Control Your Home Remotely

Homecast lets you control your Apple Home devices from any browser, phone, or API — wherever you are. A Mac app on your home network acts as a bridge between Apple Home and the cloud.

New to Homecast?

Start with Set Up Your Relay for the step-by-step setup guide.

How it works

Your Smart Devices

HomeKit-compatible lights, locks, thermostats, sensors, and more on your home network.

Apple Home Hub

Required only if the Relay is running outside of your home network. An Apple TV or HomePod bridges your devices to iCloud.

Homecast Relay

Runs on your Mac (or cloud-managed). Bridges Apple Home to the cloud with a persistent connection.

Homecast Cloud

Authenticates requests, routes commands to your relay, and pushes updates to all clients.

You, Anywhere

Web dashboard, mobile app, REST/GraphQL API, AI assistants via MCP, webhooks.

Relay options

Option 1

Self-Hosted Relay

Run on your own Mac

1

Install the Homecast Mac appUses Apple's native HomeKit framework

2

Keep your Mac awake with the app runningThe app runs in the background as a menu bar item

Best for:

• You have a Mac that is always on (e.g. a Mac mini)

Your Smart Devices

↓

Homecast Relayrunning on your Mac

WebSocket

↓

Homecast Cloud

↓

Your Devices, Anywhere

Option 2

Cloud Managed Relay

We run it for you

1

Sign up for Cloud ManagedWe provision a dedicated relay for you

2

Invite Homecast to your Apple HomeAdd our user to your existing Home via the Apple Home app

Best for:

• You don't have a Mac available running 24/7
• Apple Home Hub required

Your Smart Devices

↓

Apple Home HubApple TV or HomePod

iCloud

↓

Homecast RelayHosted by Homecast

↓

Homecast Cloud

↓

Your Devices, Anywhere

For detailed setup instructions, see the Cloud Managed Setup Guide.

Supported devices

Device	Controls
Lightbulb	On/off, brightness, color (hue/saturation), color temperature
Switch / Outlet	On/off
Thermostat	Mode (off/heat/cool/auto), target temperature
Lock	Lock / unlock
Fan	On/off, speed
Window covering	Position (0–100%), tilt
Garage door	Open / close
Security system	Arm mode (stay/away/night/off)
Speaker	Volume, mute

More device types

Device	Controls
Air purifier	On/off, mode, speed
Humidifier	On/off, target humidity
Valve / Irrigation	Open / close
Doorbell	Status indicator
Sensors (motion, contact, temperature, humidity, air quality, leak)	Read-only state
Camera	Status indicator

Scenes and service groups

Scenes are predefined in Apple Home (e.g., "Good Morning", "Good Night"). Execute them from the dashboard or via API to trigger multiple devices at once.

Service groups let you control all devices in a HomeKit service group with a single action — for example, setting all living room lights to 50% brightness.

Ways to control

Method	Best for
Web dashboard	Day-to-day control from any browser
Mobile app	Quick control from your phone
Menu bar	Fast toggles without opening a browser (Mac)
Share links	Give others access to specific devices

For developers

Homecast also offers REST, GraphQL, webhook, and AI assistant APIs for programmatic control. See Automation Scripts.

Free plan

The free plan includes up to 10 accessories with all features (collections, sharing, API, webhooks, AI) and Smart Deals — personalised deal badges on your widgets for compatible devices. Service groups count as a single accessory regardless of how many devices they contain. Upgrade to Standard for unlimited accessories and the option to disable Smart Deals. See Account & Settings.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Fix
Devices don't load	Check relay status — Relay Offline
Changes don't take effect	Check if the device works in Apple Home first
"Relay unavailable" error	Mac is asleep or offline
Slow updates	Ensure Mac has a stable internet connection

For more help, see Common Issues.