HomeKit Homekit sharing

[UKenGB]

I have something of a problem with how to share a HomeKit setup. We have some HomeKit devices and also a few TVs, one of which I want to use as a hub (or all of them if that makes any sense). The problem is who gets to control what and how.

if I set up the devices under my Apple ID/iCloud account), then add my wife as a user, we can both control them - except the TVs which operate under their own Apple ID. I do NOT want them under either of our personal accounts as they are specifically household devices and it's not appropriate for them to be associated with an individual user. We have a shared iCloud account specifically for this and that is what the TVs use. But...

As far as I can see, I am then unable to add them to our HomeKit setup since they are using a different Apple ID from mine as used to set up HomeKit. So...

I thought I'd set up the 'Home' in that shared account (easy as it has a login on my Mac), but now I cannot add any devices as they REQUIRE an iOS device set to the same Apple ID/iCloud account and we have no iOS devices set up to use the shared account (well, not that can run iOS 8 and hence work with HomeKit).

So I seem to have reached an impasse. If I set up my Home under my own ID, I cannot add the TVs (to use as a hub), but if I set up Home under the shared ID, I cannot add ANY devices. I naively thought I could use the Mac as the overall administration device, but Apple have decided this must be restricted to iOS devices only, which seem daft to me.

Anyway, can anyone suggest how to get around this conundrum?

 

[Itinj24]

With the latest update, the Apple TV now supports multi users. It’s as easy as going to the control center of the Apple TV screen and selecting the user. You can put it under your Apple ID and add the users after so everyone gets their own custom Apple TV experience.

 

[cynics]

HomeKit smart homes need an administrator/owner. The admin/owner is represented by their iCloud account (this is supposed to be unique). Nearly full access can be granted to other people via their AppleID (same as iCloud). Or on a specific AppleTV someone can put in their AppleID and make a new user (that is easy switch between) and treat it like its there (imagine a computer with multi users).

However an AppleTV requires iCloud access to the account the smart home is built on to access it. iCloud is where the home data lives and via iCloud services is how home data is securely transported between devices using remote access. There isn't anything inappropriate about you having access to this function, you can turn off photos library and shared albums. Someone using the AppleTV wouldn't even know unless they went into settings (you can set restrictions if you wanted to block that).

Only iOS devices can build smart homes in the home app. The MacOS app is just a port of that app for access via iCloud services. Macs actually lack some of the hardware Apple uses for securely adding smart home accessories. There is actually several other reasons like bluetooth profiles/protocols, an iOS app being required by the manufacturer of the accessory for iOS for HomeKit to utilize and provide firmware updates. Etc

Apples AppleID/iCloud accounts are designed specifically to represent a single user. Other devices signed into that account are specifically treated as another device for that single user. While your life could be an open book with your wife a lot of functionality is lost when sharing an account plus slight privacy concerns. For example, Siri is specifically supposed to learn your voice and voice routines and offer useful suggestions. Calendar event suggestions. Remind me notification shared across devices. Keychain password manager. Separate photo libraries, shared contact list, etc etc.

The reason I mention that is because its only getting harder and harder to share accounts and there is little to no benefit anymore. Turning those above features off to help isolate devices from iCloud syncing is a questionable decision at best (pay for it and turn it off). Apple has gone out of their way to provide an equivalent family sharing experience (sharing apps, musics, audiobooks, etc etc) without it killing their user experience.

Your only real solution is to log your iCloud into the iCloud section of tvOS (make sure the ATV is up to date). Other users can log in for their own personal ATV media experience.