iOS 16.4 Beta Re-Adds HomeKit Architecture Upgrade

[rjjacobson]

So has anyone who's been affected by HomeKit issues since the pulled update seen any improvement? I'm still unable to invite any family members to my home. They don't get an email invitation, but in their Home app my invitation shows. However, when they try to accept it, it either spins forever, or just goes to show their own default empty home.

All are running 16.4, as are all my hubs. I updated to the new architecture first time round before it was pulled, and I've not been given any option to re-upgrade it since installing 16.4.

It's ironic, but personally I've found HomeKit to work much better since I installed the original architecture update - much quicker responses and virtually no failures. But none of that is much use if none of my family can use it.

Have not tried family. My wife uses and iPhone 8 and does not have latest iOS 16.4. She is not techy and I would never put her on a beta. But then we only have a usual apple ecosystem (see below ). And a few lights and a door lock so not much to control but this installed easy and things are more responsive as you mentioned that I noticed even on my simple system

 

[spazzcat]

Yes, and people should wait until HomeKit functions at least how well it did before this upgrade. I have to ask Siri several times just to turn off a light or change the thermostat. And she takes sometimes up to half a minute to process. I have 1gig cable and Eero 6e wifi6, so it's definitely HomeKit. And the issue only started after 16.2

There were a few non matter bugs with siri and home comands; all those seem to be fixed.

 

[steve123]

So has anyone who's been affected by HomeKit issues since the pulled update seen any improvement?

Yes. See my post here
Post in thread 'HomeKit Invitation Pending'
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/homekit-invitation-pending.2378807/post-31976426

And here
Post in thread 'HomeKit Invitation Pending'
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/homekit-invitation-pending.2378807/post-31971585

 

[Wastez]

So has anyone who's been affected by HomeKit issues since the pulled update seen any improvement? I'm still unable to invite any family members to my home. They don't get an email invitation, but in their Home app my invitation shows. However, when they try to accept it, it either spins forever, or just goes to show their own default empty home.

All are running 16.4, as are all my hubs. I updated to the new architecture first time round before it was pulled, and I've not been given any option to re-upgrade it since installing 16.4.

It's ironic, but personally I've found HomeKit to work much better since I installed the original architecture update - much quicker responses and virtually no failures. But none of that is much use if none of my family can use it.

I had exactly the same problem, my wife was showing up after the acception in my account with my appleid.
As i got out the problem here was a bug, there is a problem with multiple user ids.
The bad thing is the only way to get rid of it is to use the "Homekit reset" profile to reset the hole homekit and you have to configure everything new but then everything should work. (thats the solution of the apple suppor)


Does anybody know if i need the ios upgrade to 16.4 also on the phone?
Because i did update my homepod but the update doesn't appear.
If a update to 16.4 is needed will then work devices which are for example on version 16.3.1?
I want to try the update but before these are the things which i need to know before.

Would be really great to know.

Thanks.

 

[dwaite]

All are running 16.4, as are all my hubs. I updated to the new architecture first time round before it was pulled, and I've not been given any option to re-upgrade it since installing 16.4.

All family members are running 16.4 beta? wild.

It's ironic, but personally I've found HomeKit to work much better since I installed the original architecture update - much quicker responses and virtually no failures. But none of that is much use if none of my family can use it.

The old architecture had several modes, including reduced capability operation without any home hub at all. In this mode, you are inviting people to control the individual devices in your home directly.

You could also have multiple homes on your account, while homes themselves I believe did not have their own independent 'identity' in Apple's cloud. So I've suspected individual people get their own 'copy' of the home, and get provisioned to control each device.

A lot of speculation because I haven't gone diving into old HomeKit hardware developer documentation to extract architecture details.

Matter requires a hub (well, one or more 'admins' in Matter sense ). The new home architecture now also requires a hub.

So my suspicion is that it is a conflict between these two world views on upgrade - the new architecture has a 'true' view of the world in the sense of apple hubs acting as an admin, but third parties being invited not knowing if are being invited to the 'new' home hub architecture or setting up their own 'view' of a home under the old architecture.

Apple had a support document briefly before the update was pulled where they recommended going in on the devices of those you invited and making sure there were no empty homes (under the old architecture, presumably) blocking the invite. They also advised to reboot all home hub devices (Apple TV and HomePods) in the home.

Finally, they said if the invited person is part of a home with accessories, Apple Support would have to be contacted to fix the situation.

I believe that support article is now removed, as the option to upgrade was removed while the current betas are working toward a software fix.

 

[thelion7]

Very interested to know if people who already upgraded with 16.2 will be asked or required to upgrade again.

I upgraded in 16.2 beta and thank god, didn’t have any major problems. Only issue I can think of was my HomePod minis would sometimes say they can’t connect to the internet when given a command. Even though they were.

But I think that was a HomePod bug. Might have had the odd smart bulb not respond through Siri across all my Apple devices but very rarely.

And when the commands did work, it was faster to act.

I’m now on 16.4 beta and haven’t been prompted to upgrade.

So assuming if you took the leap in 16.2, you’re stuck on it.

So due to problems apple didn’t downgrade people’s HomeKit architecture but instead just removed the option to upgrade whilst they continue to iron out these issues.

Maybe I was one of the lucky ones as although it wasn’t perfect, based on my experience I wouldn’t have said it was bad enough to put the upgrades on hold but hey ho.

I hope this helps.

 

[dfwiddoc]

‎Bridge Control for Homebridge

‎Control your Homebridge instances at the tip of your fingers. Features: • Manage multiple homebridge instances • Monitor the bridge status • Restart the bridge or child-bridges • Install, delete or update plugins • Control your accessories • Update your configurations • Keep track of the debug...

apps.apple.com

Browsing to this thread was worth it just to find this Homebridge app you’re using. It works flawlessly for me! Fantastic to save the effort of having to login every time and to navigate the fussy HB UI. I’m surprised it has so few users. Thank you very much for the tip!

 

[_Spinn_]

Hopefully it works this time but I will be waiting to see before I do the upgrade.

 

[robbietop]

There were a few non matter bugs with siri and home comands; all those see to be fixed.

Still having issues

 

[NightFox]

All family members are running 16.4 beta? wild.

Sure - not something I'd normally do, but after 2 months of them not being able to use Home - desperate times call for desperate measures.

 

[macmac30]

Congrats. I have to ask Siri three times for the Time, much less turn off a light or change the temp
"Hey, Siri? Turn off the bed."
"I'm sorry, something went wrong. Please try again in a moment."
One second later....
"Hey, Siri? Turn off the bed."
"Done!"

Every time, without fail, she takes twice to do something. Started in 16.2

You are not alone, throw in a few "Who's speaking" and it becomes a nightmare to get Siri to do anything!

 

[robbietop]

You are not alone, throw in a few "Who's speaking" and it becomes a nightmare to get Siri to do anything!

"Who's speaking?"

 

[BugeyeSTI]

It's obvious that Apple pulled the update because more people were having problems with it than people who are not.. I'm worried that the people who were unfortunate enough to have upgraded and are having issues will have no option to ditch it and return to the version that actually worked or to have Apple actually fix the software. I've tried the "support" fix where you reset all Home settings and start fresh and it still displays the "no response from device" notifications.. These are all HomeKit compatible accessories that worked perfectly before the "new architecture" with a 2021 AppleTV 4K as the hub..

 

[valkraider]

DO NOT UPGRADE even when this releases.

It has been a nightmare ever since I did with 16.1, and nothing works.

I thought the architecture upgrade was made available with 16.2?

 

[robbietop]

I thought the architecture upgrade was made available with 16.2?

I've been having problems since last summer

 

[sbrhwkp3]

I got the upgrade through. I'm still having trouble inviting people to join my home though. Oh well.

 

[TzTerri]

I did the HomeKit update yesterday and everything seems fine and my Kwikset lock is no longer going offline. Plus everything seems a lot faster to run.