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HomeKit
Raised as a usability problem by 15 people on Hacker News over 8 years (2019–2026), in 13 threads.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads this year.
Every issue, all time, most people first
Automations are frustrating compared to Home AssistantUnreviewed
20192026- Using HomeKit for automations is frustrating compared to Home Assistant2025-09-23
- HomeKit fails often for the commenter2024-04-27
- HomeKit is so basic it is almost unusable, barely doing more than timed lights2023-01-18
Unreviewed issues were grouped by machine: Claude Haiku labelled each comment as a usability complaint, named what it's about and summed up the problem in a line, and a small model grouped similar problems. Nobody has checked them by hand. Expect mistakes.
The newest 15 complaints
- Smart devices are buggy, need full re-setup from minor glitches, with the worst configuration UI2026-10-13
- "Turn off lights" misses lit lamps; user must say "all lights"2026-10-07
- Scheduling a smart plug relative to the wake alarm was a complicated hassle2026-05-26
- Using HomeKit for automations is frustrating compared to Home Assistant2025-09-23
- Automations and shortcuts are extremely difficult to write unless very simple2025-05-18
- HomeKit fails often for the commenter2024-04-27
- HomeKit is so basic it is almost unusable, barely doing more than timed lights2023-01-18
- Official Home app cannot reasonably create or manage multi-scene zone automations2021-12-29
- Smart home automation fails, and the failures are infuriating enough to cancel out its convenience2021-12-29
- Devices stuck on Updating or Not responding, forcing delete, re-add, and reconfiguring2021-11-24
- Takes several tries before HomeKit notices the user is back on the network2021-11-24
- Smart switches randomly stop working in Home, forcing a manual reset and full re-pairing2021-11-15
- Clicking a light often gives no immediate feedback while it waits for device state2021-10-05
- Non-Philips Hue-compatible bulbs don't show up in HomeKit, forcing clumsy workarounds with poor per-bulb control2019-12-18
- Forced Apple ID sign-in after update, so Siri no longer controls devices2019-01-10