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The original was posted on /r/homeassistant by /u/Kodufan on 2025-11-26 19:06:43+00:00.
Hello! I just wanted to write this post to document some unexpectedly awesome behavior from HomeAssistant when paired with Apple HomeKit.
Firstly, you’ll need some kind of device to serve as a HomeKit hub. Modern Apple TVs and HomePod / HomePod minis are already capable of doing this! Once you set up the HomeKit bridge, allocate the devices to pass through, connect it to your Home app, you’ll notice that you can now control your smart home with the native Home app and all the goodies that Siri and automations/shortcuts afford you.
But here’s where things get good… These connections occur over Apple’s iCloud, not just your local network. This means that any device you can access while home is also a device you can access remotely! This means you can keep your HomeAssistant server safe and locked down behind your firewalls but still get all the usefulness that your Home app affords. This isn’t just limited to any Matter devices connected to your HomeKit hub but rather any and all devices exposed over the bridge. Cool!
This is most beneficial for very simple setups. It has to be something you can meaningfully expose over the HomeKit bridge.
I find it super useful that I can toggle my lights from afar, especially with location based automations (turn off the lights when nobody is home). It also just feels so cool that I can be in a different country and, via the internet to an Apple TV to the HomeAssistant server to an ESPHome powered ESP32, turn off Bluetooth lights all without exposing my HomeAssistant server to the internet directly. Technology is cool!