Adding second resident to Apple Home

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Adding second resident to Apple Home

I had Apple Home working with various accessories for a year with my iPhone 12 and wife's iPhone 7. I updated to iOS 16.2 to get the new version of Home and Home continued to work for me. Wife got new phone so both of us are on 16.2 BUT she cannot launch the Home app from her phone. I send her AppleID an invitation. Her phone receives and accepts. When she then launches the Home app, she gets the Welcome to Home screen with the Continue button, presses that button, then is brought to an error screen saying "Could not add home 'My Home' A home with a similar name already exists." I've tried changing my Home name, resending the invitation, and logging out of both AppleIDs. My phone shows that she is a resident but she cannot access the app. Trying to remove her as a member from my home using phone or Mac produces "Cannot modify user access."

Apple TV HD, tvOS 16

Posted on Jan 9, 2023 7:34 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Sheree_P

Community Specialist

Jan 11, 2023 10:55 AM in response to _WP_

Hey _WP_,

Follow the steps below to see if they help. They are used to troubleshoot not being able to accept an invitation. You can also review them here: If you can't access a home or accept an invitation in the Home app.

1. On the invited user's iPhone or iPad running iOS or iPadOS version 16.2, open the Home app and tap the More button to see a list of homes.

2. On the invited user's iPhone or iPad, remove homes that don't have accessories. Tap a home to select it, tap the More button , select Home Settings , scroll down, and tap Remove Home. If the invited user has a home with accessories, contact Apple Support.

3. Restart the invited user's and home owner's iPhone or iPad, and restart all Apple TV and HomePod devices in the home.

4. On the home owner's iPhone or iPad, open the Home app and remove any pending invitations to the invited user. Tap the More button , select Home Settings , tap the guest's name, and tap Cancel Invitation.