HomeKit 16.x on my hubs (Apple TV 4th gen and HomePod ) broke my HomeKit light automations.

[rjjacobson]

Ok I am among the group of people who use HomeKit automations — minor in my case only effecting my 4 mini D Lifix bulbs but when you look on apple support forums there are a host of folks with same issue since advent of 16.x on devices that provide home hub support for HomeKit homes. Schedules fail, automations go awry all kinds of issues. For some who have many automations of importance to their houses it is a major disaster fortunately not for me but a first world hassle as I like to use my bulbs for various things.

On apple forums suggestions that supposedly fix for some include:

1) Delete the home app and install and all your automations repopulate without any work (but not for all and they have to reset up all their many automations)
2) Remove all automations and reinstall one by one — apparently fixing failures for some but by all appearances not many
3) Move automations to scenes then things “work” never used that much in my minimal use for lights
4) Turn off the home hub of your Apple TV (for which most HomeKit users will find is the main hub (16.x removes ipad as a hub) and turn back on. I did that last night but had the lights already off or whatever before I found that will see if this works tonight.

I looked in MacRumors forums but could not find much discussion on this but was surprised how many have already reported in past month on apple forums especially users with many important home automations that now do not function or function improperly. So thought I would post this one to see what MacRumors folks are finding — maybe there is a long thread on this that my search of forums here missed?

I am also curious enough to put this little poll here to see if it is widespread amongst those of you who use/rely on HomeKit.

 

[rjjacobson]

FYI here is the thread on apple support communities sure seems like a lot of folks with issues, many have major home automations that are now fubar because of 16.x

Homekit Automations are broken in iOS 16 - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com

 

[DJLC]

Mine were still working... until I stupidly tried to edit one. Now they're ALL broken.

I keep meaning to check for updates on both Apple TVs and reboot them. I already checked and rebooted the HomePod mini without any change though. My hopes aren't high that'll do it either, and I've love to NOT redo all this crap. Honestly, if I have to redo everything, I'll probably just spin up a Home Assistant instance and let that do my automations. At least if that breaks, it'll be my own fault + I can see what's wrong in the logs. :/

 

[Marco Klobas]

The update broke some automations involving a button->hub->plug combination. In my case a restart of the Apple TV fixed the issue.

 

[rjjacobson]

The update broke some automations involving a button->hub->plug combination. In my case a restart of the Apple TV fixed the issue.

So not familiar with the terminology of button->hub->plug combo. I restarted my Apple TV as a home hub (turning off like some suggested then back on). But will not see until tonight if that works. Should I also restart my apple TV completely? When it is of the network then my stupid homepod takes over and I have to turn it off to get my Apple TV back as home hub. Controlling which hub is uses sees a bit messy or hard to do LOL

 

[iStorm]

My set up is pretty basic (LED light strip and a smart plug) and has been working fine for me.

There are so many variables though, one person's problem might not be the same as another person's...or maybe there's some sort of common denominator between them all. (i.e. What types of devices are they - lights, plugs, thermostat, cameras, etc? What technology/framework are the devices using - Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, thread, etc? What are the triggers - time of day, an event, etc? What is it running - a scene, or devices configured directly in the automation? What's being used as the hub - Apple TV, HomePod, iPad? Does the hub have thread support - only Apple TV 4K (2021 and later) and HomePod mini do. You get the idea...)

For me, I'm using a HomePod mini as my hub, and my automations are running scenes based on time of day. Also have a couple event based ones when I leave/arrive home. LED light strip is Bluetooth, and smart plug has thread support. Also not using any 3rd party apps to control these devices.

 

[Marco Klobas]

So not familiar with the terminology of button->hub->plug combo. I restarted my Apple TV as a home hub (turning off like some suggested then back on). But will not see until tonight if that works. Should I also restart my apple TV completely? When it is of the network then my stupid homepod takes over and I have to turn it off to get my Apple TV back as home hub. Controlling which hub is uses sees a bit messy or hard to do LOL

I have two Flic hardware buttons set that they trigger respectively two Eve smart plugs. The buttons "talk" to their hub (HomeKit compatible) which acts as a bridge. Since HomeKit doesn't offer a proper trigger button action I had to set two conditional automations:

When the button is pressed and IF the smart plug is OFF then turn the smart plug ON.
When the button is pressed and IF the smart plug is ON then turn the smart plug OFF.

I have to specify that the buttons and the smart plugs are Bluetooth devices. The hub works via Ethernet (and Bluetooth, of course).

Actually, the buttons->hub part worked: the button activity was visible in the Home app meaning that up to HomeKit everything worked. The smart plugs were working as well (directly, if invoked in the HomeKit app or through other HomeKit compatible apps). The same goes for the automations if invoked manually in the HomeKit app.

The automations just didn't complete in their entire cycle.

I simply restarted my Apple TV (I mean, completely – a reboot). For the record: I have a HomePod as well. Both, the HomePod and the Apple TV act as HomeKit hubs. If I understand correctly, HomeKit automatically chooses which one is the main hub in case of more hubs present. Or, better said, they work together in unison – well, at least so it should be .

 

[DJLC]

I have various automatons based on both geofences and time of day. Some set scenes, some control individual accessories, and some do both. Accessories span multiple types — Bluetooth, WiFi, wired in hubs. Bulbs, switches, outlets.

All of my automations are broken regardless of these variables. I can "test" them successfully. I can control accessories and scenes successfully both on-site and remotely. But not a single HomeKit automation is getting triggered.

 

[rjjacobson]

I have various automatons based on both geofences and time of day. Some set scenes, some control individual accessories, and some do both. Accessories span multiple types — Bluetooth, WiFi, wired in hubs. Bulbs, switches, outlets.

All of my automations are broken regardless of these variables. I can "test" them successfully. I can control accessories and scenes successfully both on-site and remotely. But not a single HomeKit automation is getting triggered.

Yeah my testing still works just the automations are broke here also

 

[rjjacobson]

The update broke some automations involving a button->hub->plug combination. In my case a restart of the Apple TV fixed the issue.

Just tested the turn on for one of the bulbs after i rebooted the Apple TV nothing changed with a new time for it to turn on. Did a couple times with new time. Nothing the new schedule does not work after the reboot on the Apple TV Hub. I can test the automation with that button so the automation is working just not the schedule in it for turn on. A very simple setup I have nothing but 4 lights and my smart door lock on it.

 

[Marco Klobas]

Sorry to hear you didn't solve it. I honestly don't know what else to suggest.

Given the amount of users complaining for the same issue and the tried fixes from other forums that unfortunately don't work, I guess it's up to Apple to fix it properly.

Hope an update or anything else will restore the automations soon.

 

[dotme]

Just tested the turn on for one of the bulbs after i rebooted the Apple TV nothing changed with a new time for it to turn on. Did a couple times with new time. Nothing the new schedule does not work after the reboot on the Apple TV Hub. I can test the automation with that button so the automation is working just not the schedule in it for turn on. A very simple setup I have nothing but 4 lights and my smart door lock on it.

Is the AppleTV your only HomeKit hub? If it is, and the Home app on your iOS app has no issues with testing automations, it's possible that the AppleTV doesn't have a clean download of the HomeKit data from iCloud. A reboot won't fix that. But this should:

On the Apple TV, sign out of iCloud. Once you've done that, now reboot the AppleTV (A soft restart via the System menu is good enough). Once the device is back up, sign back into iCloud. Allow 10 mins for the HomeKit config to re-download. See if your automations run after that.

Oh and if they are time or location based, the AppleTV needs Location Services to be on so it knows where it is.

 

[rjjacobson]

Is the AppleTV your only HomeKit hub? If it is, and the Home app on your iOS app has no issues with testing automations, it's possible that the AppleTV doesn't have a clean download of the HomeKit data from iCloud. A reboot won't fix that. But this should:

On the Apple TV, sign out of iCloud. Once you've done that, now reboot the AppleTV (A soft restart via the System menu is good enough). Once the device is back up, sign back into iCloud. Allow 10 mins for the HomeKit config to re-download. See if your automations run after that.

Oh and if they are time or location based, the AppleTV needs Location Services to be on so it knows where it is.

Well both it and my homepod are co-hubs although TV seems to dominate? And I was reading about the threading and matter standards and my 4th gen Apple TV is only hub supporting that. I have a regular original homepod which does not do threaded or Matter so it in effect is my only usable hub even though listed.

 

[rjjacobson]

Is the AppleTV your only HomeKit hub? If it is, and the Home app on your iOS app has no issues with testing automations, it's possible that the AppleTV doesn't have a clean download of the HomeKit data from iCloud. A reboot won't fix that. But this should:

On the Apple TV, sign out of iCloud. Once you've done that, now reboot the AppleTV (A soft restart via the System menu is good enough). Once the device is back up, sign back into iCloud. Allow 10 mins for the HomeKit config to re-download. See if your automations run after that.

Oh and if they are time or location based, the AppleTV needs Location Services to be on so it knows where it is.

Ok did all that, and the light would not turn on except with test automation button. But then I changed the turn off automation to a couple minutes past time I was changing it and it turned off automatically finally so it appears this fixed it.

I liked how after login my setup allowed manual or iphone to log back into iCloud so I held my iphone near (ipad would have worked also) and it set my iCloud login back up. At that point I did discover doing all that also took my Apple TV out of the home homekit. But it said to do same thing with iphone and then my Apple TV was shortly back in the home.

So I guess your idea of a non clean download of HomeKit data was correct. Not sure why the automation to turn light back on did not click it back on but at least the test of turn off automation now works so maybe just longer than 10 minutes to fully settle back in ;-)

 

[rjjacobson]

I have various automatons based on both geofences and time of day. Some set scenes, some control individual accessories, and some do both. Accessories span multiple types — Bluetooth, WiFi, wired in hubs. Bulbs, switches, outlets.

All of my automations are broken regardless of these variables. I can "test" them successfully. I can control accessories and scenes successfully both on-site and remotely. But not a single HomeKit automation is getting triggered.

Ok as you can read above I followed dotime’s suggestion to log out of iCloud on my Apple TV, then restart Apple TV and then log back into iCloud. I found that I also had to put the Apple TV back into the homekit home as a hub and at first my automation to turn light did nothing unless I did the test automation button but I had also set my turn off automation as well to a nearby in time test and it turned off at scheduled time for first time in days. So it appears things are fixed for me in this matter. So will be interesting to see if this holds. Doing well turn off schedule also now works for regular time — thats twice I think for my issues this fixes the problem.

 

[DJLC]

On the Apple TV, sign out of iCloud.

Doing well turn off schedule also now works for regular time — thats twice I think for my issues this fixes the problem.

Thank you both! I'll give the iCloud Hokey Pokey a shot and see if that does it. Makes sense it might... I've definitely checked and double checked my Location Services settings 1000 times, so I know that's not it. But it makes total sense the Apple TV that's grabbed the primary hub spot might've gotten itself confused.

 

[rjjacobson]

Thank you both! I'll give the iCloud Hokey Pokey a shot and see if that does it. Makes sense it might... I've definitely checked and double checked my Location Services settings 1000 times, so I know that's not it. But it makes total sense the Apple TV that's grabbed the primary hub spot might've gotten itself confused.

Let us know how it works. It was the iCloud for me, not just restarting the Apple TV. I seldom even use it any more mostly stream my videos on my iPad Pro which used to be my main hub before 16.x. But will leave it now as the hub for my house.

 

[DJLC]

Let us know how it works. It was the iCloud for me, not just restarting the Apple TV. I seldom even use it any more mostly stream my videos on my iPad Pro which used to be my main hub before 16.x. But will leave it now as the hub for my house.

Update: I never actually got around to doing the iCloud Hokey Pokey before tvOS 16.1 dropped. I decided to try updating first...

Updated both Apple TVs in the house + obviously they rebooted while doing that. And now all my automations are alive again!

 

[dotnet]

Version 16 broke some home automations, 16.1 fixed them.

 

[dysamoria]

I just started with HomeKit (before updating to iOS 15) with three Nanoleaf A19 bulbs as morning wakeup lights. I was irritated to discover there’s no gradual light increase automation, so I have been forced to create 15 automations with a 1% increase each. Stupid, but it worked. Also annoyingly, it turns the light on BEFORE setting the brightness, so it’ll use whatever it was last set to before setting my 1% brightness. That means it might be a sudden bright light, first thing in the morning!

Then I bought an Apple Watch and was forced to update my iPhone (and eventually my iPad, which is my home hub) to iOS 16. Everything was fine until I dared to edit the automations.

Now the only ones that work are the 5 new steps, not the original 10.

What’s the point in buying into Apple products and services when they clearly do not care to make anything work, let alone reliably??

Annual upgrades and new features, but no QA. Pressure to repurchase essentially the same product every year for “new features” but nothing actually IMPROVES. Things just get more unreliable.

House of cards.

Stack of jenga blocks.

Apple made a convert out of me around Snow Leopard on the Mac, and with the iPhone, but they’ve been performing a slow-motion-car-crash, burning everything to the ground, since 2013. There’s no love for the products anymore at Apple, just Wall Street pathology.

The Apple I loved died and was replaced by a zombie. Every time I try to use something new in their stuff, I’m reminded that the Apple I loved is gone and this Apple is merely “less bad” than the rest of the miserable tech industry.

 

[dysamoria]

Version 16 broke some home automations, 16.1 fixed them.

Didn’t fix anything for me.

 

[YatBob]

Me either never had automation issues until i changed some on times when DST switched, I changed on time for a few lamps to 1 hour earlier and since the the on times for those changed will not work while unchanged off times are still functioning

 

[RealPhone]

After iOS 16 (including 16.1) automation is completely unreliable. Apple Support does not acknowledge this issue.

 

[TonyC28]

I’m getting sick of deleting and re-adding automations. Every damn time my OG HomePods take over as the hub they mess everything up.

 

[dysamoria]

I don’t think the update itself fixed anything, but since updating my iPad Pro to 16.1.1, my automatons have been working again. It might’ve been the combo of opening Home on the iPad (I watched the old settings be replaced by newer settings as the app started up) and rebooting, and maybe the update forced an iCloud synch (which is consistently an issue with reminders and such on my iPad).

Apple need to stop pushing new features until they make existing ones reliable.