How to Share Access to Your HomeKit Devices with Others - MacRumors
Skip to Content

How to Share Access to Your HomeKit Devices with Others

by

If you share your home with family or roommates, it often makes sense to share access to HomeKit devices with them so they can control your connected lights, blinds, thermostats, etc. As long as they use an iPhone or iPad running iOS 10 or later or a Mac running macOS Mojave or later, Apple makes it easy for you to grant them access via their iCloud account.

  1. On an iPhone or ‌iPad‌, open the Home app and tap on the small home icon in the top left corner.
  2. In the People section, tap on Invite.
  3. Enter the ‌iCloud‌ email address of the person you want to invite, or tap on the "+" sign to find someone in your contact list.
  4. Tap Send Invite.

homekit access invite
This process is nearly identical on a Mac, though you access the People list via the Edit/Edit Home menu.

The recipient will be notified of the invitation and will be invited to accept. Here's what it looks like to them:
homekit invitation received
Once they've accepted, they'll appear in your People list. Tapping on their name will reveal an additional screen where you can toggle Remote Access on or off. Remote Access lets them control your ‌HomeKit‌ devices when they're away and not on your home Wi-Fi network. If you have a home hub, they can even control accessories by voice with Siri. If you don't have a home hub, they'll need to make any changes manually within the Home app.
homekit sharing person settings
Toggling Allow Editing would provide them with more control over your ‌HomeKit‌ setup, allowing them to add and remove accessories or even invite other people to control devices.

If you need to delete someone from your People list, you just need to tap on Remove Person at the bottom of this screen to revoke their access to your ‌HomeKit‌ setup.

Popular Stories

ecovacs black friday

FCC Bans New Foreign-Made Robot Vacuums, Threatening Future Matter and HomeKit Models

Thursday July 30, 2026 11:55 am PDT by
The FCC this week banned all new "foreign-produced advanced robotic devices" because of an "unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States." The government says networked robotic systems lead to vulnerabilities that allow bad actors to control the devices and collect surveillance data from Americans. Advanced robotic devices are defined as software-controlled autonomous...
Apple Event Logo

Apple Unveiled Four New Products Today

Tuesday August 25, 2026 8:39 am PDT by
Apple today unveiled a new Mac mini with M6 and M5 Pro chip options, a new Mac Studio with M5 Max and M5 Ultra chip options, a new version of the Polishing Cloth with a lower price, and updated Magic Keyboards for Macs. To learn more about these products, read our coverage below: Apple Announces New Mac Mini With M6 and M5 Pro Chips and More Apple Unveils New Mac Studio With M5 Max and M5...
apple magic keyboard with glyphs 2026 refresh

Apple Quietly Refreshes Magic Keyboards

Tuesday August 25, 2026 7:22 am PDT by
Apple today quietly introduced updated Magic Keyboard models with revised U.S. English key labeling. On the new keyboards, the tab, caps lock, shift, return, and delete keycaps are labeled with glyphs rather than edge text. On the full-size models with a numeric keypad, the change goes further, with the home, page up, page down, end, clear, and enter keys also swapping their text labels for...