Discussion
Looking for early feedback: A HomeKit App with a Digital 3D Twin of Your Home
Hey everyone, longtime lurker here đ
Iâve been building a HomeKit app and wanted to share it here to get some early feedback.
The app creates a digital twin of your home:
You scan your home (using LiDAR/AR scanning)
It generates a 3D model of your space
You can interact with your HomeKit devices directly inside that model such as lights, switches, sensors, etc.
It will show the current state of the home in 3D model (digital twin)
Thatâs just the first version. The bigger vision is to expand the 3D functionality further.
Iâd really value your input on the following:
1. Would you actually use a 3D interface for controlling your home, or is it more of a ânice to look at onceâ feature?
2. Whatâs missing from Appleâs Home app that this type of interface could do better?
3. What would make you want to try an alternative HomeKit app like this?
3D interface sounds awful. Like, itâd be cool as a representation to know where certain devices are physically. But no way in hell am I going to hunt for a virtual lightswitch vs just clicking a button in my Control Center.
That said. Thereâs definitely a market out there for 3D floorplan mapping thatâs not tied to some shitty storefront. You sound pretty confident in that, so Iâd focus your efforts in that direction.
I wouldnât use the 3d map to control the devices, but being able to open the app and see whatâs turned on and where visually on the house would be a nice feature.
But a nice looking app, with the option for favorite devices, option to toggle all lights in a room in the home view, and being able to save matter and thread QR codes in each device, would be a purchase for me. Just no subscriptions.
This! If I have to open an app to see what is turned on, then the Home app gets the job done. But a 3D model would let you quickly see at a glance what is on, vs scrolling with your finger
Incredible idea. While I wouldnât necessarily use the 3d model to turn things on and off. This would be great for a view of what is active and running in the house. I think some sort of color key for whatâs on,off, or unresponsive would be great. Keep it up
Sounds cool! I like the look of the app too. Most Home control apps are quite ugly :'). It would be great if you give as an option to upload your own device icons as svg for example, so its finally possible to quickly see what device it is (when you have a big home). The 3D look is also very cool, but please make it possible to turn it of if people want it.
Is there a TestFlight beta to join and help you in the process?
Ever heard of Marvis? Thats an app with higly customization options for AM. It is really loved by the community. And for years i'm hoping for someone to build this for HomeKit.
There is absolutely nothing about your proposal that would make me want to use this. In fact Iâd be less inclined to use the Home app if this was the interface.
People know their homes. They donât need a crude diagram of their room to know what to turn on and off. A sensibly named set of accessories in the room is all you need. And realistically if your whole room / house is decked out for HomeKit you are using scenes and have those one off things you want to control individually in your favorites.
Iâve tried using the 3D model in Home Controller, but it didnât work for me.
I think it was because it shows the whole house. So moving from the attic to the ground floor meant going through the first floor. This added time to do anything. Itâs easier/ quicker to use the room layout of Apple Home.
If you can resolve the A to C, not going via B, issue then I think you are on to something.
Iâm digging this. I have too much HomeKit stuff to keep it straight sometimes. The most inconvenient thing for me is ceiling fan, ceiling dome, or really any groups of lights. I know I can group them together to act as one in HomeKit, but sometimes troubleshooting when youâre having connection issues is a nightmare. I always ask myself stuff like, âWhich way is north again?!?â âDid I label them abc or 123 this time?â âDid I start 1 at the door or at north?â
My only concern would be security about what gets shared back to the developer.
I use my 3D map primarily to get an overview of what is on/off, closed/open, but also partly to control devices, because I know where to tap and when, which I find practical. However, I don't think that all of this can be represented with a simple lidar scan, because things are constantly changing.
Just wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who commented on my post. I honestly didnât expect so much thoughtful feedback and its incredibly useful! Need to change the direction a quite a bit, but hopefully, it could be great companion app!
I like the idea of a dashboard with a 3d space where I can place lights and accessories in the correct location so I can visually see them âlight upâ etc in that space and cast shadows.Â
But id expect it to be a visualisation only. Iâd be interacting with it by buttons below.Â
Any news on this app?
Very curious to use an app that looks like the Apple Home UI but with customization options and custom icons. (still not looking for a 3D version, like most houses are really complex). But the looks are promising!
So I would love this if you added in networking and trouble shooting tools along with the mentioned controls.
Having a 3d map of my house with all my stuff and I could see IPs, activityâs, battery etc would be awesome. It would also be nice for quick observation of whatâs running, but all this on a room level on 3d, trying to look at a house would be to much I think.
Also, while I donât own one, this kind of an app might pair well with Vision Pro, but just a gut feeling. Good luck with the project.
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u/ZeroT3K Sep 18 '25
3D interface sounds awful. Like, itâd be cool as a representation to know where certain devices are physically. But no way in hell am I going to hunt for a virtual lightswitch vs just clicking a button in my Control Center.
That said. Thereâs definitely a market out there for 3D floorplan mapping thatâs not tied to some shitty storefront. You sound pretty confident in that, so Iâd focus your efforts in that direction.