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The electricity powering your home comes from different sources, which can include renewable energy, like solar and wind, or fossil fuels, like coal and natural gas. And those sources can change throughout the day.

In the Home app on your iPhone, you can see a forecast for your area that highlights cleaner times, which can help reduce carbon emissions, and less clean times, to help you choose when to use electricity. You can even receive Grid Forecast notifications. To see it, you need an internet connection and Location Services on for the Home app.

To view the Grid Forecast, you must be connected to the internet, and Location Services must be turned on for the Home app.

Note: Grid Forecast is available only in the contiguous United States; it’s not available in Alaska or Hawaii.

Show Grid Forecast

1. Open the Home app on your iPhone.
2. Tap Home.
3. Tap the Energy category at the top of the screen to show the Grid Forecast widget.

The widget’s green bars show when cleaner energy is available in your area, such as from 4 p.m. until 10 p.m. No bars? Then cleaner energy isn’t forecast for the near future.

When you’re traveling, Grid Forecast shows energy information for your home location and for wherever your iPhone is.

Note: The Grid Forecast widget appears when you open the Home app if you haven’t added accessories to your home yet.

Receive Grid Forecast notifications

To receive notifications when the electricity powering your home is being generated by cleaner or more renewable sources of energy, tap the Notifications button in the Grid Forecast widget in the Home app, then tap Notify Me.

Turn off Grid Forecast

1. Open the Home app on your iPhone.
2. On the Home tab, tap the More button and then tap Home Settings.
3. Tap Energy, then turn off Show Grid Forecast.

You can use the Home app to securely add, control, and automate HomeKit and Matter-enabled accessories, such as lights, locks, and thermostats. When you set up security cameras that support HomeKit Secure Video, you can capture video, and receive a notification when a camera recognizes someone or when a package is left at the door.

There’s more. You can open a compatible lock with a home key, group multiple speakers to play the same audio, and send and receive Intercom messages on supported devices. You can also create automations that run at certain times, or when you activate a particular accessory, like unlocking the front door.

And with a home hub, an Apple TV 4K or HomePod speakers, you and others you invite can securely control your home while you’re away.

Note: You’ll need a home hub, for example a HomePod speaker or Apple TV 4K, for Matter-enabled accessories. Thread-based accessories go a step further and require a Thread-enabled home hub, like Apple TV 4K, HomePod (2nd generation), or HomePod mini, or else a compatible third-party Thread border router. Thread-enabled iPhone devices can also pair and manage Thread accessories locally, though that may require an update from the accessory manufacturer.

Home overview

The Home app lets you easily navigate and control your accessories. In the Home app, tap the Home tab to show the following sections:

• Categories: Tap a category such as Climate, Lights, Security, Speakers & TVs, or Water to show all related accessories on one screen, organized by room.
• Cameras: Video from up to four cameras can appear below Cameras. Swipe left to see more cameras.
• Scenes: Create scenes to control multiple accessories with a tap or Siri request—tap a scene to close the blinds and turn on the lights in the evening, for example.
• Favorites: Add to Favorites the accessories you use most often to quickly control them from the Home tab.
• Rooms: Accessories are organized by room, helping you find just the accessory you need.

Edit the Home tab

Organize the Home tab in whatever ways suit you best.

Tap the More button, then do any of the following.

• Rearrange items: Select Edit Home View, then drag tiles to a different position. Tap Done when you’re finished.
• Reorder sections: To change the way sections such as Favorites or Scenes are ordered on the Home tab, choose Reorder Sections, then drag the Reorder button next to a section to a new position. Tap Done when you’re finished.
• Resize icons: Select Edit Home View, tap a tile, tap the Resize button, then tap Done.

To learn more about how to create and accessorize a smart home with your Apple devices, tap Discover .

Using the Home app and your compatible Matter thermostat, you can turn on automatic adjustments for comfort and cleaner energy guidance.

Adaptive Temperature uses settings and temperature ranges for your At Home, Night, Away, and Extended Away states, and with compatible occupancy sensors, it can adjust the temperature based on room occupancy. It can even predict arrivals. With Clean Energy Guidance, Home makes small thermostat adjustments to help reduce electricity usage while energy sources are less clean.

Adaptive Temperature

1. Start the Home app on your iPhone.
2. Tap Home, tap your thermostat, tap the Settings button, and tap Adaptive Temperature.
3. Turn on Adaptive Temperature. Choose your settings and temperature range for your At Home, Night, Away, and Extended Away states.
4. Turn on any of the following:
   • Switch Thermostat Modes: When enabled, your thermostat will switch between Heat, Cool, Auto, and Off based on your temperature preferences. When disabled, your thermostat will stay in its current mode.
   • Occupancy Detection: With compatible occupancy sensors, Adaptive Temperature can adjust the temperature based on room occupancy.
   • Predict Arrival: Use daily routines, Apple Maps, Calendar, and more to predict arrivals and automatically precondition to your chosen At Home temperature range.
   • Activity History: Adaptive Temperature changes are logged to Activity History.

Turn off Adaptive Temperature

1. Start the Home app on your iPhone.
2. Tap Home, tap your thermostat, tap the Settings button, and tap Adaptive Temperature.
3. Turn off Adaptive Temperature.

Clean Energy Guidance

While energy sources are less clean, Home can adjust the thermostat by small amounts to help cut electricity usage.

1. Start the Home app on your iPhone.
2. Tap Home and tap your thermostat. Then tap the Settings button.
3. Turn on Optimize for Clean Energy.

Turn off Clean Energy Guidance

1. Start the Home app on your iPhone.
2. Tap Home and tap your thermostat. Then tap the Settings button.
3. Turn off Optimize for Clean Energy.

In the Home app on your iPhone, you can add more than one physical space—a home and a small office, for example. When you add a new home, you name the home and choose its wallpaper. You can switch to another home, too.

1. Start the Home app on your iPhone.
2. Tap the Add button and then tap Add New Home.
3. Name the home, choose its wallpaper, then tap Save.
4. To switch to another home, tap the More button and tap the home you want.

In the Home app, you can control your accessories even when you’re away from home. To do so, you need a home hub, a device such as Apple TV 4K or HomePod. In fact, if you’re signed in to the same Apple Account on it, it’s set up automatically as a home hub.

Go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud, tap See All, then turn on Home.

You must be signed in to the same Apple Account on your home hub device and your iPhone.

If you have an Apple TV 4K or HomePod, and you’re signed in to the same Apple Account as your iPhone, it’s set up automatically as a home hub.

With a HomeKit Secure Video camera or doorbell, you can use the Home app to receive notifications when people you’ve tagged in the Photos app are within the camera’s view.

It works from your photo library, and from pictures of recent visitors your camera or doorbell captures, so you can identify recent visitors, too. You can also share faces with your household.

Here’s how to use Face Recognition in Home on iPhone.

Set up Face Recognition

To identify people, Face Recognition uses the faces that appear in your photo library or in pictures of recent visitors your camera or doorbell captured.

If you’re setting up a camera or doorbell for the first time, do the following:

1. Start the Home app on your iPhone.
2. Add the accessory to the Home app.
3. In the Recognize Familiar Faces card, turn on Face Recognition. Then tap Continue.
4. Choose who can access your photo library:
   • Never: Only faces you’ve added from clips in the Home app are recognized.
   • Only Me: Only the notifications you receive have the names of people in your photo library.
   • Everyone in this Home: The notifications for everyone in your home have the names of people in your photo library.
5. Tap Continue. Then finish setting up the camera or doorbell.

If you have an existing doorbell or camera and want to use it to identify visitors, tap it on the Home tab, tap the Settings button, tap Face Recognition, then turn on Face Recognition. Tap your photo library, then choose who can access it.

Note: These notifications can appear on any device associated with your Apple Account.

Identify recent visitors

For people who aren’t in your photo library, Face Recognition can use a picture captured by your camera or doorbell to help identify them.

1. Start the Home app on your iPhone.
2. Turn on Face Recognition.
3. On the Home tab, tap the camera or doorbell. Tap the Settings button.
4. Tap Face Recognition and tap an unidentified person listed below Recent. Then tap Add Name.
5. Add the person’s name or their relationship to you—Mom or Mail Carrier, for example.
6. Choose whether to be notified when they’re seen by your camera or doorbell.

Note: People with a face mask don’t appear in this list.

Share faces with your household

Members of your household can see the names of visitors identified in your photo library if you allow it.

1. Start the Home app on your iPhone.
2. Turn on Face Recognition.
3. Tap the More button, then tap Home Settings.
4. Tap Cameras & Doorbells below Notifications and tap Face Recognition.
5. Tap your photo library and tap Everyone in this Home.

The first time you use the Home app, the setup assistant helps you create a home, where you can add accessories and define rooms. If you’ve already created a home while setting up a different accessory, you won’t need to create one again.

Before you add an accessory, like a light or camera, make sure it’s connected to power and turned on. You can also show accessories in a room and change an accessory’s room assignment.

Add an accessory to Home

Before you add an accessory such as a light or camera, check that it’s connected to a power source, turned on, and connected to a network.

1. Open the Home app on your iPhone.
2. Tap Home, then tap Add Accessory.

You can also tap the Add button, then choose Add Accessory.

3. If you’re pairing a Matter accessory that was previously paired to another app, tap More options and then select your accessory.

   Open the accessory’s app, then generate a pairing code, which will be used to complete pairing with the Home app.

4. Follow the onscreen instructions.

Note: For Thread-based accessories, you need a Thread-enabled home hub like Apple TV 4K, HomePod (2nd generation), or HomePod mini, or else a compatible third-party Thread border router. Any Thread-enabled iPhone devices can pair and manage Thread accessories locally too, but that may require an update from the accessory manufacturer.

You might need to scan a QR code, or enter a code: an 8-digit Apple Home setup code, which you’ll find on the accessory itself or on its box or documentation, or an 11 or 21-digit code for Matter-enabled accessories. A QR code to scan appears on an Apple Home-supported smart TV. Once you assign the accessory to a room and give it a name, you can use that name when controlling the accessory with Siri. During setup, you can add suggested automations, too.

When you set up Apple TV 4K in tvOS, you can assign it to a room, and the Home app on iPhone then shows it in that room automatically.

Paired Matter accessories are synced across devices and stored in the Settings app using iCloud Keychain, regardless of which app you used to set them up. You can easily add a previously paired accessory that’s stored in Keychain to another Matter ecosystem app. To manage these accessories, go to Settings > General, then tap Matter accessories.

Show accessories in a room

Along with individual rooms and the scenes assigned to them, you can show a room’s accessories organized by category.

In Room View, do one of the following.

• Tap > next to a room’s name.
• Tap the More button, then choose a room.

Change an accessory’s room assignment

1. Open the Home app on your iPhone.
2. Touch and hold an accessory tile and tap Accessory Settings.
3. Tap Room and choose a room.

Edit a room

Besides removing a room, you can change its name and wallpaper, and more. Remove the room, and the accessories assigned to it move to Default Room.

1. Open the Home app on your iPhone.
2. On the Home tab, tap > next to a room, or tap the More button and choose a room.
3. Tap the More button and tap Room Settings.

Organize rooms into zones

Grouping rooms into a zone makes it easy to control different areas of your home with Siri. In a two-story home, for example, you could assign the rooms on the first floor to a downstairs zone.

1. Open the Home app on your iPhone.
2. Tap > next to a room on the Home tab or tap the More button and choose a room.
3. Tap the More button and tap Room Settings.
4. Tap Zone and then tap an existing zone, or tap Create New to add the room to a new zone.

In the Home app, you can run automations based on the time of day, your location, the activation of a sensor, or the action of an accessory. You can use preconfigured automations included with the Home app, or create automations of your own.

An automation can run when people arrive at or leave a location, or at a time of day, like sunrise or sunset. You can also manage and edit automations, and add a Siri shortcut.

Thread-based accessories require a Thread-enabled home hub such as Apple TV 4K, HomePod (2nd generation), HomePod mini, or a compatible third-party Thread border router for you to run automations, receive notifications, and control accessories while away.

Use a preconfigured automation

1. Start the Home app on your iPhone.
2. On the Home tab, touch and hold an accessory and then tap Accessory Settings.
3. Turn on an automation.

To disable an automation, return to the accessory’s setting screen, then turn it off.

Create an automation

1. Start the Home app on your iPhone.
2. On the Home tab, tap the Add button.
3. Tap Add Automation and choose one of the following automation triggers:
   • When arriving at or leaving a location: Tap People Arrive or People Leave. Choose when the automation is activated by people arriving or leaving, the location, and the time the automation works.
   • At a time of day: Tap A Time of Day Occurs. Choose when you want this automation to run.

     If you choose Sunset or Sunrise, times vary as the season changes.

     You can also set an automation to only occur after sunset, which is useful for turning on lights just when they’re needed.

   • When an accessory changes: Tap An Accessory is Controlled, select an accessory and tap Next. Follow the onscreen instructions.

     You might use this, for example, to run a scene when you unlock the front door.

   • A sensor detects something: If you’ve added a sensor to Home, tap A Sensor Detects Something, select an accessory, tap Next, and follow the onscreen instructions.

     You might use this, for example, to turn on lights in a stairway when motion is detected nearby.

Manage and edit automations

1. Start the Home app on your iPhone.
2. Tap Automation.
3. Tap an automation and then do any of the following:
   • Enable or disable the automation
   • Choose when the automation happens
   • Add or remove accessories
   • Test the automation
   • Delete the automation

Add a Siri shortcut

Adding a Siri Shortcut to your automation makes it even more efficient.

1. When choosing accessories to control with an automation, swipe up and tap Convert To Shortcut.
2. Tap Next, name the automation (optional), then tap Done.

In the Home app, you can create scenes that allow you to control multiple accessories at once. For example, you might define a “Reading” scene that adjusts the lights, plays soft music on HomePod, closes the drapes, and adjusts the thermostat.

The first accessory you add decides which room the scene belongs to. So if you start with your bedroom lamp, the scene is assigned to your bedroom. Each accessory can then be set to the state you want when you run the scene.

Create a scene

1. Open the Home app on your iPhone.
2. On the Home tab, tap the Add button, then tap Add Scene.
3. Tap Custom and enter a name for the scene (such as “Dinner Party” or “Watching TV”). Then tap Add Accessories.
4. Select the accessories you want this scene to include and then tap Done.

The first accessory you select determines the room the scene is assigned to. If you first select your bedroom lamp, for example, the scene is assigned to your bedroom.

5. Set each accessory to the state you want it in when you run the scene.

For example, for a Reading scene, you could set the bedroom lights to 100 percent, choose a low volume for the HomePod, and set the thermostat to 68 degrees.

6. Test the scene and choose whether or not to show it on the Home tab (scenes appear on the Home tab by default) and tap Done.

Use scenes

Here’s how to use your scenes once they’re set up:

• Run a scene: Tap the scene on the Home tab.

  If you’ve decided not to show the scene on the Home tab, tap the More button, choose the room the scene is assigned to, then tap the scene.

• Edit a scene: Touch and hold a scene, then tap Edit Scene. You can change the scene’s name, test the scene, add or remove accessories, and more.

Use the Home app and Control Center to control accessories in your home.

The available controls depend on the type of accessory you have. With some lightbulbs, for example, you can change colors, and with your smart TV, you can choose an input source. You can also add Home scenes and accessories to Control Center, and see accessories in categories like Lights, Climate, and Security, organized by room.

Here’s how to control accessories with Home on iPhone.

Control accessories in the Home app

On the Home tab, tap an accessory’s icon on the left side of the tile—a light, for example—to quickly turn the accessory on or off.

Tap the accessory’s name on the right side of the tile to show the accessory’s control. The available controls depend on the type of accessory. For example, with some lightbulbs, there are controls for changing colors. With your smart TV, you can choose an input source.

Add accessories to Control Center

To get to your most used accessories quickly, you can add Home scenes and accessories to Control Center.

1. Open Control Center on your iPhone.
2. Tap the Add button and tap Add A Control at the bottom.
3. Tap the Home Scene or Accessory control.
4. Tap Choose Scene or Accessory. Select a home and device or scene you want to control.

View categories and home status

The Lights, Climate, Security, Speakers and TVs, and Water categories gather all the relevant accessories by room, so you can quickly get to them.

1. Open the Home app on your iPhone.
2. Tap Home.

Below your home’s name, buttons show the status of accessories belonging to a category—for example, a Lights category that shows “3 on.”

3. Tap one of the category buttons to show all accessories within that category, organized by room.
4. While viewing a category, tap the icon on the left side of an accessory tile to perform an action—turn a light or group of lights on or off, start playing music on a HomePod, or lock the front door.

View Activity History

If your home hub is using the latest software, everyone in your home other than guests can see the activity history for accessories like locks, garage doors, security systems, and adaptive temperature thermostats. You can learn when a door was unlocked, for example, and who unlocked it.

1. Open the Home app on your iPhone.
2. On the Home tab, tap the More button and then tap Home Settings.
3. Go to Activity and tap One Month to view up to 30 days of activity.
4. In the Home tab, tap the Security or Climate category. Then tap Home Activity to show the Activity History.

Turn Activity History on and off

Activity History can be turned on and off only by the home owner or by a shared home user who has permission to add and edit accessories. Turning it off permanently deletes all previous activity for the home.

1. Open the Home app on your iPhone.
2. On the Home tab, tap the More button, tap Home Settings, and tap Activity.
3. Choose One Month to turn Activity History on, or choose Off.

Turn on Adaptive Lighting

Some Apple Home-compatible lights can adjust their color temperature, from cool blue to warm yellow, and you can set supported lights to change it automatically as the day goes on. Wake up to warm colors, stay alert and focused with cooler ones at midday, and wind down at night by removing blue light.

For a light that supports Adaptive Lighting, follow these steps:

1. Open the Home app on your iPhone.
2. Tap the light’s tile to show the controls.

   You can also touch and hold the tile, and then choose Accessory Settings.

3. Tap the Adaptive Lighting button. Turn on Adaptive Lighting.

Note: You’ll need a home hub, such as Apple TV 4K or HomePod speakers, to use Adaptive Lighting.

Edit home accessories

To edit accessory settings, tap the right side of an accessory tile, tap the Settings button, then do any of the following:

• Rename an accessory: Tap to delete the old name, then type a new one.
• Change an accessory’s icon: Tap the icon next to the accessory’s name, then select a new icon. If you don’t get a choice of other icons, it means the icon can’t be changed for this accessory.

Group accessories

You can control multiple accessories with the tap of a button by grouping them.

1. Open the Home app on your iPhone.
2. Tap the right side of an accessory tile and tap the Settings button. Tap Group with Other Accessories.
3. Tap the accessory you want to group with this accessory—another light in the room, for example.
4. In the Group Name field, type a name for the group.
5. Tap Done.

To have the group show up in Favorites on the Home tab, turn on Include in Favorites.