How to select a preferred home hub in the Apple Home app
In this tutorial, we’ll walk you through the steps to set your desired Apple TV, HomePod, or HomePod mini as your preferred hub in the Home app on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac.
You need a home hub in your house if you want to control your HomeKit and Matter lights, switches, doors, and other accessories using Siri or any of your Apple devices. A home hub is also necessary to set up automations and let other people in your house, such as your spouse, control your smart accessories.
When you set up your Apple TV or HomePod, they automatically get added as home hubs in the Home app.
Note that back in the day, you could also use an iPad as a home hub, but that’s no longer possible.
About automatic home hub selection
If you have more than one home hub, the Home app automatically uses the one it thinks is most suitable to handle all your near and smart lights, doors, and accessories.
While letting the Home app select one of your hubs automatically is fine for most users, some people have had issues with this approach.
For instance, on some occasions, the Home app would randomly use a hub that’s in a corner of the house instead of one that’s centrally located. This may lead to slow responses and even automations failing to work. Other times, the Home app would prefer using a HomePod instead of the powerful Apple TV connected to Ethernet (more on this below).
Because of all these, pro users with several smart accessories, hubs, and automations always longed for a way to select the home hub of their choice. And the latest versions of Apple’s software for its family of devices finally make this a reality.
Why select a preferred home hub
You might want to turn off the automatic selection process and assign a home hub as the default if:
- You have an Apple TV or HomePod that’s in the center of your house and is in good wireless range for all your smart devices.
- You want to assign your Apple TV 4K with a faster processor and better processing power as the home hub instead of a HomePod mini or older Apple TV. This can make your smart home experience more responsive.
- You want your Apple TV hooked to Ethernet to work as the home hub instead of one with Wi-Fi. A wired hub may offer a better experience than a wireless connection.
- You have a HomePod or Apple TV that usually has a better wireless connection compared to your other hubs with finicky or weaker Wi-Fi.
Set an Apple TV or HomePod as your preferred home hub
- Open the Home app on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac.
- Tap the three dots options button from the top right and select Home Settings.
- Tap Home Hubs & Bridges.
- Turn off the switch for Automatic Selection, and you will see all your potential home hubs. Note: You may also see a popup asking you to turn on automatic updates for your preferred home hub. You can choose to turn it on or do that later.
- Finally, select one of the Apple TVs or HomePods under the Preferred Home Hub section.
If the names of your Apple TVs and HomePods are unclear and you can’t figure out which one to choose, you should first rename your Apple TV and HomePod. After that, force quit and reopen the Home app, and return to the Home Hubs & Bridges section to select a preferred hub.
If the hub of your choice is temporarily powered off, disconnected from the network, or unavailable for some other reason, the Home app will automatically select another available hub as the backup. This ensures you can continue to control your smart accessories remotely and your automations run smoothly.
Once your preffered hub is back online, it will start working again as your home hub.
What to do if you cannot set a preferred home hub
Some users have reported that they do not get the option to pick a preferred home hub in the Home app on their iPhone, iPad, or Mac. If you’re one of them, please follow all the fixes listed below.
Update everything
Make sure your iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, and HomePod are running the latest version of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, macOS Sequoia, tvOS 18, and HomePod Software Version 18.
If you have added other people to your Home, ensure their devices are updated as well.
Restart all devices
Turn off your phone, computer, and potential home hubs, and wait for a minute. After that, turn them back on and follow the above steps again.
Check your Apple Account
Make sure the same Apple ID is signed in on your iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, and HomePod.
Do not use the device of an invited user
You can add people who share your house to your Home app. However, when it comes to setting the preferred home hub, make sure you are using your own iPhone, iPad, or Mac and not one of an added family member.
Check out next:
- 24 tips and tricks every HomePod user should know
- How to set up and check the status of your HomeKit hubs
- How to see activity history for your HomeKit devices on iPhone, iPad, and Mac
Source link: https://www.idownloadblog.com/2024/09/27/how-to-select-preferred-home-hub-home-app/
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