Controller for HomeKit Reviews

by Workingintothenight

Useful for rhe occasional trouble shooting but definitely doesn’t warrant a monthly subscription fee to use an app that provides no actual services. Somethings are services and others are products. This one is confused trying to make highly desirable recurring revenue stream. You pay to go through a car wash because it’s providing a service. Controller doesn’t wash your car but like a hose you own to wash your own car, Controller provides people with a tool to assist in taking care of your HomeKit components and system. No one would ever sign up for a hose subscription service and neither should Controller.

by Jumtra

I only wanted it to do one things well…that it advertised…to get event log data. It’s poorly designed, buggy, and developer doesn’t respond (submitted a ticket with them a few weeks ago and didn’t even get a response).

You can get log data, but the log gets deleted and reconstituted from scratch each time you restart Controller . When it does this the time stamp of each even defaults to the time the event being imported, not when it actually happened. This defeats the whole purpose and is clear that the develop doesn’t even understand the concept of logs.

Further, there are filters logs that can be setup in Controller . This would be really useful but the settings of how they work is so wonky they are unusable.

Meanwhile I’ve been ripped off because the only way you can download Controller is by doing a trike that defaults to pro after a week if you want to use the log feature. Waiting for the developer to get back to me has earned him revenue from me for the full plan. Seems like an underhanded scheme to me.

Hard pass on this crapware

by CNunezMD

I have been an extensive HomeKit power user for years. I have a large setup with lights, switches, cameras, thermostats, and my security system. I purchased Controller for some of the advanced functionality, but immediately found my HomeKit setup began acting unexpectedly while Controller was installed. I had devices randomly disappear and have to be re-added to HomeKit, the entire system go unresponsive, poor connectivity, and a variety of other issues that I never had. Literally from the moment I deleted Controller from both my iPhone and iPad and reset everything, it is all working perfectly again. I did nothing different but install and then delete Controller .

I hope the developer can find and fix this issue, but I will not be installing Controller again. I lost so many hours of work setting up devices and automations that took me years to get right.

by PhantomGlitch

I was very excited by the idea of having an app that could save my HomeKit configuration outside of the Home app for later use in case the Home app broke something in my setup. Sure enough, several weeks after making a backup I needed to restore. I told this app not to delete my existing automations, but apparently leaving on the two options to “restore missing automations” causes Controller to overwrite what is in HomeKit anyway. Now I’ve lost all my advanced automations and will have to rebuild from memory.

by Dòbhran

I wanted to like Controller but the deal-killer was being told to buy a subscription just to change the icon in an automation. I don’t appreciate super basic stuff like that being locked away behind a paywall. Other big features like the Watch app I can understand. Basic UI functionality? No.

by Carmine 10000

It does all the basic automations that most other applications do. But regarding automations involving temperatures and conditions it works really poorly. For example I can get an automation based on temperature to work once a day. In order for me to get it to work constantly, it would require 720 separate automations for the automation to work correctly over a 24 hour period of time. To keep it short let’s just consider that I have five devices that need to be controlled based upon the temperature either being above or below particular parameters. I would have to write 4320 separate automations for those six devices to work properly over the course of the day. Can you really call that automation?

by Dom315

It is kind of weird working with this app and home app, as they each can do some things that the other can not.

I really like adding if/and logic to conditionals for automations, the backups are great as well, but don’t work with home assistant bridges well sadly.

I still have yet to figure out a use case for the Workflows, I can imagine Workflows being incredibly powerful, and replacing my NodeRed server completely, however I can’t figure out how to trigger them to run on a time or event change etc… you have to manually run them which makes advanced logic kind of pointless. This may be a limitation to the Home app, and not this specific app though.

by Ala-red

Not Controller’s fault but I’m disappointed that workflows can’t be triggers within HomeKit natively. I use Insteon and Universal Devices with scripts I can program to turn on lights at program intervals and brightness prior to sunset. Workflows would do this but requires manual intervention and not supported by HomeKit. I am moving to a new home and will use HomeKit but I feel like I’m stepping backwards in time on my automations. Scene control is not automation. Sorry, but you can’t fill my needs. Deleted Controller after a couple of hours.

by West_coast03

Controller is a great utility for Homekit that gives visibility to all the parameters a Homekit accessory has to offer. With the ability to set automations based on parameters beyond what the built in Home app allows, Controller is a must for Homekit power users!

Creating backups of your Homekit setup as you add more accessories and automations helps you to troubleshoot problems and roll-back settings to a known good setup.

Logging is a great troubleshooting tool as well, allowing power users with vast Homekit setups to see what parameter changes may have triggered an automation. Hopefully, logging will be expanded to include exporting to .csv for better search and visualization of events.

by Cloudkucooland

The ability to backup and restore my setup is worth the price of the pro version. Every time I wreck my custom bridge, I am happy I have this tool.

The ability to see values not displayed by Apple’s app is helpful. Especially for those of us building custom bridges and working with less-common settings.

The limitations are mainly due to how Apple restricts third party apps using HomeKit data.

The developers have fixed every issue I have raised.

I’m not convinced this is the best UI for complex setups, but I have no better ideas. At least someone is trying something new.

For people using only well-known products or With small configs, this probably won’t be useful, but for those of us working to extend HomeKit, it is invaluable.

by TedBoz

I am just starting to explore but noticed Controller does not backup more than one home. So if you have multiple homes setup, don’t expect backup to cover anything other than your initial home.

by Lonepalm

Your latest 5.10 update is sheer genius. Kudos to you. Your app is worth every dollar and I am so glad I purchased it a while back.

Your new Maintenance feature is what we all need to troubleshoot and maintain our HomeKit network and devices. And thanks for implementing my prior suggestions on knowing and identifying battery levels in your devices 😊

by Nate_78

Controller isn’t going to be for everyone but it is for everyone that needs homekit to do more. The recent notification api is a game changer. Yes there is another app that has a notification server however it relies on an iOS or iPadOS device to run that server service. This is exactly what I have wanted since homekit was released. As someone who has over 80 devices including homebridge devices, I simply could not do without Controller. People are complaining about the subscription cost however there is a lifetime option as well. Do your homework and rather than complain, decide what you want/need out of Homekit. I am a lifetime subscriber and have zero regrets.

by George/Lynne S.

I’ve used this in the past (around version 4.0.0) when my HomeKit setup got corrupted and I had to reset; and it was useful, but took a while to manually assign unknown devices. Luckily, I made a backup when 4.2.0 came out (current version when writing this is 4.2.1); and when I needed to restore this time (I deleted a second home in the Home app and it deleted my main home instead), all I had to do was use the Home app to add my bridges and other devices ( Controller says Apple doesn’t allow creating HomeKit devices, I don’t remember if I had to do that last time or not), but this time, all the devices paired up! My home went from everything with default names in Default Room, to all the custom names, rooms, scenes, and scheduled events executed by an Apple TV.

by ItsAndyKing

After the 16.2 iOS "architecture" update fiasco where other users of my house were unable to use the Apple home app, I decided to delete the house and make a new house. Controller saved hours of my time. Though it does not ADD everything again using the special codes, it does structure all of the accessories and automations correctly after doing the work of adding bridges, accessories, etc. in the Home app.

by Cheule

I have 82 devices on HomeKit, and have been using HomeKit for 5 years. My setup is very complex, and it’s easy to Bork something critical. I’ve had to reset HomeKit’s “hub” to get this working again, and then comes the agony of reconfiguring EVERYTHING. If only Apple let you backup HomeKit... enter this app for HomeKit.

It’s the missing link, and has saved my but more times than I care to admit. In fact, I’m writing this review right now because I accidentally removed 5 rooms through Philips Hue’s app (which removed them from HomeKit too!) but luckily I had a this app backup. Three buttons later, all 5 rooms and over 20 lights and 5 accessories were back.

by Wm.

This application goes to deaths of HomeKit, that I never realize were there. We are developing HomeKit hardware, and Controller actually helps us in our development plans for features and capabilities. Controller is highly technical, but excellent for anyone serious about using HomeKit and the capabilities that it offers well beyond the HomeKit app that Apple supplies. don’t be surprised if the author gets hired away by Apple so get Controller soon before this happens.

by Nuké

This application goes to deaths of HomeKit, that I never realize were there. We are developing HomeKit hardware, and Controller actually helps us in our development plans for features and capabilities. Controller is highly technical, but excellent for anyone serious about using HomeKit and the capabilities that it offers well beyond the HomeKit app that Apple supplies. don’t be surprised if the author gets hired away by Apple so get Controller soon before this happens.

by Canubelievethisguy

Backup functionality and storing HomeKit codes is great. Watching all events traffic in real time is super informative and helpful for automation creation and troubleshooting. It is unique and useful to have a place that shows all of the manufacturers’ custom data and allows you to give it meaningful names where those are lacking. I also really appreciate being able to copy, disable/enable and archive automations. I have so far only briefly tested the new notifications capability, but it worked immediately and exactly as the documentation describes. Purchasing the lifetime license has proven to be a wise decision.

by Chadimous

During the Texas freeze, most of our SmartHome devices needed to be reset.
this app is able to reactivate all of our devices with a simple tap from the backup. (Except the garage door opener, but I think that’s a ‘distance’ problem; being an apartment rather than a house)

For months, we’ve had an issue with two “night” scenes that try to activate, but couldn’t figure out where they were coming from. this app was able to display all accessories (LIFX, Phillips Hue and WeMo)

Spoiler alert: I’m more mechanically inclined, so when it comes to electrical, it’s just “magic”.

Controller totally simplifies automation, by breaking it down into more detailed workflows than HomeKit does.

Firmware update? this app will pull updates from the devices app, (WeMo, Meross, Geeni, HomePod) and automatically update them for you. You can even schedule when it does it!

If you are better at building things, than at coding software, then Controller will help keep your blood pressure low, and save you a lot of time when your power grid freezes up (and resets some of your devices)

Every update, it gets better and better.

by Cowp

If you really want to get into the fine details of a HomeKit setup, this is as close to total control as you can imagine.

I compare this app to a 747 jetliner. The flight deck of a 747 has quite a few controls, they might be confusing at first, and it can kill you if you screw up. But once you learn how it works, you can really go places. :)

Version 5 is a major update. At the moment it runs a little slower than the prior version—sometimes Controller will just hang for a few seconds...—and there are little tics I need to get used to, but it is overall still indispensable.

by BarclayMcRae

Controller is the best HomeKit manager available. The Apple Home app is excellent for automations converted to Shortcuts, but beyond that, you have to have access to more power of the HomeKit API. Controller is exactly that. Use it with Apple’s HomeKit and Home app. The ability to peg exact attributes of lights is, alone, worth the price. I can now peg exact matches for lights across scenes. Color Temp, Saturation, Hue, Brightness, and Power. Five attributes for every single device! Exact matches are easy. I will say that it take patience. When setting attributes, some times you wait a few to see it accept the result. No biggie. Just wait on it. Build your scenes EXACTLY as desired. Don’t try to replace the Home App. Use that and Shortcuts and Siri all you want. Controller is for configuring stuff behind the scenes more than a front end. I nearly never write reviews. This is worth it. I bought the $65 Lifetime without hesitation. How many $40-$50 bulbs do you own…. Spend this and be thrilled with the access and power. I have only had it for a few days. Changed my HomeKit! I redid all scenes with exact accuracy. I am thrilled!

UPDATE: I just installed the MAC app. No delay there, it appears! Fast to configure a scene with every attribute pegged. Fast. Better. Much faster (responsive) than the iPad app.

by Cadel Lowe

Definitely an app for the advanced user, but boy does it fix problems when your HomeKit setup decides to pull a temper tantrum.

My Apple TV decided to automatically reboot while I was in the Home app on my iPhone, subsequently orphaning every automation with zero devices. A bunch of actions had no triggers. With a very rapid response from the developer on a question, I was able to clean up the mess without deleting and starting the house over again.

The backup feature alone is worth the pro version.

by Island Life

After my horrible Meross Smart Surge Protector setup glitched because of Meross’ absolutely terrible app, it left an duplicate entry in my Apple Home page that could not be deleted through the default Home interface. There was no “remove accessory” or delete option and it was infuriating.

I was ready to delete the Home and settings that I had so carefully set up and start from scratch, but decided to do a deep dive on my options before going nuclear. It took more than an hour of searching through forums, but another commenter suggested this app for HomeKit and within about 30 seconds of downloading Controller , I could delete the broken remnants of the garbage Meross surge protector!

Thank you, this app for HomeKit!

Apple needs to give users more control over deleting devices when they show “not responding”. It was only through sheer luck that I found out Controller existed, so I’m trying to post a review that may save others.

by GS/LS

I’ve used this in the past (around version 4.0.0) when my HomeKit setup got corrupted and I had to reset; and it was useful, but took a while to manually assign unknown devices. Luckily, I made a backup when 4.2.0 came out (current version when writing this is 4.2.1); and when I needed to restore this time (I deleted a second home in the Home app and it deleted my main home instead), all I had to do was use the Home app to add my bridges and other devices ( Controller says Apple doesn’t allow creating HomeKit devices, I don’t remember if I had to do that last time or not), but this time, all the devices paired up! My home went from everything with default names in Default Room, to all the custom names, rooms, scenes, and scheduled events executed by an Apple TV.

by MC Hamster

For those who wants to do more than turn something on or off, this is a must have. The UI is much better than what comes with iOS. Finally a tool for power users.

by P-doggy

Controller crashes within 3-5 seconds after opening Controller . I love Controller but this needs to be fixed immediately.

by Mbautsch

Updated to the new version and it won’t run.

Update: The developer contacted me and has promised a fix.

Update: I’m very impressed. Not only is it a great program but the developer fixes the problem in 24 hours.

by Jmkodc

This alone makes it worth the price for the Pro version. I accidentally deleted my entire “Home” through the MyQ app (I still can’t believe that is allowed), and it has been a huge pain setting up all of my devices and automations. I just wish I’d had Controller before all of this.