How to Manage HomeKit accessories

1 Add accessories

Using your iOS device, open the Home app, go to the Home or Rooms tab, tap the + (top right) and add your new HomeKit-compatible accessories to your setup. This can’t currently be done using the macOS version of the app.

2 Sign in

If you have not already signed in to iCloud on macOS, head to System Preferences > iCloud and do so now using the same account as on your iOS device. At the bottom of the list, ensure that syncing for the Home app is turned on.

3 Open Home

If the Home app isn’t in the Dock, open it using Spotlight or from the Applications folder. When your Mac has synced your Home setup from iCloud, you’ll see your accessories; for one with on and off states, click its tile to toggle it.

4 Tweak controls

Some accessories offer more than two states. For example, many smart light bulbs offer analogue adjustment of brightness level by dragging a slider. To see what’s available, ≈- click an accessory’s tile and pick Show Controls.

5Go deeper

Many accessories offer advanced controls – look for buttons at the bottom of their basic control panel. In this example, our light allows us to tweak colour and temperature. Click the arrow (top left) or an empty area to return.

6 Deeper still

With an accessory’s controls open, click Settings (top right). Or, ≈- click it in the Home/Rooms tab and pick Settings. Here you can add the accessory to your favourites (to add it to the Home tab) or group with others to control them as one.

7 Room by room

If your HomeKit accessories are in more than one room, go to one’s settings, click Room, then assign a room from the list or click Create New. Use the house button (top left) to switch rooms, and Edit > Edit Rooms to set the wallpaper.

8 Set a scene

Click the + at the top right of the window and pick Add Scene. This feature allows you to define settings you want to apply to some or all accessories at once. Scenes are turned on with buttons at the top of each room they affect.

9 Get notified

Go to Edit > Edit Home. Like with rooms, you can set a wallpaper for the Home tab. Under Notifications, set which accessories send notifications to your devices, and under what circumstances – when nobody’s home, for example.