How to Add Home Items to the Control Center on iOS 14

If you have smart home accessories connected to the HomeKit, such as smart lights, plugs, locks or cameras, you should know how easy it can be to control them from your iPhone or iPad in one way or another.

Now, if you do not integrate everything under the home umbrella, you will have to use the application of each manufacturer to manage your device, which is a shame that Apple gives you the opportunity to combine everything under one site.

Moreover, with iOS 14 and iPadOS 14, Apple has made it much easier. You can add HomeKit to the Control Center, so you can see the complete selection of your favorite devices in one place, just by swiping with your finger and without using a dedicated app.

Install items in the Control Center

To add a HomeKit or Home element to the Control Center, you must first run the ‘Show home controls’ tab. To do this, follow the steps:

1. Open the settings for iOS 14 or iPadOS 14.
2. Tap on ‘Control Center’
3. Toggle the ‘Show startup controls’ switch.

How to use home appliances in the control center

To access the Control Center on an iPhone with Face ID or iPad, swipe down from the top right corner of the screen. To access the Control Center on an iPhone with a Touch ID, you’ll need to slide your finger from the bottom edge.

There you will find a few lines of frequently used startup items and a button labeled ‘Home Favorites’. You can view the status of those devices or touch the ‘Favorites’ button to see all the devices set in Home.

When you hold controls, you can access many options within each item, and see their status.

Changing Home Favorites

Access to your HomeKit devices from the Control Center requires them to be on your Favorites list. If the device you want is not available, you will need to go to ‘Home‘ program to fix it.

1. Open the ‘Start’ app.
2. Click ‘Rooms’ at the bottom of the screen.
3. Swipe left or right between rooms until you find the device you want to replace.
4. Press and hold the phone to reveal its detailed controls.
5. Tap the gear icon at the bottom right to access the settings for that device.
6. Check out the ‘Include favorites’ option.

You will need to add devices to your favorites in order to access them from the Control Center. You can narrow down your to-do list to remove those items you don’t want to have here if you use them hard.

You may be interested in knowing how to set up your digital home with the Apple Home and HomeKit app.