How to Manage HomeKit accessories

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 be done using the macOS version of the app.

Tweak controls

Some accessories offer more than two states. Many smart lights, for example, enable you to adjust their brightness level by dragging a slider. To see what’s available, Ctrl–click an accessory’s tile and pick Show Controls.

Room by room

If your accessories are in more than one room, go to one’s settings, click Room and 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.

Sign in

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

Go deeper

Many HomeKit accessories offer advanced controls — look for buttons at the bottom of their basic control panel. Here, our light lets us tweak color and temperature. Click the arrow (top left) or an empty area to return.

Set a scene

Click the + (top right) and pick Add Scene. This 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.

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, you’ll see your accessories; click one of the tiles to toggle its on or off state.

Deeper still

With an accessory’s controls open, click Settings (top right). Or, Ctrl–click it in the Home/Rooms tab and choose Settings. Here add the accessory to your favorites or group it with others to control them as one.

Get notifications

Go to Edit > Edit Home. You can set a wallpaper for the Home tab here too. Under Notifications, set which accessories send notifications to your devices, and under what circumstances — when nobody’s home, for example.