HomeKit HomeKit automations unreliable...

[Nosoforos]

Hi everyone,

all the lights in my home are automated through homekit. I find that the automations I make in the Home app do not work reliably. At first they work, then all of a sudden an automation does nothing and sometimes after a while they start working again... I have reset my whole Home app once to see if this fixed the problem, but it still occurs.

the equipment I use is philips Hue and Fibaro switches for the most part. anyone else with similar problems/solutions?

 

[dotme]

Unreliable automations usually can be traced back to one of two causes. Network issues, or iCloud sync issues. On the network side of things, making sure the WiFi and Ethernet portions of your home network are flat (Same IP subnet) and not blocking/filtering packets between the two segments should eliminate any Homekit communication issues.

As for the iCloud sync, I've seen on occasion where the Homekit hub doesn't have the latest copy of the Homekit config, or if you have multiple devices as hubs, maybe one of them isn't synced up. In that case, automations may work with one hub as active, but not when the other is active. Not sure what you're using for hubs, but if Apple TVs are in the mix, sign out of iCloud on all of them, restart them, and then sign back in. That should force a sync. Hope this helps.

 

[Itinj24]

Hue has never been reliable for me with automations.

 

[throAU]

home kit for me needs more control over conditions. the automation is way, way too simple. needs to be able to be plugged into siri shortcuts.

 

[Itinj24]

home kit for me needs more control over conditions. the automation is way, way too simple. needs to be able to be plugged into siri shortcuts.

Isn’t it plugged into Siri Shortcuts though? When you create an automation and scroll all the way down, there’s an option to convert to a shortcut and you get the Shortcuts options...
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There’s also the free Eve app (among other paid for apps) that have more robust automation options too.

 

[Nosoforos]

I’m going to try and see if the suggested solutions will help. Thanks

 

[Debauch]

I’ve noticed that my automations have been less reliable since the last batch of OS updates. I rebooted my HomePod (hub) and that seems to have helped.

 

[Nosoforos]

I tried the suggestions above, go no avail. The problem currently seems to be with two of my fibaro switches, they simply don’t work anymore, including in the Fibaro app itself, so it doesn’t seem to be a specific HomeKit related problem this time.

 

[chris4565]

Also having issues sometimes with automations. I only have 1 automation at the moment (turn on my Eve Flare one hour before sunset when I'm at home) but sometimes it just doesn't turn on. I tried removing the "when I'm at home" condition but that also doesn't help. All in all, it works in maybe 90% of the cases.

 

[dotme]

Also having issues sometimes with automations. I only have 1 automation at the moment (turn on my Eve Flare one hour before sunset when I'm at home) but sometimes it just doesn't turn on. I tried removing the "when I'm at home" condition but that also doesn't help. All in all, it works in maybe 90% of the cases.

Until I sprayed my house with HomePods, my BTLE devices were very unreliable in Homekit. So bad I actually ditched Eve switches for Lutron. How close is the Flare to your hub?

 

[chris4565]

How close is the Flare to your hub?

It's very near (about 1 m).

Edit: My hub is an Apple TV 4K by the way.