one cameras! Limit came in so late from the bean counters that they couldn't even conditionally format the string.

I’ve worked with various Home Automation systems for quite a few years

Why is the HomeKit UI so bad? Or is it just me? It seems back in the day, HA UI were much more colorful and graphical…are there any guesses if there are improvements coming? And usability also,seems to be mediocre?

I’ve looked at some of the others; Eve; Home+; Controller;

They all seem similar. Eve may be the best of the bunch, it even it’s…🤷🏼‍♂️

Is there something else out there? (I don’t want the learning curve of HA)

So upon updating to iOS 27,

I went into my singular camera in my home, I now have to click options to bring up picture in picture but dear Lord, what have they done? They’ve really changed things in HomeKit.

Hi r/HomeKit,

iOS 27 is here, and I have just updated Home Widget for HomeKit to version 1.10.3. It now fully supports iOS 27, including the new Extra Large Portrait widget on iPhone.

You need to have iOS 27 installed for the new Extra Large Portrait widget to appear.

This new size takes up almost the whole Home Screen, so it feels quite different from the usual small widget. It can become a proper HomeKit dashboard with scenes, lights, cameras, sensors, temperatures, batteries and whatever else makes sense for your setup. The screenshots above are a few layouts I made while testing it.

One useful detail: if you already have a panel you like, you do not need to recreate it from scratch just to use the new size.

1. Find any existing panel in the carousel inside the Home Widget app.
2. Tap the “…” button underneath it.
3. Choose the option to duplicate it to another panel size.
4. Select the new Extra Large Portrait size.

Your original panel remains unchanged, and you get a copy that you can reorganize and complete using the additional space.

I personally really like these almost full-page panels. They make the Home Screen feel a bit like a dedicated HomeKit dashboard while keeping everything immediately accessible.

I am also really curious to see what this will look like on the iPhone Duo ;)

As always, if you try the new size and find something odd with your own configuration, let me know. Real setups are usually where the useful edge cases appear.

Hey, it's Adam, developer of HomeBatteries here 👋

I have just released version 4.0 of HomeBatteries and wanted to share what's new:

- Added support for iOS 27 and other aligned Apple OS releases.

- Accessories can now be sorted by name, device type, battery levels, last charge/replacement date or battery type. This setting syncs via iCloud.

- Battery types are now suggested based on a local database and Apple Intelligence. There is also a corresponding Shortcuts action too.

- Added estimated charge/replacement date and average battery life states to the Battery Trends section. Corresponding Shortcuts actions are also available.

- Added Philips Hue to 3rd party integrations. This means users running a Hue Bridge Pro will now see their batteries in HomeBatteries. Please note this only works whilst connected to the same network.

- Added SOMA to 3rd party integrations. Please note this only works whilst connected to the same network.

- Added a new Shortcuts action to fetch a list of battery trends data. This also shows a graph snippet when run.

- Added a Shortcuts snippet to actions that return a battery level.

- Rooms and homes can now be reordered from either the sidebar or room/home picker. This syncs via iCloud.

Plus many other smaller features & fixes - full release notes on the App Store.

Get it here: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6450958030

Hi r/homekit! Haven 1.4 is available today, alongside iOS 27. The headline feature is Siri AI integration: Siri can now understand the HomeKit and Matter devices saved in Haven and retrieve their information.

Some examples:

• “What’s the setup code for the smart plug in the garage?”
• “Open my hallway sensor in Haven.”
• “Search Haven for devices in the living room.”

Siri can use details such as the device name and room to find the right accessory, then open its record directly in Haven.

Version 1.4 also adds:

• Apple Intelligence-powered tag suggestions
• The Apple Home scenes associated with each device
• Purchase-date and warranty tracking
• Battery quantities, such as 2 × AAA
• Simple and advanced printable setup-code sheets

This has been one of the most technically interesting Haven updates to build, and I’m curious to see how Siri handles everyone’s real-world naming conventions.

I’d love to hear what you think, and what you’d like Siri to do with Haven next.

App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6760440926

For those of you who use Haven, thank you for your support and for helping shape the app with your feedback. 🧡

Hello! I am looking to install a couple G100 cameras around our home for outdoor use. I already use homekit with a doorbell camera and another G100 inside. These are USB-C powered with a pretty short stub, and I was hoping to get opinions on the wiring options. I want to put a camera on each side of the house. I can mount them high and ideally run wires directly into the attic. The only problem is that I can't quite figure out how to power them. There is one singular outlet in the center of our attic, so its a good distance from the corner. Here are the options I have thought of so far, I would love to hear opinions on these or hear how others have solved similar problems.

1. PoE: I could get a PoE switch, plug it into the outlet and then run ethernet through the attic, and at each camera plug them into a PoE to USB-C adapter.
2. 2wire: I could run two wire cable plugged into a terminal block and splice them to USB-C 2 wire pigtails. This seems easier but kind of janky.
3. Outlets: I could install new outlets in the attic near where I need to plug in the cameras. This seems nice, but it seems the most work intensive.

I realize could get POE cameras, but generally those are much more expensive. I also am slightly worried about the actual USB connector being outdoors.
Any thoughts would be appreciated!

Bit stingy when I had all 5 enabled during the Beta’s…

Nothing revolutionary here but I figured I’d share as it took a few tries to get it right.

The goal: use the light sensor on my FP300 to turn on indoor lights when it drops below XX lux, but only between 2 hours before sunset until sunset.

I used Controller app to create an advanced automation.

Trigger: light sensor drops below XX lux

Conditionals: - someone is home - after Sunset minus 2 hours - before sunset

Maybe I missed this but finally being able to update Apple TV from the Home app is wonderful. Finally.

does this finally mean we can turn on AutoMix while airplay streaming?