Still Running Old HomeKit Architecture? Apple is Planning Automatic Upgrades

[MacRumors]

Apple is officially ending support for the prior version of Apple Home this year, and the company has been encouraging users to update to the new HomeKit architecture by that time to avoid interruptions with accessories and automations.

So far, Apple has warned that support for the current version of Apple Home is ending soon and asked users to upgrade, but it appears some homes that have yet to transition to the updated architecture will be moved over automatically.

In the latest beta of iOS 18.6, there is code that says automatic upgrades are coming.

Support for your current version of Apple Home will end this fall. Some homes will be automatically updated at that time, but others need to be updated manually. You can update now to avoid interruptions with your accessories, automations, and critical alerts.

Prior versions of this message did not mention the possibility of an automatic upgrade, but it makes sense for Apple to ensure that HomeKit users who aren't checking the Home app settings won't experience an interruption in service when iOS 26 rolls out this fall. Apple does not clarify the criteria for the automatic upgrade, so it's not clear who will need to do the manual update.

Apple first introduced the updated HomeKit architecture in December 2022, but users ran into issues with missing devices, home sharing invitations that didn't work, and problems with HomeKit Secure Video, so Apple pulled the update. It then rolled out again in March 2023 alongside iOS 16.4, and it has been stable since then.

The new HomeKit architecture does not work on devices that are running older versions of iOS, iPadOS, and macOS, so this fall, some users will be unable to control their HomeKit setups on Apple products that aren't able to run at least iOS 16 or macOS Sonoma.

Apple's HomeKit upgrade adds support for guest access, robot vacuum cleaners, and Activity History. It also offers faster, more reliable performance for smart homes with a lot of HomeKit and Matter accessories installed.

If you haven't upgraded to the new architecture, it can be installed in the Home app by tapping on the More button, choosing Home Settings, and selecting Software Upgrade.

Article Link: Still Running Old HomeKit Architecture? Apple is Planning Automatic Upgrades

 

[turbineseaplane]

This whole situation is the antithesis of simple and easy to understand.

I have a variety of HomeKit stuff and I have no clue if I have old or new or whatnot.

I had hoped that buying Apple would have saved me from this complexity and confusion.

 

[Henrikr]

I invested £2,000 in Apple HomeKit-certified devices, including cameras and other smart home equipment, only to be met with constant issues. The cameras frequently disconnected, the apps regularly froze, and the overall HomeKit experience felt unstable and unreliable. The Home app itself was extremely buggy—more like a beta product than something ready for public release.

Eventually, I gave up, removed everything, and switched to the TP-Link Tapo ecosystem instead. It has worked flawlessly ever since. Frankly, Apple does not seem serious about home automation. HomeKit feels more like a marketing concept than a genuinely useful, user-focused product.

 

[turbineseaplane]

switched to the TP-Link Tapo ecosystem

Do they have a thermostat?
Maybe I should be doing this switch

🤔

 

[ChrisA]

This whole situation is the antithesis of simple and easy to understand.

I have a variety of HomeKit stuff and I have no clue if I have old or new or whatnot.

I had hoped that buying Apple would have saved me from this complexity and confusion.

Here is a story...


Someone build a new house. Grandma and grandpa move it, and all is fine. They like it. Then Apple pushes a software "upgrade" and the next day the kitchen light no longer work.

This is why I avoid putting Homekit in a client's home. This is why I stay with Lutron Caseta or in a streach, if needed Philips Hue. Both of these run off a dedicated "hub" that has no other fuctions and never fails

With building wiring, you want to install it and it "just works" for 30 or 50 years with no fuss. Apple is not there yet

 

[jz0309]

good 'ol light switches still work, so do standalone thermostats and whatever ...
Anything consumer-level that requires SW updates will not work for 20+ years ...

I get that pesky "update" icon on my iPhone/iPad, just, I do not have any home automation devices. When I tried just running the update to get rid of the "1", it requires me to turn on iCloud sync for home. No, not going to turn that on. I do not have any home automation devices ...

 

[swm]

http://appldnld.apple.com/iOSProfiles/HomeKitReset.mobileconfig

http://appldnld.apple.com/iOSProfiles/KeepLegacyHome.mobileconfig

these two were a great help for me. turns out that if you have a device running 18.5 with no home associated with it, it is auto upgrading its home architecture and it is impossible to join homes with legacy architecture. so these 2 mobileconfigs will help to downgrade it. but how long?

 

[adrianlondon]

I used to use Homeklit to contol my Hue lights (Philips Hue is the only automation I have) and all my scenes were defined there, pushed from the Hue app where I created them.

I would get errors "accessory not reachable" about a third of the time.

I gave up with it. Removed everything from Home, and now use Hue directly using its API. I have shortcuts which set lighting scenes.

I created one shortcut per scene so I could just say "Hey Siri, Evening" to set my Evening scene for example instead of having just one shortcut which then prompted for the scene name.

The API is good as I can now have shortcuts to turn lights on for a set amount of time. (1) turn light on (2) ask for time in seconds, minutes, whatever, (3) add inputted time to current time and use the API to schedule the light off at that time.

 

[dontwalkhand]

Is this new architecture why my HomePods are randomly falling off of iCloud requiring a whole reset to fix it?

 

[now i see it]

next up - "Apple just bricked my home"

 

[pavelbure]

Invitations have been hit or miss, mostly miss, for years.

 

[phrehdd]

It is a shame Apple invites us in to trust them then puts what seems like very little effort to be a stellar performer let alone one that just works. Pity. I really would prefer not going to Amazon or Google etc for all the right privacy reasons.

 

[azentropy]

HomeKit is such a mess and this will make it worse.

 

[Gimli]

I invested £2,000 in Apple HomeKit-certified devices, including cameras and other smart home equipment, only to be met with constant issues. The cameras frequently disconnected, the apps regularly froze, and the overall HomeKit experience felt unstable and unreliable. The Home app itself was extremely buggy—more like a beta product than something ready for public release.

Eventually, I gave up, removed everything, and switched to the TP-Link Tapo ecosystem instead. It has worked flawlessly ever since.

Frankly, Apple does not seem serious about home automation. HomeKit feels more like a marketing concept than a genuinely useful, user-focused product.

I had the same experience and have been really considering moving to a Google Home setup. With everything going on (or really the lack of) with Apple I am rapidly losing trust in them.

 

[jamie0610]

I have not upgraded my architecture as Apple refuse to launch an iMac with a big screen on Apple silicone. Still running my 2015 27 inch that won’t accept the update.

 

[kkclstuff]

ugh! *eye roll! more inadequate vague information from apple.

ok my homekit items are currently running on iOS 18.5 (theres an assumption that nothing would 'need upgrading'—but you know what they say when you assume!)

 

[Ledgem]

This whole situation is the antithesis of simple and easy to understand.

I have a variety of HomeKit stuff and I have no clue if I have old or new or whatnot.

I had hoped that buying Apple would have saved me from this complexity and confusion.

The updated architecture was made available about 2-3 years ago at this point, and it was optional about whether to update or not. If you open the Home app you'll likely see a message about updating, if you haven't already. This isn't terribly different from knowing whether you have an OS update available for the device you're reading this from.

I invested £2,000 in Apple HomeKit-certified devices, including cameras and other smart home equipment, only to be met with constant issues. The cameras frequently disconnected, the apps regularly froze, and the overall HomeKit experience felt unstable and unreliable. The Home app itself was extremely buggy—more like a beta product than something ready for public release.

Eventually, I gave up, removed everything, and switched to the TP-Link Tapo ecosystem instead. It has worked flawlessly ever since.

Frankly, Apple does not seem serious about home automation. HomeKit feels more like a marketing concept than a genuinely useful, user-focused product.

I think HomeKit could be better, but it is very useful. I have about 60-80 HomeKit devices in my home, a mixture of Thread-connected devices and Wifi-connected devices, now with a few Matter devices. I experienced stability issues when I used Synology for my network routers, and those issues went away just about entirely when I switched to UniFi for my networking equipment. (There's a device that still gives me issues, but it's an issue with the wifi chipset on the device, itself.)

There's a lot that can go wrong with the IoT segment. It's a shame that Apple ceded control over the networking space when they abandoned their Airport line of routers. If they had full control over the router side of things, I'd guess that HomeKit would be more stable, and for more people. There are a lot of variables in place right now, and those are things beyond Apple's control. It makes things more complicated for people who want things to "just work."

 

[James_C]

To those that have had problems with HomeKit, I have had a pretty reliable experience, Apart from a weak WiFi connection to an outdoor camera (Netatmo), that is a known problem with that device, I can’t remember the last time I had a problem. I have over 50 smart devices in my house, Hue Lights, HomePods in most rooms, smart heating (Tado), Switchbot curtain pullers for several years and all very reliable, 2000 Twinkly Lights on an tree outside the house. YMMV

 

[vantelimus]

HomeKit is definitely an area where the Apple experience is nothing short of awful. Device disconnects are all too common. Pairing can be a nightmare, requiring multiple attempts with failures for no apparent reason. The problems must be on Apple’s side because the devices work reliably with the iPhone apps provided by the manufacturer.

 

[vantelimus]

To those that have had problems with HomeKit, I have had a pretty reliable experience, Apart from a weak WiFi connection to an outdoor camera (Netatmo), that is a known problem with that device, I can’t remember the last time I had a problem. I have over 50 smart devices in my house, Hue Lights, HomePods in most rooms, smart heating (Tado), Switchbot curtain pullers for several years and all very reliable, 2000 Twinkly Lights on an tree outside the house. YMMV

Yes, my mileage has varied quite a bit.

I just paired 4 new lights about a week ago: two Nanoleaf bulbs and two LIFX can lights. They each took an average of 5 attempts before they were recognized. No, there wasn’t a weak WiFi connection. They were all paired within a few feet of both a WiFi router and the Apple TV HomeKit hub. Once installed, the Nanoleafs seem to work okay. The LIFX bulbs work about 80% of the time with Siri/HomeKit commands, but 100% of the time with the LIFX iPhone app. HomePods are reliable. Hunter-Douglas blinds had to wait for the new HomeKit architecture and then for HD to update their hub to work with the new architecture. Only two out of four fans work, though all are the same model and all were paired (again requiring multiple attempts) at the same time.

It is hard to believe Apple is taking HomeKit seriously.

 

[Eric_WVGG]

so how the hell am I supposed to keep running Homekit if I don't have an AppleTV or HomePod

 

[CharlesShaw]

My Apple walled garden is lit solely by Philips Hue bulbs. I've had Hue for over ten years? ($$ but every bulb and switch is still working) Trial and error taught me to only have Hue smart plugs (Zigbee and a hub beats bespoke wi-fi dances for setup/updates)

Everything is great using the Hue App (which has improved since I first got it a decade ago), but setting up scenes in HomeKit --so Siri can control them-- only works reliably during the test phase. Eventually my "soothing late night before bed" scene will include a random bright office color light when I ask Siri. After years of resetting and testing, I've learned to rely on the Hue app and to hate HomeKit.

P.S. With everything on the Hue Hub and scenes programmed on Hue switches, everything works without an internet connection.

 

[lkrupp]

I switched to the new architecture early on and have not looked back. It just works. Maybe device manufacturers should play more attention to keeping their gear compatible with HomeKit. I don’t use Matter and stick to devices that officially support HomeKit. I have no problems.

 

[adrianlondon]

so how the hell am I supposed to keep running Homekit if I don't have an AppleTV or HomePod

It'll still work (or not) as it did before. It brings no advantage to people such as us who have no home-hub capable kit (AppleTV or HomePod). All it will do is stop older devices (pre iOS 16 and MacOS Sonoma) from being able to control home devices.

My solution is to stop using Home and use the Philips Hue app and API. It seems, from this thread, others are doing the same. Of course, this is a hassle if you have stuff from more than one manufacturer. Maybe HA with a Raspberry Pi is the solution.

 

[DreadedFun]

The problems must be on Apple’s side because the devices work reliably with the iPhone apps provided by the manufacturer.

Or the hardware vendor made a bad HomeKit implementation in their device and hope the users would use their own app. Can’t see how you can conclude that it MUST be an Apple issue. Not saying that the HomeKit can’t be bad to work with as a vendor (Honestly, I have no idea).