Hi everyone, I wanted to share my recent success in integrating Alexa with the Find My iPhone feature through Home Assistant. It’s been a fantastic way to streamline my device tracking without constantly opening the Find My app. Here’s how I did it, in case you’re looking to set this up too!
First, I integrated the iCloud service into Home Assistant. This was straightforward using the built-in iCloud integration. Once that was set up, I created a script to send a ‘Find My’ alert to my iPhone. The script was based on an example I found online, which made the process much smoother.
Next, I connected this script to Alexa using the Emulated Hue integration. Since I’m using Emulated Hue for free Alexa integration, I had to get a bit creative. I created a fake light entity in Home Assistant and set up an automation that triggers the Find My script when this light is adjusted to a specific brightness level. It’s a neat workaround!
Finally, I set up a routine in the Alexa app. Now, when I say, ‘Alexa, find Tai’s iPhone 8,’ it triggers the light adjustment, which in turn runs the script and sends the Find My alert to my phone. It’s so handy, especially when I misplace my devices around the house.
One thing I noticed is that Alexa’s voice recognition can be a bit tricky, especially with accents. If you’re like me and not a native English speaker, you might find that Alexa mishears your command. To solve this, I added a few variations of my command to the routine triggers. This way, even if Alexa misunderstands, it still triggers the right action. For example, if it hears ‘Find toys iphone eight’ instead of ‘Find Tai’s iPhone 8,’ it still works!
This integration has been a game-changer for me. It’s amazing how Home Assistant can bring together products from different ecosystems. If you’re interested in setting this up, feel free to reach out, and I’d be happy to share more details or help troubleshoot any issues you encounter. Happy automating!