Using Siri + Apple HomeKit with Home Assistant

After I setup home assistant to control my shed roller doors my partner had the genius idea to use voice control to save time. We both have iPhones so Siri made the most sense in our case. Apple HomeKit integration is pretty damn easy in Home Assistant and I got it up and running in minutes. I’ll guide you through HomeKit setup with Home Assistant process here and by the end you’ll be getting Siri to control your home too!

HomeKit Setup Steps

Adding HomeKit Integration to Home Assistant

HomeKit is an included integration with Home Assistant and doesn’t need any addon to work.

  1. On your Home Assistant dashboard go Configure then Integrations
  2. In the bottom right click + ADD INTEGRATION 
  3. Search for HomeKit and click on it
  4. Under ‘Domains to include’ tick the ones you want HomeKit and Siri to be able to control and untick others then click Submit twice
  5. Select the area and click Finish

At the bottom of the configeration.yalm file add the following line to enable homekit.

homekit:

Pairing with your Phone/iPad and using Siri

In the Home Assistant web gui you will see a notification named ‘HomeKit Pairing‘ with a QR Code. We will be using this in a minute to pair with your iOS device.

  1. On your iPhone/iPad install the Home app
  2. Open the Home app and click Continue through it’s screens until you’re on the My Home page
  3. tap Add Accessory and scan the QR Code in home assistant notifications
  4. Add to Home and Add Anyway when prompted about it being an Uncertified Accessory
  5. Pick a location that suits your application then name your bridge
  6. Now the bridge is added to your home and you can go through devices it’s found which can be setup in individual locations

As you can see it thinks my two shed doors are blinds, this is because I used the cover type in Home Assistant, not a big deal! With this naming scheme I can say “hey siri open the shed door” for my main roller door. However if I want the door I don’t use often to open I say “hey siri open the other shed door”. This is easy for me to remember!

If you want to automate garage roller doors it’s super simple with an ESP32 WiFi Board (If you’re in Australia, buy from me direct) and 5v Relay Boards.

Now so long as Siri is setup to work on your iOS device already you can start controlling devices by their names. It’s very convenient to walk in somewhere and ask your phone to turn on lights or open a locked door. Let me know below how you went in the comments!

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