Apple Homekit invitation failed

Question

Apple Homekit invitation failed

After my wife and I updated to iOS 16.2, I am not able to successfully invite my wife to my Apple Home app. I am the Resident (Owner) in the Home app. I am able to invite her from my iPhone (using either her phone number or her iCloud email address). She is able to accept the invite. But in less than 30 seconds the invite disappears from both of our phones. She does not see my Home on her phone. Prior to iOS 16.2 this was working fine. We both have iphones with iOS 16.2 installed. We have rebooted both of our phones, but that doesn't solve the problem. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

iPhone 11

Posted on Dec 17, 2022 9:14 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

sperlyjinx

Level 1

8 points

Dec 18, 2022 5:42 PM in response to bobfrombrookhaven

I think the procedure from this Reddit post, which apparently came from Apple support, did the trick for me: https://www.reddit.com/r/HomeKit/comments/zl69ge/comment/j04ynhi/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

On both the devices, go to Settings >> Tap on your name >> Media & Purchases. Sign out
Reboot both devices
Go back to Settings >> Tap on your name >> Media & Purchases. It should show as "Off".
Tap on Media & Purchases and sign on using your Apple ID.

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Answer 2

Dec 17, 2022 10:51 AM in response to bobfrombrookhaven

Update: Issue fixed. The advise from Devisevib worked for me. Appears all of the home hubs (including HomePad and Apple TVs) need to be manually rebooted in order to sync correctly after the iOS 16.2 update.

This is what I did that worked for me:

1. Unplug all Home hubs (including HomePods and Apple TVs) in your Home. Don't unplug any other Home Accessories (don't unplug smart switches, locks, etc.)

2. Plug in only one Home hub (in my case, I plugged in a HomePod) and wait for the hub to become reconnected in the Home app. This happens automatically.

3. Check to see if you need to remove anyone who had issues accepting the original invite (in my case,

there wasn't any original invitation to remove)

4. Send a new invite from your Home app to the other person

5. Once the other person has accepted your invite, you can plug in the remaining hubs. The new data

propagated to the other person who accepted my invite.

6. Done

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Answer 3

Dec 17, 2022 7:40 PM in response to bobfrombrookhaven

Thanks for the walkthrough. Unfortunately, it did not work in my case. My issue sound similar, but is slightly different from yours in that the invitation that I keep trying to send to my wife always shows as 'pending' in my account and she never receives anything (not even momentarily, as you described). I've tried completely rebuilding my homekit network and still no dice. Everything was working well prior to the 16.2 'upgrade' this morning. Hoping for a quick fix from Apple.

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Answer 4

Dec 18, 2022 5:42 AM in response to sperlyjinx

I am sorry to hear that the Home app still doesn't work on your devices. Very frustrating.

Maybe someone else has a solution that works for you. Try searching through the Reddit site for ideas.

Good luck.

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Answer 5

Dec 18, 2022 3:34 PM in response to sperlyjinx

Ok figured it eventually after some hints elsewhere. If you have homepod plus apple tv, then reduce that to only the homepod by going to AppleTV settings and leaving your “Home”. It should then let you send the invitations with only the homepod acting as the hub. Once you have accepted invitations on your family member’s phone/ipad you can leave any out of date “homes”. (I did spend two hours yesterday reinstalling my Home, including crawling under the Christmas tree and into a dogs bed to access plug sockets but this may not actually be necessary-especially if you don’t have a dog ). My wife’s iphone can now access all family items. Phew. Hope this works for you also.

You can add the apple TV back to your home once everything else is working.

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Answer 6

Dec 18, 2022 6:00 AM in response to bobfrombrookhaven

No help from me I’m afraid, only confirmation from a fellow user in exactly the same situation you are experiencing. Awaiting an Apple fix unless anyone else can help in the meantime…

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Apple Homekit invitation failed

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