If you're worried about leaving your house empty during the holidays, all precautions are in short supply. Beyond the alarms or security cameras you have installed, it is always a good idea to configure the HomeKit system you have so that, from the outside, it looks like there is someone inside the house.
No big accessories or complex setup needed: The least you need is to install a HomeKit light in your Home app. The ideal, as I tell you in this little tutorial, is to also have an Apple TV and a few HomePods – to play random music and so that your house has a sound environment inside.
The idea with this small but very useful setup is to give the impression, with light and sound, that there is someone inside the house, in the most random way possible – without need an additional app, just with what you already have as standard on your iPhone.
How to configure HomeKit to make it look like someone is home
Let's get started create an automation based on a time of daywe will then select the accessories and their states. Finally, we will configure each device exactly how we want to use it.
- Open the Home app on your iPhone.
- Go to the section where you have configured your devices (in my case it is the “Living Room” room).
- Tap the “+” icon located in the upper right corner of the screen.
- Select the Add Automation option from the drop-down menu.
- Select “At a time of day”. My advice is to use “Sunset”, which changes from day to day (even if it's little). This is the most normal time we turn on the lights if we are at home. You can apply +15 minutes if daylight disappears later in your home. I advise you to choose alternate days, and in another automatism, to do the same thing as in this one (or with other lights or sounds) on days when the first is not selected – provided that the process is as less “automated” as possible.
- Select “When no one is home” so you don't have to think about turning it on or off: it will only work when everyone leaves the house.
- Select the devices you want to automate: In the Environments & Accessories menu, choose the device or environment you want to control. In this case, select the living room lamp. Make sure to mark it with the selection icon.
- Adjust light details: Adjust the light intensity by sliding the control up or down to the desired level (for example, 46% adaptive brightness).
- Here you can check the activation rules we mentioned earlier.
- Automatically turns off the light after a certain amount of time: To prevent lights from staying on indefinitely, set the option to turn off after X hours (On me I have almost the maximum set – 4 hours – you can choose your interval).
- Add a media device to automation: Select Apple TV 4K (or any other compatible multimedia device) in the accessories list. Make sure it is marked as selected.
- Set audio playback option: In the Media content section, select the Audio option and tap Play audio. This will allow the device to start playing when automation is enabled.
- Select the audio you want to play: Tap Select Audio… and choose a specific playlist, station, or song in Apple Music.
- Adjust the playback volume: You can choose between Use current volume or set a custom volume. If you prefer the latter, adjust the slider to the desired level.
- Test the automation: Press Test this automation to check that the light and music are correctly activated, and that the latter is not at too high a volume (although it can always be changed even if we are not at home).
How do you see a very simple automation that will give us some peace of mind while we are away from home on vacation, which we can deactivate at any time from our iPhone or modify according to our needs. It never hurts to make the most of the ecosystem precisely to make our lives a little more comfortable.
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