Help Guide

RLSAND HOME Documentation

Learn about RLSAND HOME's features and how to use them.

RLSAND HOME builds automations for your home on iPhone, iPad, and Mac, and works with Apple Home. It gives you a clearer view of your home — rooms, devices, sensors, scenes, and existing automations — and four ways to build new automations, including a conversational AI powered by Apple Intelligence.

Explore the docs

• Get Started — what the app does and how to install it.
• Core Concepts — triggers, conditions, actions, and AND/OR logic.
• Creating Automations — templates, guided, AI, and the block editor.
• App Screens — a reference page for every screen in the app.
• AI Assistant — the built-in helper, the help (?) button, and Siri.
• Help & Reference — FAQ, troubleshooting, and a glossary.

What makes it different

The AI is powered by Apple Intelligence (Apple's Foundation Models framework) — RLSAND never sends your home data or your requests to its own servers, there are no API keys, and there is no subscription. All of the app's AI runs on your device. On iOS, iPadOS or macOS 27 or later, where your version of the app offers it, you can choose to let Apple's Private Cloud Compute help; the app asks before it sends anything, and you can change this in Settings. See the Privacy Policy. The app also supports nested AND/OR condition logic that Apple's own Home app cannot fully edit. RLSAND receives none of your home data or your words. The app can send anonymous usage analytics (you control them in Settings), your app preferences to your own iCloud if you turn on sync, and, on iOS, iPadOS or macOS 27 or later, where your version of the app offers it and only if you allow it, requests to Apple's Private Cloud Compute.

Note: RLSAND HOME is a product of RLSAND Inc. HomeKit, Apple Home, HomePod, and Apple TV are trademarks of Apple Inc.

Introduction

RLSAND HOME is a multiplatform app for creating and managing Apple HomeKit automations. It runs on iPhone, iPad, and Mac (via Mac Catalyst) from a single codebase, and adapts its layout to each screen size.

Apple's Home app is deliberately simple, and its automation builder hides most of what HomeKit can actually do. RLSAND HOME exposes that power while keeping it approachable:

• Browse your homes, rooms, devices, and live sensor readings in one place.
• See every existing automation, sorted and grouped, with a plain-English summary of what each one does.
• Build new automations four different ways — from one-tap templates to a full visual block editor.
• Describe an automation in plain English and let Apple Intelligence turn it into a working rule on your device (on OS 27 or later, where your version of the app offers it, you can also allow Private Cloud Compute).
• Use nested AND/OR condition logic that Apple's Home app cannot fully edit.

Who it's for

Anyone with an Apple Home setup who wants automations that go beyond "turn the lights on at sunset." You don't need to be a developer. If you can describe what you want to happen, the app can usually build it.

Privacy first

RLSAND HOME's AI is powered by Apple Intelligence (Apple's Foundation Models framework, iOS 26 and later). RLSAND never sends your home data or your requests to its own servers, there are no accounts or API keys, and the AI features carry no per-use cost. All of the app's AI runs on your device. On iOS, iPadOS or macOS 27 or later, where your version of the app offers it, you can choose to let Apple's Private Cloud Compute help; the app asks before it sends anything, and you can change this in Settings. See the Privacy Policy.

Next steps

• What you can do — a tour of the major features.
• Installation — requirements and how to get the app.
• First launch — choosing a home and the free Sample Home.

Feature Overview

See your whole home

A dashboard of pinned tiles, plus a full "My Home" grid covering rooms, zones, devices, sensors, cameras, scenes, batteries, health, automations, and templates. Most tiles show a live count from your HomeKit inventory; Batteries and Health show a status badge instead.

Four ways to build an automation

• Templates — ready-made automations generated from the devices you actually own. Pick a room, pick a template, save. No typing.
• Guided — a step-by-step questionnaire that walks you through trigger, room, device, action, and conditions.
• AI Wizard — describe the automation in plain English; Apple Intelligence parses it on your device and asks clarifying questions when something is ambiguous (iOS 26+).
• Block Editor — an expert, drag-and-drop editor with WHEN / IF / THEN sections and nested condition groups.

See Creating Automations for details on each.

Powerful condition logic

Combine conditions with AND, OR, and nested groups — for example, "motion AND (after 9 PM) AND (front door OR patio door open)." The block editor renders nested groups visually and the AI Wizard accepts them from natural language.

Live device control

Detail pages let you toggle lights, adjust brightness, and read current values directly, on both compact iPhone sheets and the wider iPad/Mac layout.

Health and maintenance

A Health analyzer scans your saved automations for duplicate names, conflicting triggers, low-battery devices, and unreliable time-based triggers — and can repair the time-trigger issues for you.

The AI Assistant

A built-in assistant answers questions about the app and HomeKit and can navigate you to the right screen. It can read its replies aloud, all on-device. Type your question with the keyboard — including its dictation key if you'd rather speak. See AI Assistant.

Search everywhere

Every list page — devices, rooms, sensors, automations — is searchable.

Siri and Shortcuts

Run scenes, run or switch automations, check sensors, and control devices by asking Siri or from the Shortcuts app. See Siri & Shortcuts.

Installation

RLSAND HOME is available on the App Store for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. The same app record covers all platforms.

Requirements

The manual wizard, templates, and block editor work on iOS 17–25. The conversational AI Wizard requires iOS 26+ because it depends on Apple's FoundationModels framework. On older systems the app falls back to the guided wizard automatically.

Permissions

On first launch the app asks for HomeKit access. This is required to read your rooms, devices, and sensors and to save automations. The app's core HomeKit features talk only to HomeKit on your device, and AI requests are handled by Apple Intelligence. RLSAND receives none of your home data or your words. The app can send anonymous usage analytics (you control them in Settings), your app preferences to your own iCloud if you turn on sync, and, on iOS, iPadOS or macOS 27 or later, where your version of the app offers it and only if you allow it, requests to Apple's Private Cloud Compute.

If you decline HomeKit access, you can still explore everything using the free Sample Home.

Do I need any hardware to try it?

No. The built-in Sample Home is fully populated with rooms, devices, sensors, scenes, and example automations, so you can explore every feature without owning any HomeKit accessories. See First launch.

First Launch & Choosing a Home

When you open RLSAND HOME, a single picker — "Choose your home" — lists your real HomeKit homes plus an option to Use the Demo Home — Always Free.

The Sample Home is always free

The built-in Sample Home (also called the Demo Home) lets you explore every feature with no purchase and no HomeKit accessories. It contains a handful of rooms, devices, sensors, zones and scenes, plus six example automations.

Use it to try the AI Wizard, templates, the block editor, and device control before committing.

Unlocking your real home

To work with your own HomeKit home, RLSAND HOME uses a single one-time purchase, Full Unlock, for $14.99. There is no subscription.

• The Sample Home stays free forever.
• Full Unlock enables your own real HomeKit home across iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
• Switching from the Sample Home to a real home prompts the purchase if you haven't unlocked yet.

You can restore a previous purchase from the paywall's Restore option.

Switching homes later

You can return to the home picker at any time and switch between your real home(s) and the Sample Home. Switching back to a real home re-checks your Full Unlock entitlement.

Pricing & Full Unlock

RLSAND HOME uses a simple model: free to explore, one purchase to unlock your home.

What's free

The Sample Home is always free. It is fully populated, so every feature — the AI Wizard, guided wizard, templates, block editor, device control, health, and the assistant — is available to try with no purchase.

Full Unlock — $14.99, one time

A single non-consumable in-app purchase, Full Unlock, enables your own real HomeKit home. There is no subscription and no recurring charge.

• One purchase covers iPhone, iPad, and Mac (it's a single app record across platforms).
• Buy it from the paywall, which appears when you switch to a real home without having unlocked.
• Already purchased on another device? Use Restore on the paywall.

Why one-time and not a subscription

Because the AI is powered by Apple Intelligence rather than a server RLSAND operates, there's no inference cost for us to recover over time. A one-time unlock matches that: you pay once, and the app keeps working.

Redeeming a code

If you have an offer or promo code, you can redeem it through the App Store. Redeemed codes unlock the app the same way a purchase does.

How HomeKit Automations Work

Every HomeKit automation has three parts:

1. A trigger — the when. Something that starts the automation, such as motion being detected, a door opening, or the sun setting.
2. Conditions — the only if. Zero or more filters that must be true for the actions to run, such as "only after 9 PM" or "only if no one is home."
3. Actions — the then. One or more things that happen, such as turning on lights, setting a thermostat, or running a scene.

Read together, an automation says: when (trigger), only if (conditions), then (actions).

You need a home hub

HomeKit needs a home hub — a HomePod, Apple TV, or a resident iPad — to run automations when your iPhone is away from home. Without a hub, time- and sensor-based automations may not fire reliably. The Health page flags hub problems.

Where automations actually live

Automations you save with RLSAND HOME are written into HomeKit itself, so they also appear in Apple's Home app and run independently of RLSAND HOME. The app is a builder and a clearer viewer — it is not a separate automation engine.

On-device AI

When you use the AI Wizard, your request is handled by Apple Intelligence (Apple's Foundation Models framework, iOS 26+). RLSAND never receives your home data or your request, and no subscription is required. It runs on your device; on OS 27 or later, where your version of the app offers it, you can choose to allow Apple's Private Cloud Compute. See On-Device AI.

Learn more

• Triggers, Conditions & Actions
• AND / OR & Nested Logic
• What HomeKit Can't Do

Triggers, Conditions & Actions

An automation is built from one trigger, any number of conditions, and one or more actions.

Triggers — what starts an automation

• Sensor state changes — motion detected, a contact sensor opening/closing, a leak detected, a lock locking/unlocking, a light turning on/off, a garage door, or an outlet.
• Threshold crossings — temperature, humidity, or light level rising above or falling below a value you choose (for example, light level below 50 lux = "it's dark").
• Time — a clock time, sunrise, or sunset, with an optional offset (for example, 30 minutes before sunset).
• Presence — someone arrives, or the last person leaves.
• Doorbell or camera events.

An automation can start from several device or sensor events: in the Block Editor's WHEN section, any one of them starts it. A time, sunrise or sunset, or arrive or leave trigger must be the only trigger. An automation with more than one trigger can't be edited in Apple's Home app.

Conditions — filters after the trigger fires

Conditions narrow when the actions actually run:

• Time of day and day of week.
• Presence (someone home / no one home).
• The state of another accessory.
• Environment thresholds (temperature, humidity, light level).

Conditions can be combined with AND, OR, and nested groups — see AND / OR & Nested Logic.

Actions — what happens

• Turn devices on/off, set brightness, color, or color temperature.
• Lock/unlock a door.
• Set a thermostat target.
• Open/close a window covering.
• Mute a speaker or set its volume (HomePod/Apple TV automation control is limited to mute and volume).
• Run a scene.
• Hand off to a Shortcut where supported.

AND / OR & Nested Logic

RLSAND HOME fully supports combining conditions with boolean logic.

• AND — every listed condition must be true. Example: motion is detected and it's after sunset.
• OR — any one listed condition is enough. Example: the front door or the patio door opens.
• Nested groups — mix them by grouping conditions together. Example: motion and (after 9 PM) and (front door or patio door open).

Where to build complex logic

• The Block Editor renders nested groups visually, so you can see and edit the structure.
• The AI Wizard accepts nested logic from natural language — for example, "when there's motion and it's dark or after sunset."

Apple Home caveat

Apple's own Home app only shows flat all-of / any-of condition lists. If you open an automation with nested logic in Apple Home, it may flatten the structure or display it read-only. Edit complex, nested rules in RLSAND HOME, not in Apple Home, to avoid losing the structure.

What HomeKit Can't Do (and Workarounds)

A single HomeKit automation cannot, by design:

• Loop or repeat an action N times.
• Insert arbitrary mid-automation delays between conditions.
• Query historical state (for example, "if motion happened three times today").
• Keep counters or aggregates (for example, "if the door opened five times").
• Branch into multiple if/else paths.

These are limits of HomeKit itself, not of RLSAND HOME.

Workarounds

• Chain automations — have one automation's action change a state that triggers another.
• Use scenes as reusable bundles of actions, then run a scene from several automations.
• Hand off to Shortcuts for logic HomeKit can't express on its own, where the integration supports it.

If you ask the AI Wizard for something HomeKit can't do, it will tell you rather than build a rule that won't work.

On-Device AI

The AI features in RLSAND HOME are powered by Apple Intelligence (Apple's Foundation Models framework, iOS 26 and later). RLSAND operates no AI server and sends your requests to no third-party AI service — there are no API keys, no accounts, and no per-use cost. All of the app's AI runs on your device. On iOS, iPadOS or macOS 27 or later, where your version of the app offers it, you can choose to let Apple's Private Cloud Compute help; the app asks before it sends anything, and you can change this in Settings. See the Privacy Policy.

What the model is

Apple's on-device system language model is a roughly 3-billion-parameter model designed for privacy and low latency. It has a fixed context window of about 4,096 tokens per session.

How the app keeps it accurate

Because small on-device models can hallucinate, RLSAND HOME constrains the model heavily:

• Keyword-first, LLM-second — deterministic parsing detects triggers, conditions, device types, and rooms; the model confirms but never overrides those results.
• Structured output — every model call returns a typed structure, not free-form prose.
• Fresh sessions — each call starts clean to avoid context pollution.
• Explicit "I don't know" — the model is told to return "none" or "unknown" when evidence is missing, and the app then asks you.

This is also why the wizard follows a strict never-guess rule: when a room, sensor, or trigger is ambiguous, it asks you instead of guessing. See AI Wizard.

Overview — Four Ways to Build

RLSAND HOME offers four tools for creating an automation. They all produce the same kind of HomeKit automation — pick the one that fits how you like to work. You reach them by tapping + on the Automations screen, which opens the Create wizard's mode picker.

The recommended path

If you're not sure, start with Templates — they're built from the devices you already own, so they always produce something that works. Move to the AI Wizard when you want something a template doesn't cover, and the Block Editor when you need precise, nested logic.

Check before saving

Every way of building ends in the Block Editor, with the automation filled in. You check it there, change anything you like, and tap Save. Nothing is written to HomeKit until you do. See Review & Save.

Templates Mode

Templates are ready-made automations generated from your actual rooms and devices — so every suggestion you see is something your home can really do.

How it works

1. Pick a location — All rooms, or a specific room.
2. Pick a template from the suggestions for that location.
3. Check and save — the automation the app built opens in the Block Editor; check it and tap Save to write it to HomeKit.

No typing and no questions.

Why a list might be empty

If no template appears, it means no room has the device-and-sensor combination that any template needs (for example, a template that turns on lights when motion is detected needs both a motion sensor and a light in the same room). Try a different location, or switch to the AI Wizard or Guided mode.

Templates mode is available on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. You can also browse templates directly from the Templates screen.

Guided Mode

Guided mode walks you through an automation one decision at a time. It's the best choice if you're new to HomeKit automations or want to be sure you don't miss a step.

The steps

1. Pick a room — where it happens, so the wizard can offer the right devices and sensors.
2. Answer a few questions — which device, what should happen (turn on, turn off, set brightness, run a scene), what should start it (motion, a door, a time, presence, and so on), and any "only if" conditions.
3. Build the automation — after the last question, the automation opens in the Block Editor, where you check it and tap Save.

Smart shortcuts

• If a room-and-type filter matches exactly one device or sensor, the wizard adds it automatically instead of asking a redundant question.
• The picker filters to the relevant sensor type while you're choosing a trigger or condition.

Guided mode is the fallback on iOS 17–25, where the conversational AI Wizard isn't available. It ends by opening the automation in the Block Editor.

AI Wizard Mode

The AI Wizard lets you describe an automation in plain English and turns it into a working HomeKit rule. Type your request — your keyboard's dictation key works if you'd rather speak it. It's powered by Apple Intelligence and requires iOS 26 or later. See On-Device AI.

What it understands

• Rooms — "kitchen," "downstairs hallway."
• Zones — "downstairs lights" expands to every room in the zone that has the target device.
• Trigger phrases — "someone walks in" = occupancy, "the door opens" = contact, "when it's dark" = a light-level threshold, "at sunset" = sunset, "above 78 degrees" = a temperature threshold.
• Compound clauses — "and," "or," and "but."
• Durations and auto-reverse — "turn on for 5 minutes."

Example: "Turn on the kitchen lights when there's motion and it's dark."

How it works behind the scenes

The wizard identifies the room, looks up the real sensors and devices in that room, analyzes your request (asking a question if needed), generates a structured automation using your actual device names, and shows you a plain-English preview before anything is saved.

It uses your dark threshold from Settings (default 50 lux) to decide what "dark" means, and prefers a light-sensor condition over "after sunset" when a light sensor exists.

The never-guess rule

When a room, sensor, or trigger is ambiguous, the wizard asks you instead of guessing — for example, if "hallway" matches two floors, or a requested sensor isn't in the room. When it asks a question, answer the question rather than retyping your original sentence. This rule is why the AI never silently builds the wrong thing.

The AI Wizard ends by opening the automation in the Block Editor, where you can change anything before you save — it is never saved or run automatically.

Block Editor Mode

The Block Editor is the expert tool. It shows an automation as three sections and lets you build it by hand with full control.

The three sections

• WHEN — "Any of these happen": the events that start the automation (one or more triggers).
• IF — "the following are true": the condition tree, including nested AND/OR groups.
• THEN — the actions that run.

You add items by dragging from a palette into the matching section. Each section highlights when it can accept what you're dragging, and rejects items that don't belong there.

Nested condition groups

The IF section is where the Block Editor shines: you can build nested boolean logic such as motion AND (after 9 PM) AND (front door OR patio door open) and see the structure visually. See AND / OR & Nested Logic.

Inspector

Selecting a block opens an inspector — a trailing sidebar on iPad/Mac, or a sheet on iPhone — where you set the details: brightness, color, color temperature, thresholds, target values, and so on.

When to use it

Reach for the Block Editor when you need precise control or complex nested logic that the other modes don't expose. For everyday automations, Templates or the AI Wizard are faster.

Review & Save

There is no separate review step. When the Guided wizard or the AI Wizard has what it needs, or you pick a template, the automation opens in the Block Editor, filled in.

Check it

The Block Editor shows the automation in its WHEN, IF, and THEN sections, with its name near the top. Read it back, and change anything — the trigger, a condition, an action, or the name — right there, without starting over.

Save it

Tap Save to write the automation into HomeKit. From that moment it also appears in Apple's Home app and runs on your home hub.

Nothing runs until you save

The AI Wizard never saves or runs an automation on its own. You are the one who decides to save it.

Dashboard

The Dashboard is a grid of pinned tiles for your home — a quick, glanceable summary you choose.

• Most tiles show a live count from your HomeKit inventory (devices, sensors, scenes, automations, and so on); Batteries and Health show a status badge.
• You decide which tiles appear here: every tile on the My Home grid has a Show on Dashboard toggle.
• The Batteries tile is green when every battery is healthy and turns red only when at least one device is low or critical.

The Dashboard also offers quick actions to create an automation. To build one, you'll be taken into the Create wizard.

My Home

My Home is the complete destination grid for the home you've selected. From here you can reach every part of the app:

Rooms, Zones, Devices, Sensors, Cameras, Scenes, Batteries, Health, Automations, and Templates.

Most tiles show a live count, and every tile carries a Show on Dashboard toggle, so you can pin the ones you use most to the Dashboard.

Rooms

The Rooms screen lists every HomeKit room in your home, with a count of the devices in each, and a search field to filter by name.

You can add, rename and delete rooms in the app. Use + to add one. To change a room, open it and tap the gear (Room Settings), where you can also choose its zones. Changes are saved to HomeKit, so Apple's Home app shows them too.

Rooms matter for automations: when you describe an automation by room ("the kitchen lights"), the app resolves it against this list. Grouping rooms into Zones lets you target several rooms at once.

Zones

Zones are groupings of rooms — for example, "Downstairs" or "Upstairs." They let you act on several rooms at once.

In the AI Wizard, naming a zone like "downstairs lights" expands to every room in that zone that actually has the target device, so a single sentence can cover the whole floor.

You can create a zone and change which rooms belong to it from the Zones screen. Changes are saved to HomeKit.

Devices

The Devices screen lists your controllable accessories — lights, locks, thermostats, outlets, window coverings, and more — with each one's current state and an on/off toggle.

• View modes — switch between Grid, List, and a Finder-style Columns browser (Columns is the default on iPad/Mac).
• Search — filter by device name or room name.
• Detail pages — tap a device to see all of its services and characteristics, and to control it directly: toggle power, adjust brightness, set color or color temperature, and read live values.

Icons reflect state: a filled icon and category color mean on/active; a dimmed icon means off. A green dot means reachable; red means unreachable.

Devices are the things automations act on. Sensors — which automations react to — live on the Sensors screen.

Sensors

The Sensors screen shows live readings from your sensors: motion, contact, leak, temperature, humidity, light level, and occupancy.

• Search by sensor name, room, or sensor type.
• Readings are cached so they survive app restarts, then refreshed on the next HomeKit poll. You can also tap to refresh.

Sensors are what automations react to — they supply triggers ("when motion is detected") and conditions ("only when light level is below 50 lux"). Which devices automations act on are listed under Devices. See Triggers, Conditions & Actions.

Cameras

The Cameras screen shows your HomeKit cameras as live or cached snapshots. Tap a camera to open its stream.

Camera and doorbell events can also act as automation triggers — see Triggers, Conditions & Actions.

Scenes

Scenes are saved sets of device states — for example, "Good Night" or "Movie Time." On this screen you can tap a scene to run it immediately.

Scenes are also useful as automation actions: instead of listing every device change in an automation, you can have the automation run a scene. Because a scene is reusable, it's a good way to share one bundle of actions across several automations — see What HomeKit Can't Do for why this is a recommended workaround.

Automations

This is the list of every automation you've saved, each with a plain-English summary of what it does. You can sort and group the list and search it by name.

Creating a new automation

Tap + to open the Create wizard, then choose a mode: Templates, Guided, AI Wizard, or Block Editor. See the Creating Automations overview.

Editing and viewing

Tap an automation to view or edit it. Automations you save here are written into HomeKit, so they also appear in Apple's Home app and run on your home hub.

Keeping them healthy

The Health screen scans this list for duplicate names, conflicting triggers, and unreliable time-based triggers, and can repair some issues automatically.

Templates

The Templates screen lets you browse ready-made automation suggestions generated from your own rooms and devices. Pick a location (all rooms or a specific room), pick a template, review the automation the app built, and save it to HomeKit.

If the list is empty, no room has the device-and-sensor combination a template needs — pick a different location or use another create mode.

This is the same engine behind Templates mode in the Create wizard.

Batteries

The Batteries screen shows the battery level of every accessory that reports one.

The Batteries tile (on the Dashboard and My Home) is green when every battery is healthy and turns red only when at least one device is low or critical.

Low batteries matter for automations: a sensor with a dead battery can't trigger a rule. The Health screen flags low-battery devices that an automation depends on.

Health

The Health screen scans your saved automations and home for problems that quietly break automations or erode trust:

• Duplicate names across automations, devices, rooms, and scenes.
• Conflicting triggers — two rules driving the same device at the same time.
• Low-battery devices that an automation depends on.
• Home hub / network health warnings.
• Unreliable time triggers — sunrise, sunset, or calendar automations saved without explicit weekday recurrences, which iOS may run unreliably.

Each finding shows a suggested fix. For unreliable time triggers, the app can repair them for you: it rebuilds the automation with explicit weekday recurrences and reports any per-rule failures rather than hiding them. A one-time notification can alert you when a new repairable issue appears.

The Health tile on the Dashboard and My Home shows the number of outstanding findings.

Settings

Settings is organized into sections:

• AI Assistant — a master toggle. Turning it off hides the chat panel and silences spoken replies.
• AI Character & Voice — pick a persona (Leeann, Cathy, Hex, Tomas, Andrew, Tim, or a custom one) and its eye color, which is stored per persona. Voice tuning lives here too. See Voice & Personas.
• iCloud sync.
• Appearance — dark or light mode and background.
• Device-type priorities.
• Share Anonymous Usage Data — anonymous usage data. Up to version 1.0.9 it is on by default; from version 1.0.10 nothing is sent until you turn it on. It is anonymous, not linked to your identity, and never includes your home data, request text or audio; turn it off to stop all analytics.
• About.

To pin a tile to the Dashboard, use its Show on Dashboard toggle on My Home.

One setting worth knowing for automations: the dark threshold (lux value) the AI Wizard uses to decide what "dark" means — the default is 50 lux.

AI Assistant Overview

RLSAND HOME includes a built-in assistant, reachable from the sidebar footer (or the chat panel on iPhone). It exists for exactly two purposes:

1. Help — answer questions about the app and about HomeKit automations.
2. Routing — take you to the screen that answers your question or holds the action you want.

It's powered by Apple Intelligence — RLSAND keeps no copy of your questions. See On-Device AI.

What it will and won't do

• It will explain features, answer HomeKit questions, and offer a button to jump to the right screen.
• It knows where you are — replies are grounded in the screen you're currently on.
• It won't build automation logic itself. When you describe an automation you want, it hands you to the Create wizard with your own words carried over — the wizard's tested pipeline does the interpreting.

This keeps the assistant fast and reliable: it points you at the right tool rather than guessing at a rule.

Off-topic and safety

The assistant happily handles light, harmless small talk but will gently steer back to the app, and it declines anything unsafe or inappropriate. It's given a built-in guide to the app, so app and HomeKit questions get the best answers.

Turning it off

You can disable the assistant entirely from Settings — AI Assistant, which also silences spoken replies.

Voice & Personas

The assistant can read its replies aloud, all processed on-device, and you can choose the voice and persona it uses.

Spoken replies and dictation

• Replies can be read aloud. Because they're spoken, the assistant keeps them short and avoids symbols that read out badly.
• Up to version 1.0.9, use your keyboard's built-in dictation key to speak a question; the app itself does not use the microphone. From version 1.0.10, on iOS, iPadOS or macOS 26 or later, the AI Wizard also has a mic button: the app asks for microphone access, and Apple's speech recognition turns your speech into text on your device. RLSAND never receives your audio. See the Privacy Policy.

Personas

In Settings — AI Character & Voice, choose a persona — Leeann, Cathy, Hex, Tomas, Andrew, Tim, or a custom one — and set its eye color (stored per persona). Voice tuning lives in the same section.

A note on pronunciation

The app spells the brand out audibly as "are-ell-sand" so spoken replies say the name clearly rather than mashing it into one word.

The In-App Help (?) Button

The ? button in a screen's header opens the AI Assistant panel. Ask your question there; the assistant knows which screen you're on. The button is hidden when the AI Assistant is turned off in Settings, and on device and sensor detail pages.

To read this full guide inside the app, open Settings → Documentation. Support, the Privacy Policy, and the Terms of Use are in the same place.

Siri & Shortcuts

RLSAND HOME adds actions to Siri and the Shortcuts app. Say the phrase with "in RLSAND Home" at the end, or add the action to a shortcut.

You can also say a name directly, for example "Run Good Night in RLSAND Home".

From version 1.0.10, on iOS and iPadOS 18 or later, the app also adds your room, device, scene and automation names to Search on your device, so Siri can find them. It's on by default; turn it off in Settings → General → Siri and Search.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is RLSAND HOME free?

You can explore everything for free using the built-in Sample Home. To use your own real HomeKit home, there's a single one-time purchase, Full Unlock ($14.99). There is no subscription. See Pricing & Full Unlock.

Does the AI send my data anywhere?

Your request is handled by Apple Intelligence (Apple's Foundation Models framework). RLSAND operates no AI server and sends your request to no third-party AI service, and there are no accounts or API keys for the AI features. All of the app's AI runs on your device. On iOS, iPadOS or macOS 27 or later, where your version of the app offers it, you can choose to let Apple's Private Cloud Compute help; the app asks before it sends anything, and you can change this in Settings. See On-Device AI and the Privacy Policy.

Do I need any HomeKit devices to try it?

No. The Sample Home is fully populated with rooms, devices, sensors, scenes, and example automations.

Why do I need iOS 26 for the AI Wizard?

The conversational AI Wizard depends on Apple's on-device model, which is available on iOS / iPadOS / macOS 26 and later. On earlier systems, the Guided wizard, templates, and block editor still work.

Do automations I create here show up in Apple's Home app?

Yes. Automations are written into HomeKit, so they appear in Apple Home and run on your home hub independently of RLSAND HOME.

Why does the wizard keep asking me questions instead of just building it?

By design. When a room, sensor, or trigger is ambiguous, the app asks rather than guesses, so it never silently builds the wrong automation. Answer its question to continue. See AI Wizard.

Can I build AND/OR logic?

Yes — including nested groups. Build complex logic in RLSAND HOME rather than Apple Home, which can only display flat condition lists. See AND / OR & Nested Logic.

Can I rename a room in the app?

Yes. Open the room and tap the gear (Room Settings) to rename it, choose its zones, or delete it. Use + on the Rooms screen to add a room. Changes are saved to HomeKit. You can also create zones and change their rooms in the app. See Rooms and Zones.

Troubleshooting

My automation doesn't run when I'm away from home

You likely need a home hub — a HomePod, Apple TV, or resident iPad — to run automations while your iPhone is away. Check the Health screen for hub warnings.

A time-based automation (sunrise/sunset) fires unreliably

Time triggers saved without explicit weekday recurrences can be unreliable on iOS. Open Health; it detects these and can repair them by rebuilding the automation with explicit recurrences.

A sensor isn't triggering my automation

Check the sensor's battery on the Batteries screen — a dead battery means the sensor can't report. Also confirm the sensor shows a recent reading on the Sensors screen.

The templates list is empty

A template needs a specific device-and-sensor combination in the same room (for example, a motion sensor and a light). If no room qualifies, the list is empty. Try a different location or use the AI Wizard. See Templates.

My nested AND/OR logic looks wrong in Apple's Home app

Apple Home only displays flat condition lists and may flatten or read-only-display nested rules. Edit complex logic in RLSAND HOME. See AND / OR & Nested Logic.

The AI Wizard isn't available

It requires iOS / iPadOS / macOS 26 or later. On earlier systems, use the Guided wizard instead.

A device shows a red dot or won't respond

A red dot means the accessory is unreachable. Check that it's powered and on your network; the issue is usually with the accessory or hub rather than the app.

My changes aren't showing up

Use Sync HomeKit to refresh the app's view of your home after making changes in Apple Home or adding accessories.

Glossary

Action — Something an automation does, such as turning on a light or running a scene. See Triggers, Conditions & Actions.

Automation — A saved rule made of a trigger, optional conditions, and one or more actions.

Block Editor — The expert, drag-and-drop create mode with WHEN / IF / THEN sections. See Block Editor.

Condition — A filter that must be true for an automation's actions to run.

Full Unlock — The one-time $14.99 purchase that enables your real HomeKit home. See Pricing & Full Unlock.

Home hub — A HomePod, Apple TV, or resident iPad that runs automations when you're away.

Nested group — Conditions grouped together to express logic like A AND (B OR C).

Apple Intelligence (Foundation Models) — Apple's AI framework (iOS 26+) that powers the app's AI features. It runs on your device; on OS 27 or later, where your version of the app offers it, you can choose to allow Apple's Private Cloud Compute. See On-Device AI.

Persona — The assistant's selectable character and voice. See Voice & Personas.

Sample Home (Demo Home) — The free, fully populated home you can explore without a purchase or any accessories.

Scene — A saved set of device states you can run directly or use as an automation action.

Sensor — A device that reports a reading (motion, contact, leak, temperature, humidity, light, occupancy) and supplies triggers and conditions.

Template — A ready-made automation generated from the devices you already own. See Templates.

Trigger — The event that starts an automation.

Zone — A grouping of rooms, such as "Downstairs."