Control accessories with Home on iPad

Use the Home app and Control Center to control accessories in your home.

Control accessories in the Home app

Tap Home or a room in the sidebar, then tap the button for the accessory—a light, for example—to quickly turn the accessory on or off, or touch and hold the button until controls appear.

The available controls depend on the type of accessory. For example, with some lightbulbs, there are controls for changing colors. With your smart TV, you can choose an input source.

Control accessories in Control Center

When you’re home with your iPad, you can see the relevant scenes and accessories for that moment in Control Center. For example, a coffee maker may appear in the morning and be replaced by your bedside lamp at night.

Open Control Center, then tap a button to turn an accessory on or off, or touch and hold the button until controls appear.

To quickly see all your favorite scenes and accessories (except cameras), tap .

If you don’t want accessories to appear in Control Center, go to Settings > Control Center, then turn off Show Home Controls.

Edit home accessories

To edit accessory settings, touch and hold the accessory’s button, swipe up or tap , then do any of the following:

Rename an accessory: Tap to delete the old name, then type a new one.
Change an accessory’s icon: Tap the icon next to the accessory’s name, then select a new icon. If you don’t get a choice of other icons, it means the icon can’t be changed for this accessory.

Group accessories

You can control multiple accessories with the tap of a button by grouping them.

Touch and hold an accessory, swipe up on the screen or tap , then tap Group with Other Accessories.
Tap the accessory you want to group with this accessory—another light in the room, for example.
In the Group Name field, type a name for the group.
Tap Done.
If you want the group to appear in the Home tab, turn on Include in Favorites.

View your home status

The Home app shows you issues that might need your attention—for example, your front door is unlocked, an accessory’s battery is running low, or a light is on during the day. You can often address the issue with just a tap.

Open the Home app , then tap Home in the sidebar.
Tap any of the round buttons that appear just below your home’s name.

Touch and hold a button that represents a group of accessories—three lights that are switched on in two rooms, for example—and you can separately control the accessories for each room. In this case, you can turn off the two lights in the living room but leave the kitchen light on. Tapping the button controls all the accessories in the group—turns all the lights on or off, for example.

Turn on Adaptive Lighting

Some lights let you adjust their color temperature, from cool blue to warm yellow. You can set supported lights to automatically adjust the color temperature throughout the day. Wake up to warm colors, stay alert and focused mid-day with cooler ones, and wind down at night by removing blue light.

Touch and hold a lighting accessory that supports Adaptive Lighting.
Tap .

Helpful?

iPad User Guide