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HELPSTATIONCONTROLYOURHOMEFROMYOURMAC[ MAC ]Control your home from your Mac
THE NEW HOME APP IN MACOS MOJAVE PUTS ALMOST EVERYTHING IN REACH.
[ ALEX COX ]EVERY SMART HOME has to provide a control method, and Apple’s
way of managing HomeKit–compatible devices is its Home app.
Through this, you can turn accessories on or off, monitor their output,
and tweak very specific settings.
Up until the release of macOS Mojave, control of HomeKit
accessories was entirely the domain of the iOS version of the app.
However, Mojave’s release brings the Home app to your computer,
giving you control of those same accessories from your Mac as well.
There are caveats to watch out for, though. Certain automations andremote access continue to demand the use of a central device as a home
hub, be it an iPad, a HomePod or an Apple TV (4th generation or later)- see bit.ly/mfhmhub.
Additionally, adding new HomeKit accessories to the Home app still
requires the use of an iPhone or iPad – it can’t be done directly on your
Mac. That means you’ll need to be signed in to the same iCloud account
on both operating systems. Sadly, if you don’t already have an iOS
device, you’re out of luck when it comes to making use of the Home app
on macOS.
HOME’S INTERFACE
A
UPDATES
If anything’s
amiss, you’ll
be warned at the top left of
the Home tab. Click the text
to see what’s up.C
SETTINGS
Settings for your
home and
accessories appear in a
pop–up. When finished
with it, click Done.B
FAVORITES
Mark an
accessory as a
favorite to add it to the Home
tab. Others appear only in
the Rooms tab.D
AUTOMATION
If you have a
home hub, go to
the Automation tab to set up
behaviors such as turning on
lights by time of day.ABCD