HomeKit HomeKit Resetting Itself

[Calumma]

I have a weird problem with HomeKit that has been going on for some weeks now. Every week or so my Home app seems to ‘reset’ itself. Some devices are removed from automations/scenes (typically the same Aqara devices), some automation names are reset and some automation conditions are lost. I use Controller app so can rebuild my setup, but it’s frustrating to have to do so. When the issue occurs some device tiles in Home app also reset their positions in Home View and when launched Home app gives introductory message about new features, as though it was launched for the first time after an update.

Otherwise everything operates without problem. I rarely have a problem with unresponsive devices (other than usual power loss, battery replacement etc), automations run when they are supposed to and both myself and my wife can control all devices from our phones and iPads.

I suspect the issue is somehow related to iCloud syncing but I can’t identify what causes the reset to occur. All devices (including all hubs) are running the latest operating systems and we upgraded to the new architecture when it was first released without problem. The problem occurred with 16 as well as currently with 17. AppleTV 4K (latest model with thread) is wired and usually acts as hub. I also have an older AppleTV 4K, two OG HomePods and six HomePod minis.

The next time the reset occurs I may try rebuilding one of the problematic automations from scratch (deleting the original, rather than repairing it with Controller). I wonder if the automations have somehow become corrupted (in a way that cannot be seen with a user facing app). Although I don’t see why this would cause the other issues with Home app.

 

[Itinj24]

If this is a recurring issue, I’d just rewrite the automations and see if that fixes it. Probably ended up saving time in the long run. I had a few that were giving issues and for the most part, rewriting them fixed the issues.

 

[dotme]

Every week or so my Home app seems to ‘reset’ itself. Some devices are removed from automations/scenes (typically the same Aqara devices), some automation names are reset and some automation conditions are lost.

Almost every time I've seen people experience this, the cause turned out to be another iOS device, rarely used and/or quite old, that has an older HomeKit config stored on it and pushes that up to iCloud, overwriting a newer one. The result is a "rollback" on all devices.

So in addition to Itinj24's suggestion above, I would first make sure you don't have any old and dusty iPads running iOS 12 (for example) that could be sending old Home data up to iCloud whenever first powered on.

 

[Calumma]

No other older iOS devices running when the reset occurs (and no other users connected). I’ll try rebuilding a couple of automations next time to see how it goes, but the reset affects quite a few so I won’t do more until I’m sure it will work.

I have wondered if it’s due to a faulty HomePod that is somehow storing an older copy of my HomeKit setup. But all HomePods are up to date and the reset occurs when my AppleTV is the hub.

 

[Calumma]

So it's just gone again. I was working on my MacBook Pro (with latest Sonoma installed), opened Home app and poof! Checked no other older iDevices running and also checked that my wife hadn't been using Home app on her device. I used Home app on my iPad earlier this morning without problem.

When it goes, the setting for Hey Siri/Siri in Home app also resets itself back to the default. I'm even more convinced now it's not simply a corrupted automation, but either an iCloud syncing bug or problematic HomePod. It may just be bad luck that some recently modified automations get reset at the same time.

I'll try turning off all HomePods, restoring my automations in Controller and then turning each HomePod back on to see if I can isolate which one (if any) may be causing the issue.

 

[dotme]

Sounds really frustrating. Normally (not always) hubs are read-config more that write-config devices. I would probably make my next step to disable "Add and Edit" permissions for anybody other than me in the Home. Then reboot all my devices, and open the Home app on each of them one at a time. See if any rollback occurred after that and go from there.

 

[Calumma]

Sounds really frustrating. Normally (not always) hubs are read-config more that write-config devices. I would probably make my next step to disable "Add and Edit" permissions for anybody other than me in the Home. Then reboot all my devices, and open the Home app on each of them one at a time. See if any rollback occurred after that and go from there.

Thanks, yes will try that approach.

 

[Calumma]

ok, everything shut down fully and left for 10 minutes or so. I've rebooted one device at a time and nothing appears to trigger a reset. Let's see how long it holds!

 

[Calumma]

Soooo, that didn’t hold very long at all. All fine this morning. Went out for the day. Came home, opened Home app on iPad and rollback time… Sigh…

 

[Calumma]

Quick update. I started to log the resets and found they were occurring every 48 hours. An old post on Reddit suggested a fix for a similar issue that simply involved opening the Home app on all connected devices at the same time. I have several devices connected that include my wife’s 2017 iMac. I‘ve opened Home app on all devices and removed a small number of automations. The automations included actions that had been converted to shortcuts and I suspect they had become corrupted.

It’s now been over 60 hours since the last reset and things appear to be still working ok. I haven’t yet toggled on the switch in Home app settings that changes Hey Siri to Siri. Will leave it a week or so before trying.

 

[Calumma]

It’s been a week and no resets! I think the issue was with the iMac. Opening Home app on the iMac is what fixed things I believe. This is my wife’s mac that she never uses Home app on. Mac is running latest version of Ventura. My own MacBook Pro and M1 mini are on Somona. But note my problems with HomeKit resetting occurred before Somona was released. When I opened Home app on the iMac, the device tiles took a while to update. Presumably the iMac had been pushing its configuration to iCloud and overwriting what was there. When Home app was opened, the iMacs HomeKit configuration was properly synced with iCloud.

A frustrating problem to resolve. The advice I saw in Reddit to open Home app on all devices was related to another issue related to problems adding a device to HomeKit.