HomeKit remote access not always working

Get help with your home hub

If you have issues creating automations or controlling your HomeKit accessories when you're not home, follow these steps:

1. Make sure that your Apple TV or iPad is:
   • Connected to the Internet and on the same Wi-Fi network as your other iOS devices during set up
   • Updated with the latest version of tvOS or iOS
   • Signed in to iCloud with the same Apple ID with two-factor authentication enabled
2. Make sure that you can control your accessories in the Home app on your iOS device. Open the Home app and turn on a light or change the temperature.
3. Make sure that your device is set up as a home hub:
   • On your Apple TV, go to Settings > Accounts > iCloud and make sure that your Apple TV shows HomeKit as Connected. If you don’t see HomeKit, then your Apple TV isn't connected as a home hub.
   • On your iPad, go to Settings > Home and make sure that Use this iPad as a Home Hub is turned on.
4. Restart your Apple TV, iPad, and iPhone.
5. Wait a few minutes. If you still need help, sign out of iCloud on your Apple TV, then sign back in. Go to Settings > Accounts > iCloud.

If you have an Apple TV (3rd generation)*, you can control your HomeKit accessories in the Home app while you’re away from your home. To change user permissions, create automations, or stream HomeKit-enabled cameras remotely, you need an Apple TV (4th generation). If you add an Apple TV (4th generation) to a home that has an Apple TV (3rd generation) set up, the Apple TV (3rd generation) will stop being used for HomeKit remote access.

It’s sad that you never received a reply to this.

I’m having the same issue as you. Everything is up to date, signed in to the same account, etc. I logged out and back in on all devices, etc., still no remote access when not connected to home WiFi.

I just managed to fix the issue by going on the Apple TV to Settings > Accounts > iCloud and toggling “Connected” / “Not Connected” off and on about 6 times with the Home app open on my phone.

Somehow this solved it, but we’ll see how long it lasts.

The jury is still out, but I am temporarily having success following the recommendations in this link. Apple TV HomeKit Disconnected

I made a channel adjustment to my router which was previously set to automatic and reflecting "severe" interference. Let's see what happens....

On December 29, I posted the following: "The jury is still out, but I am temporarily having success following the recommendations in this link. Apple TV HomeKit Disconnected

I made a channel adjustment to my router which was previously set to automatic and reflecting "severe" interference. Let's see what happens.."

I have had NO ISSUES since changing to the 5G network on my existing router (I was on 2.4 which had severe interference that I was not aware of), adjusted the channel to be fixed so that it did not change automatically. I did NOT get a new router. Just made adjustments in the settings on my existing router. This fix has worked perfectly for me.

So since my last posting on Apr 22, 2018, I just resolved my issue last weekend.

After going through every setting, and updating and factory restoring my iPhone and AppleTV, I finally have a working HomeKit that works away from home.I believe there's an issue or bug with my old iCloud drive account that hasn't been update and the fact that I have several Apple computers that aren't running the same MacOS.

1. Follow Apple's instructions - Automate and remotely access your HomeKit accessories - Apple Support

and make sure Homekit works while at home.

2. Check to make sure Location Services are enabled on your iPhone.

Settings -> Privacy -> Homekit -> Enable all devices

Settings -> Privacy -> Location Services -> Homekit - While using

Settings -> Privacy -> Location Services -> Homekit - ANY Device listed should be ON - While using

Settings -> Privacy -> Location Services -> Homekit - System Services -> HomeKit - ON

3. Check to make sure Home Hubs is listed and "Connected"

Here’s what I spent a good chunk of last weekend doing.

• Setup my new TP Link AC5400 router to replace the old and tired AirPort Extreme
• Delete all scenes and accessories from HomeKit
• Delete/unpair/unregistered all devices from their respective apps
• Deleted my home from the HomeKit app
• Factory reset all devices (when I say all I mean all, including Apple TV and iPhone)
• Sign into the newly-reset iphone and then the Apple TV
• Installed the Lutron app for lights And setup the entire Lutron system in the Lutron app
• Installed the Hue app And setup my one individual Hue bulb in the Hue app
• Installed the Ecobee app and setup the Ecobee 3 device in the app
• Opened HomeKit for the first time since deleting my home in step 3
• Added my 3 systems one by one into HomeKit making sure each device was setup before moving to the next one, this way I don’t have to go back and change a single thing once I’m done
• Configured individual scenes and tested each scene after it was created
• ** dramatic pause **
• Turned. Off. WiFi.
• ** second dramatic pause **
• IT WORKED!

I was able to tell Siri to turn on the lights for the dogs and everything happened like clockwork. I left WiFi off on my phone for the rest of the night to make sure the other Siri controlled scenes and schedules worked. The next morning I woke up and the lights I scheduled for my morning routine we’re all running properly. So I turned WiFi back on for the phone and felt my eyes welling up with tears.

When Apple says reset or factory reset, they mean EVERY. SINGLE. THING. Perhaps all of this wasn’t necessary for most people. But with the new router I changed my SSID for a couple reasons. So reconnecting everything to WiFi is really only two steps away from factory resetting it all.

Lets see what the next few days hold for me. It was a solid 5 hours of non stop resetting/downloading/configuring/testing and I’d really like it to last longer than a week this time.

So my issues started when the iOS 11 came out! What I ended up doing was update my phone (iPhone 7+) and my ATV4. Then I went to my iPhone and opened HomeKit and hit the location arrow in the left hand corner and scrolled down and removed home. Then I had to re-install my devices which were the lutron bridge, chamberlain garage door and my Augusta lock. My ATV4 was made my hub and now everything works perfectly weather I am home on my WiFi or away I can control my devices!

I hope this helps and good luck!

I have the same issue. I have done all the steps to fix it. I've have had mixed results with some devices working remotely and others not, so my Homekit is working remotely but not will all the devices, which is puzzling, because they do work when I am on my home network, most of the time. My (ecobee4) sometimes will show responding in Homekit, until I access the ecobee app, and then sometimes it starts working. I've read one other thread about having to wipe the Apple TV and setup as new. I think I'm going to try doing that this weekend. The kick is that it was working perfectly a while ago, then just stopped. I'm assuming some updates broke it. FYI I have 7 Hue lights, MyQ Garage door bridge, Leviton light switch and the ecobee4. The Leviton light switch has been a bear to get working. I think I'm going to scrap that unit, since it only works with siri. All my other devices I can use my Google Home, and Alexa to control as well as SIri, but the Leviton light switch only works with Siri, and it isn't even doing that any more for more that a few hours. Then homekit won't even control it, or the Leviton app

I wanted to share my update. This morning, I reset my AppleTV, and set it up again from scratch. I did the Reset and Update. When asked to set it up, I used my Phone to complete the setup with my user ID. I still noticed that not all my devices were responding in my homekit app, but the native app for the Ecobee was working. So I went to the Ecobee, and reconnected to the network, again, using my phone to complete the connection. My devices started working in the Homekit app. I was then able to shut off my wifi on my phone, and still control ALL my devices. However, I did remove the Leviton device from the Leviton app, which in-turn, removed it from my Homekit. For now, I'm going to leave that device removed from my system to see if my system stays stable. My suggestion, if you are having issues, would be to first do a complete reset of the AppleTV (which is acting as my hub) Keep in mind, I did have to reconnect my devices which were still having an issue, but after doing so it seems like it has been working for the past few hours. Good Luck.

Had the exact same problem, no response from devicwhile on cellular but works fine on home WiFi. I turned off WiFi on iphone then reset Apple TV then force quit home app then reopened home app. Seems to work for me.

Another update. Later in the day/week, my ecobee device stopped working thru Homekit once again. My other devices still worked however. I have since gone back to the wifi setup on the ecobee, and just reconnected to the wifi again. I've had to do this a few times. I ran the wifi setup again last night, and I'm still connected as of right now at work. I reciently did the new iOS update 11.2. Not sure if this helped solve the issue or not. I'll have to see how long my ecobee still works thru homekit this time.

Hi! I'm having the same issue, only I'm a guest user on my partner's account. It won't let me access HomeKit to control anything unless I'm in the same Wifi as the HomeKit hub. I was hoping the recent iOS 11.2 update would fix it, but alas, no such luck. The Apple TV is set up as the hub and I've tried toggling, turning off and on and it won't work. I've had this issue since he connected me to it when he first set it all up.

My HomeKit has been working with no issues, either remotely or when connected to wifi. I'm at work now, and can see my ecobee temp, and control my lights. I made sure I have every device updated and patched. As a note, I have not tried to re-setup the leviton control back up. Last time I did, it seemed be the same time I started having these issues. It's probably unrelated, but I'm still not quite sure I want to tackle that again. Maybe when I'm home on Christmas break. I thought I saw a few articles about how they disabled shared access remotely because of some security issues related to some of the door locks.

Had a very similar issue after updating to 11.2 . I ran a Wi-fi scanner and protocol checker and noticed that when my Apple TV connected to 5ghz band the issue occurred.

I’ve worked around this by restricting my Wi-fi router to mode 2 and turning off the 5ghz band.

Also had a further issue where my Apple TV remote on iPhones would no longer see the Apple TVs. This also appears to have resolved the issue.

My lights and thermostat are all working consistently with remote access.