If you've just started setting up Apple Home and iOS Shortcuts, you may have noticed there are two different places where you can create automations: one inside the Home app, and one inside the Shortcuts app. They can feel similar at first, but they work in quite different ways and are suited to different jobs. This guide walks you through what each type does, when to use one over the other, and how to start thinking about your smart home setup more clearly.

What Are Home Automations?

Home automations live inside the Home app. You create them by going to the Automation tab and tapping the + button. They're specifically designed to control your smart home devices, and they're triggered by things happening in or around your home.

Home automations can be triggered by:

• A specific time of day (e.g. turn on the hallway light at sunset)

• Someone arriving home or leaving (based on location)

• A sensor detecting something (e.g. a motion sensor sees movement, a door sensor opens)

• An accessory reaching a certain state (e.g. a smart plug being turned on)

• A HomeKit scene being activated

They're brilliant for anything that should just happen in the background, tied to the physical world around you. The kettle plug turning on when you get home. The landing light coming on when a motion sensor detects movement at night. The thermostat dropping back down when everyone leaves.

Crucially, Home automations run through your Home Hub (your HomePod, Apple TV, or iPad that stays at home). This means they'll fire even if your iPhone isn't nearby, which is exactly what you want for home-based triggers. It also means that if you want an automation to fire when anyone in your household arrives home, rather than just you, a Home automation is the right choice.

What Are Personal Automations?

Personal automations live in the Shortcuts app, under the Automation tab at the bottom. Unlike Home automations, personal automations are tied to you and your iPhone. They respond to things happening on your device or in your life.

Personal automations can be triggered by:

• Your iPhone connecting to a specific Wi-Fi network or Bluetooth device

• Plugging in or unplugging your charger

• Opening or closing a specific app

• Your battery dropping to a certain level

• A certain time of day

• NFC tags being tapped

• Your Focus mode changing (e.g. Do Not Disturb turning on)

Because they live on your iPhone, personal automations can do a huge range of things beyond just controlling smart home devices. They can send messages, set timers, adjust phone settings, open apps, log things to a note, call an API, and much more. The key thing to understand is that personal automations are about your device and your context, not the home itself.

The Key Differences

Here's a simple way to think about it. Home automations are about the home. They run even when you're not there, they respond to physical events in your house, and they're managed through your Home Hub. Personal automations are about you. They run on your iPhone, they respond to what you're doing with your phone or your day, and they need your device to be active.

A practical example: if you want your front porch light to come on at sunset every day, whether you're home or not, that's a Home automation. If you want your Do Not Disturb to turn on automatically whenever you connect your AirPods, that's a personal automation.

When to Use a Home Automation

Reach for a Home automation when:

• The trigger is something physical happening at home, like a door opening or a sensor detecting motion

• You want the automation to run even if your iPhone isn't home or isn't on

• You're purely controlling HomeKit accessories

• Multiple people in your household should trigger the same automation based on location

Some classic examples:

• Turn on the hallway lights when motion is detected after 9pm

• Set the thermostat to away mode when the last person leaves home

• Turn off all lights at midnight

• Flash a light briefly when the front door opens

When to Use a Personal Automation

Reach for a personal automation when:

• The trigger is something happening on or with your iPhone

• You want to do something beyond just controlling HomeKit accessories

• You need more complex logic, conditions, variables, or multiple steps

• The automation is just for you, not the whole household

Some classic examples:

• When you connect to your home Wi-Fi, turn on your desk lamp and set your phone to silent

• When you plug your phone in at night, turn off all your HomeKit lights

• When your battery drops below 20%, send yourself a reminder to charge before leaving

• When you open your morning news app, automatically start playing ambient music through your HomePod

Can They Work Together?

Absolutely, and this is where things get really interesting. Personal automations can control HomeKit accessories too, so you can blend both worlds. The difference is just where the trigger comes from.

Say you want your bedside lamp to turn on when you tap an NFC sticker on your bedside table. That trigger isn't something the Home app supports, so you'd create a personal automation in Shortcuts: when the NFC tag is scanned, turn on the HomeKit bedside lamp.

Equally, you might have a Home automation that turns the heating on at 6am, but via a personal automation you could override that on weekends by checking what day it is and adjusting accordingly. The Home app's built-in logic is fairly basic, but Shortcuts lets you add conditions and branching that make your setup feel genuinely smart.

A Note on "Run Immediately"

One thing that trips up beginners: personal automations in Shortcuts used to ask for confirmation before running. You'd get a notification saying "Tap to run," which completely defeats the purpose of an automation.

Apple has improved this significantly. When creating or editing a personal automation, look for a toggle that says Run Immediately. Make sure this is turned on if you want the automation to fire silently without any confirmation. Not all trigger types support fully silent running, but most common ones do. Home automations have always run silently in the background, with no confirmation needed.

Quick Reference: Which One Do I Need?

Ask yourself these questions:

• Is the trigger something physical happening at home? Use a Home automation.

• Does it need to work even when your phone isn't around? Use a Home automation.

• Should it trigger for anyone in the household, not just you? Use a Home automation.

• Is the trigger something happening on your iPhone? Use a personal automation.

• Do you need it to do more than just control HomeKit devices? Use a personal automation.

• Do you need complex logic or multiple conditions? Use a personal automation.

Real-World Scenarios

READ NEXT

• Home Automation: Motion Detection

• Home Automation: Low Light detection

• Home Automation: Timed Automations

• Personal Automation: Night-Only Charging Automation

• Personal Automation: Its the simple things

• Personal Automation: Create an iOS Automation When Connecting AirPods

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