HomeKit remote access not always working

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.

I have the same issue, disconnect from wif and my eco bee does not connect through HomeKit app.. works perfectly on ecobee’s app..

I tried restarting, resetting, logging out of the account and logging back in.. None of it work.. Even the smart plugs from KoolGeek has the same problem.. I am pretty sure it’s an issue with Apple TV not working as hub outside the network..

Hope they fix it soon, it’s very annoying as KoolGeek does not work Without Apple TV as hub.. I don’t want to spend money on getting a stand alone hub..

I'm having a similar issue with issuing guest access; I'm the primary and I can't seem to allow 2 others in the house to control the installed devices. I've read elsewhere that the invitation should be sent to an iCloud email address. If you're not using an iCloud email address, try creating one and have the invitation sent to you at that address.

Back when I worked at Apple, we tested products thoroughly... we took great pride in our work. It seems now they think they're too big to fail and don't test thoroughly enough. So many bugs in the iPhone and newer Apple products... 😟

Thanks, I did read that solution but I couldn't get that to work either. All that ended up happening is she was completely disconnected from the home and I was still unable to invite her back.

What I ended up doing is, on her phone I selected "Add Home" and sent an invite to me. I received it and immediately attempted to send an invite to her -- SUCCESS!! She received the invite and was once again added to our home. I then deleted the bogus home from HomeKit on both my phone and hers.

At this point, I can control HomeKit from anywhere, but she is still only able to control things from within the confines of our WiFi network.

Tony

UPDATE: Well, the static IP seemed to work for a bit but as usual, a day or two later, ultimately failed. It seems odd that a "restart" of the Apple TV4 will always cure the problem for me with remote access, but only temporarily. After a day or so, it always fails requiring another restart.

What is it about the Apple TV that fails? My iPhone continues to show that the Apple TV is connected but there is something awry because it will not work remotely. Any help appreciated.

My family has been in the Apple echo system for over 6 years. Lately I’ve been very disappointed in Apple. One reason we liked them was that everything just worked without having to jump through hoops. Not so much anymore. I expect more from Apple as a company. I’ve lost some trust with the battery issue as well as some of the other security holes. They need to step up their programming. Home kit worked like a charm before some of the recent updates. I was going to get some more HomeKit devices, but I’m seriously considering going with some other vendors and just use their apps. I have a google home and Alexia. I find I have been using these devices more that Siri. Google is lighting fast when turning on and off hue lites. Siri doesn’t work sometimes and when it does it is super slow even on my WiFi. I expect more from Apple. I’m very disappointed.

You have sumed up out experience and situation exactly. I am tired of waiting on Apple to get homekit right as well so we are looking into other systems to control the home that are reliable, secure and fast.

This is a serious issue. I cursed out my smart plug manufacturers when in fact I should be shaking my fists at Apple. Not so sure on the verdict yet so enough of the cursing out. Please provide updates. I have similar and unique problems. I get the WiFi and remote access issue. But I also get a device unresponsive. The app throws an error “Device out of compliance”

Hue lights work perfect by the way. I guess it’s because they run through the hue hub. Looks like Philips making a better device than Apple

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?