Now that you can control HomeKit accessories at home, wouldn’t it be great if you could do that while away from home? So far your HomeKit ‘lives’ on your iPhone (think of it as a little database), but when you take it with you it can not access your accessories anymore.
That’s why you need a Home Hub. A hub is an Apple device that stays at home and is always on. It will contain a copy of your HomeKit and can control your accessories and run automations. A hub can be an Apple TV (4th generation or later) or a HomePod.
The iPad can only function as a Home Hub when using the older Apple Home architecture.
With the new Home architecture, the iPad is no longer supported as a Home Hub.
If you have upgraded to the new architecture in the Home app, your iPad will not appear as a hub option.
You will need a HomePod, HomePod mini, or Apple TV for Home Hub functionality.
For Apple’s official statement on this change, see here
If you are still on the old Home architecture, you can set up your iPad as a Home Hub by following the steps described below.
To use this iPad as a Home Hub, it needs to be connected to power all the time. You can make an iPad a Home Hub via settings:
And very important, the Home Hub will maintain a connection with your iPhone! Without the need for any network configuration, the hub will create a secure connection to your iPhone, even when away from home. Now you can control your home while you’re on the road or at the office.
Even more fun it is to create an automation that triggers automatically when your approach or leave your home or office. This is called a geofence.
