Level 1

43 points

HomeKit remote access not always working

I've had a couple HomeKit accessories for quite a while now (Phillips Hue lights, Sensi thermostat), and at first they worked pretty well. Lately, the automation's that I have set up, and remote access quits working after a couple days. I have a 4th Generation Apple TV set up as the home hub. I have made sure that:

The Apple TV is connected to the Internet and on the same Wi-Fi network as my other iOS devices during set up.

Updated with the latest version of tvOS, iOS.

I can control my accessories in the Home app on my iOS device (using WiFi).

On my Apple TV, in Settings > Accounts > iCloud, it shows HomeKit as Connected.

But when I disable WiFi on my iPhone, the HomeKit app shows my accessories (and Phillips Hue hub) as "No Response". To fix this I usually get on the Apple TV and log out, then log back into iCloud and it will start working again - for a couple days. Then the automation's quit working, and I check again for a remote connection where I get "No Response". I can always turn the accessories (lights) on and off using WiFi in my home, but remote access and automation's are gone. Any ideas?

BTW I always put the Apple TV to sleep when I'm done with it and the remote access and automation's have worked fine for months at a time without issues (and without me turning on the Apple TV).

Apple TV, tvOS 10.2.2

Posted on Aug 4, 2017 7:07 AM

Top-ranking reply

homersdonut

Level 1

4 points

Posted on Oct 4, 2018 4:14 PM

So after almost a year of banging my head against the wall and countless restores, removing and re-adding all my accessories. I decided to call again and be adamant it was an iCloud issue. Passed me up 3 tiers of support in the first 20 minutes of the call. Spent almost 2 hours on the phone with Mason. Long story short, he was awesome and actually put effort into figuring it out. Low and behold, it was a “block” on my AppleID. He literally “unchecked” the block at his end and almost instantly I was able to send invites, and after about 10 minutes, AppleTV was recognized as the hub again and I could control everything remotely. So if anyone has also been banging their head against the wall for almost a year, call in and tell them to check that. Kudos to Mason and his excellent customer service for actually making the effort to look into it and ask his peers. Last time it was an endless loop of being passed off by support for 3 weeks until I got frustrated and gave up. Persistence pays off I guess. I knew it wasn’t at my end. Hope this helps anyone else having the same problem! Good luck!

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114 replies

Donek168

Level 1

8 points

Dec 9, 2017 8:13 AM in response to cicorias

I reset the Apple TV Settings>System>Reset and lost all settings and information

MTGMan2

Level 1

8 points

Dec 19, 2017 3:09 PM in response to Dwcowan

I have the bands on my router with different SSID’s so I don’t run into that issue. The update seems to have fixed my issue. I haven’t had n issue at all recently.

MTGMan2

Level 1

8 points

Dec 1, 2017 8:21 AM in response to motiv8_me

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

Dec 27, 2017 8:00 PM in response to TJHockey

I had this same issue as a guest on Homekit. While on the same network I had access, but remotely I did not. My husband uninvited and re-invited me several times, but the invite didn’t come through. In Home settings (at the bottom of where you select which Home you want), select “Leave Home”. It warns your ICloud HomeKit settings will be deleted, but as soon as you accept the invite, they will come back. Immediately after selecting “Leave Home”, the invite came through and my Homekit worked again after I accepted it.

Dec 28, 2017 1:21 PM in response to tommy0349

I had the same problem.

Issue seemed to be that I had two apple TVs at different locations but set up as belonging to the same home.

Once I set it up again and the apple TVs belong to different homes, streaming of video works fine.

MTGMan2

Level 1

8 points

Jan 12, 2018 5:10 AM in response to Dwcowan

As an update, my system has been better, however not perfect. I updated my iPhone to the latest version, and it seemed to not work remotely again. So I updated the AppleTV, and rebooted and it started working again.

Mar 10, 2018 3:44 PM in response to krazygreekguy

Sorry,

Only (temporary) solution is the long run with logging out of iCloud with each and every device - and the logging back on to iCloud for each device - with all the sync problems that gives. And if the first try does not work - try again.aa

This is simply a product in beta

Mar 10, 2018 8:28 PM in response to Williams_Nest

I’ve done that a few times, but I had this issue before I even set the HomePod up and even when I tried removing the HomePod from the equation altogether, restoring and resetting the Apple TV, the issue still persisted. I’ve even gotten a new HomePod and still same situation. I’ve gotten it to work as it should with a “dummy” Apple ID I created to test the theory. It just ***** to sign out and back in when you have so many things on iCloud.

Apr 2, 2018 10:52 AM in response to tommy0349

I've recently been having similar issues. I was using an Apple TV 4th Gen and it started to disconnect as my home hub. I bought a Apple TV 4K because I wanted one and it is having the same problem connecting. I've haven't tried adjusting my router settings, but maybe I will. The only thing that has worked for me is resetting the Apple TV when is disconnects. This solution only works for a day or so. It's so aggravating because this is the reason I bought home kit accessories. I hope a fix comes soon or somebody figures out what the problem is.

Apr 4, 2018 5:50 PM in response to krazygreekguy

After setting the ATV4K to never sleep (with HomeKit enabled) I began finding the ATV in various hosed states - black screen, Logo Screen, Menu screen but unresponsive or opening any app causes the screen to flicker and then the menu screen resets (apps won't run). I spoke with support and of course they put me through a hard reset to determine if this a hardware issue. After several weeks of testing (and updating to the latest TVOS version) and finding the ATV in a hosed state 80% of the time, I've concluded the device must be defective. It's not in a cabinet and has lots of air, perhaps it is defective or perhaps the ATV4K wasn't designed to run 24X7 with an app like HomeKit that may keep it busy enough to "overheat" - Just thinking pondering all the possibilities.

tommy0349 Author

Level 1

43 points

Aug 22, 2018 5:30 PM in response to tommy0349

Well here is an update to my situation. The AppleTV with HomeKit and remote access has NEVER stopped being flaky. It seems like everything I try is a temporary solution. Then my kids bought me an Amazon Alexa for Christmas. I decided to try the Alexa App on my phone and set up the same scenarios as HomeKit (or close to) for turning lights on/off. For example, if I have HomeKit turning on a light at 8:00 PM, I tell Alexa to turn it on at 8:15 PM. The same thing for turning the light off. Over the past 6 months HomeKit has randomly worked and then not worked (the light does not always turn on at 8:00 PM, or off when it's supposed to) without me changing anything. But with Alexa, the scenario works. Every. Single. Night! With Alexa it's absolutely flawless. Turning on/off lights remotely - never a problem! Actually I had a problem - once. The power to my router was accidentally turned off one night.

I don't know if Apple is ever going to address their problems here, but as for me I found a solution - Alexa!

Feb 24, 2019 6:42 AM in response to tommy0349

Well, it is February 2019... Just in case anybody was wondering all of the problems reported in this thread still exist with HomeKit. I was very relieved when I found this thread because I felt vindicated. All of the trouble shooting and problem solving and replacements for items that I thought were defective... all time wasted. HomeKit is terribly buggy. Hopefully, you are reading this thread before you make a substantial temporal or financial commitment to HomeKit. Forewarned is indeed forearmed...

Sabs01

Level 1

4 points

Dec 14, 2018 6:18 PM in response to MTGMan2

Tried this and agree it seems to be working as MTGMan2 said thanks mate - Will update after a few days also connected my apply TV to Ethernet so this may have helped...

Jan 1, 2019 12:40 PM in response to Lore-PRO

I have had this issue and iPhone reboot fixed it. I use iPad as hub. I think this issue is a result of upgrades of iOS needing to be done on both devices

sterling r

Community Specialist

Aug 4, 2017 7:35 PM in response to tommy0349

Hey Tommy,

Looks like you are experiencing some intermittent connection issues between your Apple TV and iPhone in regards to using the HomeKit app.

I would first verify that all your devices are running the latest software: Update the iOS software on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

Update the software on your Apple TV

If all devices are up to date, please use this link for further assistance: Automate and remotely access your HomeKit accessories

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:

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

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.

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.

Restart your Apple TV, iPad, and iPhone.

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.

Thanks for posting your question. Hope this helps out.

Have a great day.

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HomeKit remote access not always working