Setting up a smart home does not need to begin with a complicated plan. For many iPhone users, the easiest place to start is with one or two useful devices and Apple's Home app.
Apple Home provides a common place to control compatible lights, cameras, locks, sensors, thermostats and other devices. As more products are added, they can also work together through Scenes and Automations rather than operating as separate devices. If you are completely new to the platform, start with Understanding Apple Home for an introduction to how the ecosystem works.
If you are new to Apple Home, here are ten useful things you can do with it.
Start with something useful. Apple Home can grow as you find more things around the home worth connecting.
1. Control Compatible Devices From One App
The simplest benefit of Apple Home is having compatible products from different manufacturers available in the same Home app.
A household might have lights from one company, a thermostat from another and cameras from another. Instead of opening a different app for every product, compatible devices can be organized by room and controlled from Apple Home.
For households already using iPhones, this provides a familiar starting point without adding another smart-home platform to learn.
2. Turn Outdoor Lights On at Sunset
Outdoor lighting is a good first automation because the benefit is easy to understand.
Instead of setting a light to turn on at a fixed time, Apple Home can use sunset as the trigger. As sunset changes throughout the year, the automation changes with it.
The same idea can be used for indoor lamps, entry lighting and other compatible lights. Learn more about triggers and other possibilities in Apple Home Automations: Making Your Smart Home Work Together.
3. Use a Motion Sensor to Control a Light
Apple Home allows one compatible device to trigger another. A motion sensor, for example, can tell a light to turn on when movement is detected.
This also means the sensor and light do not necessarily need to be part of the same product.
A separate Apple Home-compatible motion sensor could be positioned where it can best detect activity and used to trigger a Channel Master Pro-Floodlight positioned where illumination is actually needed.
This is one of several ways Apple Home can be extended beyond the walls of the house. For more considerations around outdoor devices, see Apple Home Outdoors: What to Know About Lights, Cameras and More.
4. Control Several Devices With a Scene
Scenes allow several compatible devices to be set together.
A Good Night Scene might turn off selected lights and set other compatible devices for nighttime. A Backyard Evening Scene could turn on patio, landscape and floodlighting together.
Once a Scene is created, it can be selected from the Home app or activated with Siri. See Apple Home Scenes: How to Control Multiple Devices at Once for more examples.
Control several devices together
Save a preferred group of settings and recall them with one action.
Have the home respond
Use time, location, sensors and other events to trigger actions automatically.
5. Ask Siri to Control Your Home
Once compatible accessories are set up in Apple Home, Siri provides another way to control them.
Instead of opening the Home app, a homeowner can ask Siri to turn on a light, control a compatible accessory or activate a Scene.
Simple accessory names are helpful. Names such as Driveway Light, Backyard and Garage Door are easier for everyone in the household to remember.
6. Control Your Home From CarPlay
Apple Home can also extend into the vehicle through CarPlay.
This can be useful when arriving home. A driver might open a compatible garage door, control a compatible gate system or turn on outdoor lighting without reaching for an iPhone.
For examples of how this works, see Using Apple Home With CarPlay: Control Your Home From the Car.
7. Use an NFC Tag as a Physical Shortcut
NFC tags provide another way to interact with a connected home.
A small NFC tag can be placed near a doorway, bedside table, garage or other useful location. A compatible iPhone can recognize the tag and run a personal automation configured in the Shortcuts app.
A tag near a patio door, for example, could provide quick access to a Shortcut that activates an outdoor Scene. See Using NFC Tags With Apple Home: Simple Tap-to-Control Ideas for setup instructions and additional ideas.
8. Extend Apple Home Outdoors
The connected home does not need to stop at the front door.
Compatible outdoor cameras, lights, sensors, locks and other devices can be incorporated into Apple Home alongside indoor accessories.
Outdoor installations require a little more planning. Wi-Fi coverage, weather exposure and access to power become important considerations when deciding where a device can be installed reliably. These considerations are covered in more detail in Apple Home Outdoors: What to Know About Lights, Cameras and More.
For outdoor lighting in particular, homeowners can choose among hardwired, plug-in, solar, battery and low-voltage solutions depending on the property and where light is needed. See Outdoor Lighting for Apple Home: Finding the Right Approach for a closer look at those options.
9. Control Your Home While You Are Away
A home hub expands what Apple Home can do when nobody is at the property.
A compatible home hub provides remote access to the home and supports automations, allowing compatible accessories to continue responding even when the homeowner's iPhone is somewhere else.
This can make it possible to check compatible devices, control lighting or manage other supported accessories while away from home.
For anyone building a larger Apple Home system, understanding the role of the home hub is an important next step.
10. Make Products From Different Manufacturers Work Together
One of the more useful aspects of Apple Home is that every product does not need to come from the same manufacturer.
A motion sensor can trigger a light made by another company. A Scene can include several types of compatible devices. An Automation can respond to someone arriving home and change multiple accessories.
This allows homeowners to choose products based on what each product does well while still using a common interface to control them.
The important consideration is compatibility. Before purchasing a device, confirm that it supports Apple Home and provides the features needed for the intended use.
The value of a smart-home platform becomes more apparent when individual products can begin working together.
Start With One Useful Idea
There is no need to add every type of smart-home product at once.
A good starting point might be a light that turns on automatically at sunset, a garage door that can be controlled from CarPlay or a simple Scene that controls several devices together.
Once those basics are familiar, features such as sensors, Automations, Scenes, NFC shortcuts and remote access can be added where they provide a practical benefit.
Apple Home provides the common platform. The homeowner can decide how much of the home is worth connecting.