Apple TV Homekit - Savant

If Your Apple TV is Not Responding to Commands or Only Responds Intermittently

1.) Confirm the firmware is up to date.

2.) If you see the white light on the front of the Apple TV unit flashing when commands are sent from the Savant Blaster or the Savant Remote Base, but there is no control from either the Savant Remote or the Savant App:

  1. Use the Apple TV remote to navigate to General Settings.

  2. Select Remote Settings.

  3. Un-pair the Apple TV remote.

  4. Test the Savant Remote and Savant App.

3.) Pull power cord from the Apple TV and do a hard re-boot. Check again to make sure the firmware is up to date.

If Your Apple TV is Not Powering On and Off

By design, Apple TVs never fully power off unless they are unplugged, so your Apple TV is not intended to be turned on and off during regular use. Instead, the Apple TV goes into a sleep/standby mode when not in active use. As this is by design, the Savant Remote performs accordingly, and will not power off an Apple TV.

Apple TV and HomeKit Troubleshooting Guide

Document Date:

March 2020 (Updated)

Document Supports:

da Vinci 9.1 and Higher.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

  • Review the Apple TV and HomeKit Deployment Guide to ensure that all details of initial setup and configuration have been followed before proceeding with any of the steps outlined in this document.

  • Savant Host Redundancy is not supported for Apple TV HomeKit deployments.

  • Linking the Host as the HomeKit Bridge is only supported via the iOS Savant Pro App, and must be done while connected to the local network.

  • All Apple TV HomeKit Hubs must be on the same VLAN/subnet as the corresponding Savant Host HomeKit Bridge.

Apple TV and HomeKit Troubleshooting Requirements:

Physical Requirements:

  1. 4th Generation Apple TV running tvOS 12.0 or later.

  2. iOS Device running iOS 12 or later.

  3. An Apple ID Account.

  4. Two-factor authentication on the Apple ID Account on the Apple TV and iOS devices

  5. Savant iOS Pro App Version: 9.1 or later.

  6. HomeKit Enabled Runtime Build: da Vinci 9.1 or greater.

  7. Profile: Apple Apple TV (HomeKit).

  8. Remote: Savant REM-1100 / REM-2000 (required for Siri Control).

  9. Bonjour Discovery Application from the Apple Store.

Glossary of Terms

The subsections below outline commonly used key terms and phrases related to IP Apple TV and Homekit integration. These terms are also featured in the Apple TV and HomeKit Deployment Guide.

HomeKit Application: Native application found on any iOS device to interface with HomeKit Homes and Accessories.

HomeKit Accessory: Refers to any Savant product intended to interface or communicate with an Apple TV, such as the REM-1100, or REM-2000 Pro Remotes.

HomeKit Home: Located within the iOS Home App and connected to the User's Apple ID account. The HomeKit Home securely allows the control and monitoring of the home using the Control Center and Siri.

HomeKit Hub: A user control interface available in the Home App on the corresponding iOS device. NOTE: This is only available once it has been added to the HomeKit Home.

HomeKit Profile: The Apple TV (HomeKit) Profile within the RacePoint Blueprint Library. This must be added to the Blueprint configuration currently uploaded to the Savant Host for any HomeKit control or functionality.

HomeKit Bridge: This refers to the Savant Host device that connects with HomeKit via the IP controlled Apple TV.

Specific Cases:

The cases below are common use cases with recommended troubleshooting steps. Please review these before submitting a Savant Support Ticket.

Apple TV Unavailable in Home App

Cause: The Apple TV has not been added to the Hub or was not properly linked.

If the Apple TV cannot be found under Accessories within the iOS Home App , navigate to the HomeKit page within the Savant Pro App.

  1. Within the Savant Pro App, navigate to Menu > Settings > Devices.

  2. Under the Devices page, a selection option for HomeKit Homes will appear.

  3. If the appropriate HomeKit Home does not show as linked after completing the steps listed in the Deployment Guide, ensure two factor authentication for the associated Apple ID has been set up: Apple TV Settings > Accounts will display the iCloud account used for initial setup.

  4. iCloud Keychain must always be set to on. This setting can be found under: iOS device Settings > (Account username) > iCloud.

  5. Once any setting changes have been made, power cycle the Apple TV.

  6. To see if the Apple TV is connected as a Home hub, go to the Apple TV Settings > Accounts > iCloud. The Apple TV will appear under HomeKit.

Accessory Not Found Message

Cause: Bonjour may be disabled on the network.

If the "Accessory Not Found" message appears while pairing the HomeKit bridge, check the Bonjour Browser application on the Wireless Network.

  1. Download a third-party application to discover all Bonjour services.

  2. Ensure that "_hap._tcp" Bonjour HomeKit traffic is being broadcasted.

  3. If this traffic is not broadcasting, the network may have configuration settings that prevent the Host from pairing with HomeKit Home.

  4. Re-enable Bonjour.

Loss of Control for Apple TV and Accessories

Cause A: The HomeKit Bridge cannot communicate with the Savant Cloud.

Cause B: The HomeKit Accessories have not formed a proper link connection, or a device has been replaced.

Unpairing the HomeKit Bridge and HomeKit Accessories using the iOS Home app . The Apple TV communicates directly to the HomeKit Bridge before the Bridge reaches out to the network. If the Bridge's cloud connection is interrupted, Apple TV control may be affected.

Cause A:

NOTE: If the NTP server does not have a consistent connection, functionality may be limited. Hard reboot the HomeKit Bridge before creating a Support Ticket.

  1. Open the iOS Home app on the iOS device.

  2. Choose the Home whose Host must be unpaired.

  3. Select the Room to which the Host was added.

  4. Long press and hold on the Host HomeKit Bridge.

  5. Select the Settings button at the bottom of the screen.

  6. Scroll down and select the "Remove from Home" button. The Host may be re-paired using the Savant iOS app after this process.

  1. A network reboot may also be required.

Cause B:

  1. Power down or disconnect the accessory device before removing from HomeKit.

  2. Navigate to Savant Application Manager > System Monitor - Scanner > Devices.

  3. Highlight the local Savant Host > Right-click highlighted Device > Select Reset HomeKit Settings.

  4. This process is used as a hard reset, and forces the HomeKit Bridge to unpair from the HomeKit Home.

No HomeKit Home Found under Apple ID Account

Cause: HomeKit data access is not enabled on the iOS device.

This message may be encountered while deploying the Apple TV and HomeKit Bridge Link. Where "Allow Access" should appear to finish linking the Savant host as the HomeKit Bridge, the error text "No HomeKit found under Apple ID account. Please ensure that this iOS device has been signed into an Apple ID account, and a home exists in the Home app" is shown.

  • On the iOS device being used, navigate to Settings > Savant Pro App

  • Ensure that Home Data access is enabled as shown below.

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