HomeKit remote access not always working

It us saddening to se a very specific and perfect expressed problem being totally ignored and being given a text book answer.

The problems with Homekit are real. Everybody are faced with the factory reset demand each 1-2 month. And to repeat the text book - yes the Apple TV 4K used for Homekit Hub is fully updated - yes the iCloud account has been logged out and in again - yes the Apple TV 4K is on the same network - yes the internet router has been restarted - yes the iPad PRO 9” used for controlling is fully updated - yes the other iPad PRO 12” is fully updated - yes everithing works from the inside - no nothing works from the outside anymore - yes the Apple TV 4K is saying “Connected” to the Homekit - yes I have disconnected and reconnected to the Homekit.

I guess that if I completely resets the Apple TV and all my Homekit devices it will work again - like the other times.

I just don’t feel like it anymore - think I’ll have a chat with Alexa .........

Thanks for the support. It is frustrating that there’s this glaring problem that puts Apple’s reputation on the line and it gets ignored. “It just works”, right?

I bought a HomePod hoping that would also help with HomeKit. It did do a lot until today when it also went on standby. Apple, can you make it so these hubs NEVER go on standby? Since they don’t wake very fast, putting them on standby makes them less useful in a real world situation.

I tried to change the channels on my router and it didn’t work. This is frustrating the heck out of me. I’ve tried to disconnect and connect several times from the Apple TV, signed in and out of iCloud several times on both Apple TV and my iPhone and it still hasn’t fixed the issue.

I too have had this issue since dec. I went through my own troubleshooting, contacted Apple, who have had no other solutions, and still haven’t solved the issue for me, I just keep going in circles with them, and they’re in no hurry to get me a definitive solution. HomeKit worked perfectly for over a year, and they can’t seem to admit or care that the update in Dec had nothing to do with it. I’m irritated beyond belief because none of my automations work anymore and that was the sole purpose of buying HomeKit enabled devices. Probably just going to have to give Alexa a try. Apple support and use has completely fallen off the rails. It’s doesnt “just work” anymore, as users we shouldn’t have to be messing with our router band settings to make a device work. I’m absolutely disgusted that I’ve invested so much money in Apple tech.

Have you resolved this issue? Since day one of HomePod's release and me buying/setting it up, both my Apple TV 4K and HomePod show as disconnected in the Home app and I have lost remote functionality. Have you found a solution to this?

I’ve legitimately tried every solution under the sun with no luck. Logging out and back into iCloud doesn’t work for me. And yeah, with so many devices connected, that’s not a workable solution every time you want to have remote access to devices. I’ve tried this about four thousand times at this point with luck. I wish Alexa had functionality through Siri, if she did, I would be using Alexa right now. I’m over Apple not supporting their products properly.

Same here. My Apple TV 4K is also direct connected via Ethernet and has not once had an issue, until the day the HomePod cane out. It started showing as Apple TV Not Respondinf in the Home app. Ever since then it and my HomePod are showing as Disconnected in the Home app hub section and I have not had remote functionality for 6 weeks now with no help from Apple explaining why or providing a solution. There are other people with the same issue that I’ve been talking to on sites like Reddit. I’m tired of waiting and my patience is wearing thin. I’ve invested a lot in HomeKit and this is disappointing, to say the least.

I never got away from home working. My home hub says it is connected when I’m not home too. It only says not responding for all my devices. I have 2 schlage sense locks, chamberlain garage hub, several leviton light switches (these are junk, I had 1 dead on arrival. And 2 failed working a week) and they only work when my iPhone is connected at home via wifi. I tried all the instructions and resets, updates. Followed so many threads and My Apple TV 4 gen is wired to my network. Im an IT professional and I find this ridiculous. I’m going to switch to google home or Alexa. I give up on Apple.

Yeah apple got back to me earlier this week and basically told me to wait for a future software update, but would not say for sure if it would be the next one or even the next ones after that. They wouldn’t even put that in writing, which is what makes it even more infuriating. I’m going to pester them every single day and begin to share with social media, tech sites and even news agencies. This is ridiculous for them to treat their customers like this. I’ve lost faith in Apple completely and will no longer recommend them to family and friends.

I am having similar issues.

On my iPhone on the home app the Apple TV hub shows connected however on the wife’s iPhone the same Apple TV hub shows standby.

Both phones are updated and the Apple TV is also updated.

I can interact with any device when at home and away from home but the wife’s phone can only interact when on the home Wi-fi. The home app on her phone shows not responding when away from home yet the devices are still accessible through their own apps.

Have Apple came up with a solution yet.

Well, It's been months, and my remote access is still hit or miss. Some devices are fine, others are not communication. When I'm on my home network, everything seems ok.

The same issues, with the same procedures to try to fix it, sometimes it works, other times not. Log out of everything, update all devices, iphone, appleTV, etc. sign back in, multiple times until you get lucky. I've been relying on the stand alone apps from the manufacture to check on devices remotely. I really wanted one place to do everything, the HOME app, but that doesn't seem to be working reliable at this time.

I’m beyond frustrated. I want Apple to reimburse me on all the time and money I’ve spent on HomeKit enabled devices, and the time I’ve now spent trying to make it work after it broke. I have all these expensive smart devices that have zero functionality. So disgusted.

THANK YOU SO MUCH. So I followed your directions and turned off the 5ghz bands on my Unifi home network setup. It seemed to work, but only for my Lutron lights on the Home app. Very interesting because before my Apple TV 4 said “connected” when you click the location icon but the devices all said no response. My August smart locks and 1/3 of my ecobee thermostats still say no response, which I’m trying to figure out. I tried forcing my August smart doorbells to a 2.4 band network as well because the doorbells serve as a bridge for the locks, but didn’t have any luck. Thank you for the tip on the WiFi bands!

I had similar issues. some days ago I got a new router, internet connection works fine, but after some time when I haven’t use my iPad (hub) the internet dropped out. So I reinstalled the old router and everything works as before.

Same problem here, kudos to the one who persisted with tech support to discover an iCloud block. If an iCloud block is responsible then I want to know what this means. Anybody know What an iCloud block is? How does it get initiated? Who’s responsible for these blocks? Who has the rights to unblock? Is it Only Apple tech support who can unblock? Please chime in, this is important. I’m tired of “No Response” on HomeKit.