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

M5 Vision Pro Thumb 2

Apple Has Given Up on the Vision Pro After M5 Refresh Flop

Wednesday April 29, 2026 11:31 am PDT by
Apple has all but given up on the Vision Pro after the M5 model failed to revitalize interest in the device, MacRumors has learned. Apple updated the Vision Pro with a faster M5 chip and a more comfortable band in October 2025, but there were no other hardware changes, and consumers still weren't interested. The Vision Pro has been criticized for its high price tag and its uncomfortable...
Four iPhone 18 Pro Colors Mock Feature

iPhone 18 Pro to Launch in September With These 10 New Features

Tuesday April 28, 2026 9:35 am PDT by
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are not launching until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. It was initially reported that the iPhone 18 Pro models would have fully under-screen Face ID, with only a front camera visible in the top-left corner of the screen. However, the latest rumors indicate that only one Face ID component will be moved under the...
airpods pro 3 design

'AirPods Ultra' Rumored to Feature a Major Upgrade Over AirPods Pro

Thursday April 30, 2026 8:40 am PDT by
In a social media post this week, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reiterated that Apple is planning to release new AirPods with cameras "for Siri." Last month, Gurman said these AirPods will likely be priced above the current AirPods Pro 3, which Apple sells for $249. As a result, he said Apple is likely considering using "AirPods Ultra" branding for the camera-equipped AirPods. "AirPods Ultra"...