HomeKit Having so much issues with HomeKit lately. HELP

[Martinpa]

Ive been having so many random issues with HomeKit lately. It got really problematic since I got my new iPhone, but I don’t know if it is related.

Accessories I never had issues with (or issues maybe only after a power outage) have started being non responsive at random. I’ll get to my bedroom and ask Siri to turn on the lights, and everything will light up, but a little bit later when I ask to turn them off, one of them will be unresponsive. The next day, it’s the other lights that’ll be unresponsive while that first one will work no problem. Same in other rooms where seemingly at random, some lights will be responsive at one time, and unresponsive the other. (For info, some of them are connected to smart plugs/power bars, some to smart wall switches and one of them is a smart bulb)

What’s also puzzling is that sometimes when an accessory is unresponsive in HomeKit, it is responsive through the manufacturer’s own app, but sometimes it also isn’t.

Even more recently, my two HomePods (that are always responsive and as of now have never had any issues connecting to the internet) will sporadically not provide climate info (temperature and humidity). Everything else works fine, but that. That also never happened before.

My internet connection has been stable and I haven’t had any power outage. Two of the lamps that are connected to a smart power bar in my bedroom have given me grief before, but when everything started to be weird, they were the only two accessories that were consistently working… until last night when they refused to turn off (and strangely, Siri wouldn’t even give me the usual “… are not responding” message that it gives for everything else), and are still unresponsive this morning.

What can I do to solve this? Please help!

 

[StumpyBloke]

First, I would suggest you check out which devices are causing problems using their own app. There could be an underlying issue outside of HomeKit itself perhaps.

Also, you may have said this and I may have missed it, but have you restarted everything including all networking equipment?

And finally, you need to give us a lot more information to go on as you’ve given us virtually nothing. What devices, what software versions?

 

[Radin.Y]

I have always had issues with my HomeApp, I CONSTANLY get notifications about a camera not working, or a hub/all hubs not responding. Would appreciate if you know anything about this

 

[kkclstuff]

Ive had similar issues about 5yrs ago. I wanted to build a homekit ecosystem without all the 'hubs' so I settled on Lifx bulbs (via wifi). Some bulbs would be unresponsive in different groups/rooms, at different times, and every update- 16.x onward a different set of bulbs (or bulb) would go rouge, or whenever I got a new device. I tried adding from the manufacturers app and from the HomeKit QR to no avail. they would be added but 'the bug' would just float around to different light(s).

I started my HomeKit with older devices through several software systems and updates. I found deleting the whole HomeKit setup and 'starting fresh' helped considerably. (*After getting newer devices, HomeKit stability has been pretty constant but I have nothing to prove that it was the new phone and Mac, just conjecture. Though I do believe the newer wifi and bluetooth protocols with a good router could only help.)

1. make sure you're devices are up-to-date; iOS/macOS
2. remove/delete ALL devices from home
3. delete home
4. restart device
5. re-add new home
6. re-add each accessory

*Note this may be overkill but it helped stabilize my setup.

 

[haralds]

Before you go through that drastic route, do what fixed my issues after upgrading the house to iSO/audioOS 18.2.
1. Reboot router and mesh-points.
2. Reboot HomeKit devices acting as bridge (ATV 4K in my case.)
3. Reboot client devices (iPhones, iPads, Macs.)
It fixed my issues of a whole house not being responsive.

 

[Martinpa]

Nothing worked, so I went the drastic route, nuked everything and started fresh. I’ve been working on it for over three hours and I’m just about to give up. Someone asked for more information, so here goes:

VOCOlinc WiFi Smart Power Strip
Model PM2
Firmware 3.124.2

​

Meross Smart WiFi Plug
Model MSS110
Firmware 4.2.14

2x Meross Smart WiFi Dimmer Switch
Model MSS560
Firmware 4.3.6

Meross Smart WiFi Single Pole Switch
Model MSS510
Firmware 4.3.2

Meross Smart WiFi Surge Protector
Model MSS425F
Firmware 4.2.3

2x Yeelight Smart Bulb 1S
Model YLDP13YL
Firmware 2.0.24

Wemo Smart Plug Mini
Used to work, but now I can’t even add it to the Home app. Can’t be bothered to find the model or firmware.

Sony TV
Model XBR-65X900H
Firmware 6.2210.248

Apple TV 4K
Model FP7P2LL/A
18.2

2x HomePod Mini
Model MY5G2C/A and MJ2E3C/A
18.2

The VOCOlinc used to be the one thing that gave me grief, and the Meross Smart WiFi Plug was always working, so that’s why I went all Meross with the switches and surge protector, but now it’s the total opposite. My two HonePod sensors used to not give me the temperature or humidity, but for now they are okay.

As I’m writing this, everything seems to be responding, but the Meross Smart WiFi Plug and the two Meross Smart WiFi Dimmer Switches will go from working fine to “Not Responding” or “Updating” for a very long time. While writing this, I checked again, and the Smart Plug was not responding, then just now it started working again.

I haven’t added anything to their respective third-party app, cause while I was rebuilding from scratch, I got the Meross stuff to appear in the Meross app, and everything stopped working right away, so I had to start all of it over.

If it keeps being unstable, I might go the direction of getting a Raspberry Pi with Homebridge and connect everything “outside” of HomeKit and use Homebridge as the hub that will then allow me to populate the Home App and to control everything with Siri… don’t know if the fault if on Apple or the other companies, but my experience with HomeKit has been pretty annoying.

 

[Itinj24]

You can probably toss the wemo mini plug in the trash. I have about 10 of these that I can’t get back into HomeKit no matter what I try. They used to be rock solid for me but I read somewhere on Reddit that Wemo pulled the plug on the them (pun intended 💯).

 

[Bl0ckHe1d]

If it keeps being unstable, I might go the direction of getting a Raspberry Pi with Homebridge and connect everything “outside” of HomeKit and use Homebridge as the hub that will then allow me to populate the Home App and to control everything with Siri… don’t know if the fault if on Apple or the other companies, but my experience with HomeKit has been pretty annoying.

I think you’re looking for Home Assistant, once you have all your IoT devices configured within HA you can use it as a bridge thus allowing you to pair HA with Apple home for Siri functions, automations, etc.

You will need to be prepared to spend a bit of time on HA to set everything up and as for the Meross devices on HA you may need a wee bit of tinkering about but will worth it.

Not had any “No Response” notifications since for any of my devices since adopting HA.

 

[kkclstuff]

I know a few of my N/R accessories were far from my hub (HPmini) or router (with walls and appliances in-between them, causing "possible" interference). a restart helped when the issue was persistent.

I might suggest looking at your 'hub' selection too—are you using the HPMini or the ATV?
think about which items are always "updating" or N/R, consider their location from the HUB and router. (For ex, is the power strip by other appliances or 'hidden behind' furniture far from hub or router?)

 

[osofast240sx]

I would change out the meross plugs, switches and dimmers for Leviton 2nd gen. They are rock solid and connect directly to HomePod.

 

[Martinpa]

So I was at a point where things were mostly working, except for the Smart dimmer I use the most and the Meross smart plug.

But then, my fiber optic cable got damaged and I lost internet for a few days. After they fixed it, now it’s the complete opposite. Most of all my stuff doesn’t work, except for that same Smart Dimmer, my two Yeelights, and that same Meross smart plug is hit or miss. I’m really over this, just after I restarted my whole setup, no less.

 

[kkclstuff]

yeah that sucks, but sounds like it could be a connectivity issue with devices and wifi signal strength. When they 'fixed it' did they change anything? —like the router or wifi extenders

Though I do believe the newer wifi and bluetooth protocols with a good router could only help.

Have you looked at your router and wifi signal? (Losing internet will only affect updates and 'away from home' shortcuts/automations.) After the long outage did you restart your hub?

 

[Martinpa]

yeah that sucks, but sounds like it could be a connectivity issue with devices and wifi signal strength. When they 'fixed it' did they change anything? —like the router or wifi extenders




Have you looked at your router and wifi signal? (Losing internet will only affect updates and 'away from home' shortcuts/automations.) After the long outage did you restart your hub?

Signal strength is high everywhere, and they didn’t change the router of extenders, everything stayed the same.

Do you mean restarting the Apple TV, or is there something else to do? I never tried using another device as the main hub, guess I could try that too

 

[Analog Kid]

Check how many simultaneous connections your WiFi router supports. I was surprised to find that while mine let me allocate 254 IP addresses, it didn’t support nearly that many connected devices.

 

[kkclstuff]

for testing, yes try 'another hub' (iPad/ATV/Homepod) if available.

never hurts when everything is SNAFU to restart your router & hub, devices too if applicable. (give everything a chance to reset before you start testing)

 

[poorcody]

My HomeKit used to be rock-solid, and then an update a couple of years ago made the "No Response" happening randomly on devices that had always been 100% reliable. After probably six months of experimenting, I ended-up ditching all the WiFi devices and using ones connected to a Leviton hub. Now they work 100% of the time.