalled in HomeKit and running smoothly. Fingers crossed it stays that way!

84 replies

May 23, 2023 12:04 AM in response to MartyB-C

Same exact issue here. I fixed it by throwing away all Philips Hue bulbs and bridge and replaced with Lutron. Works GREAT! What's Philips' official stance regarding the ongoing commitment to manufacturing and supporting Hue? Last I read, the official statement had statements like "due to the supply chain" and I recall "indefinite" thrown into the statement too. Will Philips be officially announcing end of life for everything IoT? Or is it just the Hue lights and Bridge?

Jul 16, 2023 9:19 AM in response to MartyB-C

I have the latest update from Hue 1958159030 and if I unplug the Hue bridge and plug it back in it works for 3 min then I get Hue bridge is not responding.

I have uninstall the bridge in Homekit and then added it back in, I have done a factory reset and added back all lights then added hub back to Homekit - works for 3 min, then goes back to not responding.

All my lights and hubs have latest updates as do my apple hubs.

Also insight would help as this is frustrating - work great before the matter nightmare started.

FYI: it all works in the native HUE app (or if I use hoobs which i should not have to).

Jul 28, 2023 9:14 AM in response to philipshue_devsupport

Never worked before. Never had issue with adding hue bridge and receiving lights in HomeKit but the lights can't be controlled. Also, yesterday the control for light worked for a few minutes albeit very slowly. For e.g., turning on a light took 15 seconds. Then it totally stopped working. It works perfectly from Hue app.


I also added the hue bridge via the Apple Home App and got same results.


I got a new bridge and will try it soon.

Aug 5, 2023 5:38 AM in response to kul3456

I too have done what many have - my system is below any thoughts to get hue responding in Homekit again.

It adds work for 5 mins and stops - i also tried disabling VPN and Private IP on iPhone no luck

reset Hue, got a new Hue hub re-added all lights, added hub via Homekit and via Hue app no luck. and yes i rebooted the router and apple TV hub.

Orbi Mesh RBR850 + 2 nodes all updated

Hue Bridge BSB002 - (went bought a new one just in case update to - 1.59.1959097030

4 LWB015 spot lights - 1.104.2

2 light strips LST002 - 1.101.2

4v Apple TV hub - updated 16.6

iPhone updated - 16.6

I have Eve, Arlo (issue with 4540 hub in home kit 5000 is ok) MyQ, Onelink, Meross, Sylvania, Aquara, Leviton all working fine - had a few small issues after Matter update most are resolved but this Hue **** hole.

Aug 7, 2023 7:55 AM in response to TheRoost

Update - Not in the beta for Ma and I tried a factory reset that did not work so I bought a new hub updated it to latest firmware then added lights - works great in hue. added to Apple then it work 3 min and stops. - interesting fact...

Orbi Mesh - RBR850 series 2 satellites on latest firmware\software and Xfinity cable router.

Login in to friends Spectrum router using his WIFI the Hue lights work....login back into home nothing - tried this at father-in-laws Spectrum wifi works great again at home no response.


Any recommendations - BTW Router into Orbi - into switch is Hue is on same subnet as WIFI

Aug 12, 2023 10:03 AM in response to MartyB-C

I have two hubs and 100 devices in my house. Everything worked great in Apple Home till Spring 2023 when nothing worked. I’ve tried resetting, updating, etc. all without success. One Sunday morning I spent several hours with an incredibly Apple tech support representative who at the end of an exhaustive trial and error process suggested it was something wrong with Hue. The Hue app indicates all the devices are update to date. What are the next steps towards getting my devices working with Apple Home again?

Aug 15, 2023 12:34 AM in response to MartyB-C

I tried to connect the Hue Bridge to my Homekit but during the configuration I keep getting the "Synchronization error Apple Home - Unknown error: 2002"


I've already reset my Bridge and my Homepod Mini, however I keep getting the same message during the setup.


When I try to connect the Bridge via Homekit, I am getting the error "It's not possible to connect the accessory - Wrong configuration code"


I have updated both the Bridge and the Homepod to the latest versions.


Does someone faced the same issue and knows how to fix this?


Small note: error codes have been a translation from another language

Aug 19, 2023 7:20 AM in response to MartyB-C

After more and more tinkering I'm at the same spot now. At one point the Hue Hub was added to my HomeKit 4 times for a total of 100+ accessories with no response.


This is beyond frustrating as this was working perfectly fine up until this morning. I literally just spent close to $1000 on lighting for my kitchen renovation and can't use these stupid lights easily.


Really glad I paid the Hue premium for this.

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Apple Home sync error when connecting to Philips Hue Hub

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