Pair Your HomeKit Bridge with Apple Home

The HomeKit Bridge exposes your Home Assistant devices to Apple Home. This guide covers choosing which devices the bridge shares (whole categories at a time or individual devices), pairing the bridge with the Apple Home app, and adding a single new device (for example, a newly paired Zigbee device) to Apple Home later.

Before You Start

Confirm the following before you begin:

1. The HomeKit Bridge integration is added in Home Assistant. If it is not, go to Settings > Devices & Services > Add Integration and search for HomeKit Bridge.
2. You have an iPhone or iPad with the Home app installed.
3. Your phone or tablet is on the same network as Home Assistant.

Step 1: Choose Which Devices to Share

The bridge decides what to share using two settings: Domains to include, which selects whole categories such as lights, switches, or climate devices, and Inclusion mode, which can narrow the selection down to individual devices.

1. Go to Settings > Devices & Services.
2. Find the HomeKit Bridge integration and select Configure.
3. On the Select mode and domains screen, keep HomeKit mode set to bridge, then follow one of the two approaches below.

Share Whole Categories

Use this approach to share everything Home Assistant sees in a category:

1. Under Domains to include, select every category you want in Apple Home (for example, light, switch, climate, cover, and fan).
2. Set Inclusion mode to exclude.
3. Continue to the Select the entities to be excluded screen. Leave the list empty to share everything, or select the few entities you do not want in Apple Home.
4. Submit to apply.

Every supported entity in the chosen categories is now shared, and new devices in those categories are added to Apple Home automatically.

Share Individual Devices Only

Use this approach to share a hand-picked list of devices instead:

1. Under Domains to include, select the categories your chosen devices belong to.
2. Set Inclusion mode to include.
3. Continue to the Select the entities to be included screen and add only the entities you want to the Entities list.
4. Submit to apply.

Only the entities on the list are shared with Apple Home, even if their categories contain other devices.

Step 2: Pair the Bridge with Apple Home

If your bridge was configured by Selora Homes, this pairing step is usually all you need to do:

1. Open Home Assistant and look for the HomeKit Bridge notification in the top-right corner.
2. Click the notification to reveal your HomeKit QR code.
3. On your iPhone or iPad, open the Home app.
4. Tap the + icon in the top-right corner and select Add Accessory.
5. Use your device’s camera to scan the QR code shown in Home Assistant.
6. Wait for the bridge to be discovered.
7. Assign the bridge and devices to rooms, rename devices if needed for clarity, and tap Done.

Add a Single New Device Later

When you add a new device to Home Assistant (for example, a newly paired Zigbee switch), it does not always show up in Apple Home on its own. To add just that device:

1. Confirm the device works in Home Assistant and note its entity name (open the device under Settings > Devices & Services to see its entities).
2. Go to Settings > Devices & Services, find the HomeKit Bridge integration, and select Configure.
3. On the Select mode and domains screen, make sure the device’s category is selected under Domains to include, then continue.
4. The next step depends on the bridge’s Inclusion mode:
   • In exclude mode, the device is shared automatically once its category is included. Just confirm it is not selected on the Select the entities to be excluded screen and submit.
   • In include mode, add the new device’s entity to the Entities list on the Select the entities to be included screen. Keep the existing entities selected; the list replaces your previous selection. Submit to apply.
5. The bridge reloads and the new device appears in Apple Home under the bridge.
6. Open the Home app and assign the new device to a room.