Controller for HomeKit vs iSmartgate Access
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Controller for HomeKit
Enhance your smart home experience with advanced control and automation. Visualize your home with floor plans, track device performance with charts, and create complex automations tailored to your needs. Organize devices, store setup codes, and monitor your entire smart home ecosystem.
- Floor plan visualization with LiDAR
- Device performance charts
- Complex automations and workflows
- Custom notifications
- Smart folders and filters
- Setup code storage
- Device maintenance and logs
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Get more out of your smart home. Your HomeKit and Matter devices can do more than on and off: Controller for HomeKit gives you dashboards you build yourself, workflows that run over several steps, months of history, and a floor plan you control directly. YOUR OWN DASHBOARD Your devices sit where you need them, instead of in a list. - Views you compose yourself from tiles: per home, per person, and if you want, per device. One for the iPad on the wall, one for the iPhone in your pocket. - More than 25 tile variants: devices, scenes, workflows, time, weather, calendar, charts, battery warnings. - Five standard sizes, or drag your own size on the grid. - Visibility conditions: a tile or a whole section appears only when you need it. - Plus widgets for your Home Screen and a view of your own on Apple Watch. CONTROLLER AI Describe what you need in plain language: a dashboard, a scene, an automation or a workflow. Controller builds it, and you adjust it however you like afterwards. MORE THAN A SCHEDULE Two devices become a sequence that thinks along. - Workflows: multiple steps, conditions and branches for sequences a single automation cannot express. - Automations with advanced triggers and conditions. - States: virtual switches that capture how your home currently stands and drive your workflows accordingly. - Custom notifications for anything you want to know about. - NFC tags: one tap and the workflow runs. YOUR SENSORS ARE ALREADY MEASURING Controller remembers the values and makes them readable. - Charts: see how temperature, humidity or battery level develop over weeks and months, across every device and brand. - Maintenance: which battery is empty, which device is unreachable, which automation is broken. - Logs: every activity and every change, traceable. - Smart folders: devices and automations grouped by filters you define. - Floor Plan: scan your home with the LiDAR sensor of your iPhone or iPad and control your devices right on the plan. - Controller Hub: a dedicated iPhone, iPad, Apple TV or Mac runs your workflows automatically. Charts and States require Controller Hub. SHARE THE WORK, NOT JUST THE SWITCHES - Home Sharing: pass your entire setup to the people you live with. For each person you choose between the whole app or only the dashboards you share with them. - Setup codes: your HomeKit and Matter codes stay safe in the app and never get lost. - Backups: save your setup and restore it whenever you need to. Controller for HomeKit runs on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV. You already own the devices. Controller for HomeKit brings out what is in them. More on our website: https://www.controllerforhomekit.com Privacy Policy: https://controllerforhomekit.com/privacy/ Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
iSmartgate Access
Control and monitor your garage doors or gates remotely using your smart device. This app works with a separate iSmartgate device to provide status alerts, manage multiple doors, and integrate with smart home assistants.
- Remote garage door control
- Garage door status alerts
- HomeKit, Google Assistant, IFTTT compatible
- Supports multiple garage doors (PRO version)
- IP camera integration
- Unlimited user access
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This App works with the iSmartgate device that can be purchased separately at www.ismartgate.com. The iSmartgate Access app will connect your iPhone or iPad to the iSmartgate device via your Wi-Fi home network or internet. Product details: •HomeKit Compatible (iSmartgate PRO and LITE). •Google Assistant Compatible. •IFTTT Compatible. •Amazon Echo Compatible via IFTTT. •This APP (when used in conjunction with the iSmartgate device) will open up to 3 garage doors/gates (PRO version) or a single garage door/gate (LITE, LITE 2 and MINI versions). •Live video streaming: watch your garage in real time from the door screen, without leaving the app. •Connect an IP camera to your iSmartgate device to see what is happening in your garage (up to 3 cameras, one for each door on the PRO version). •Garage door status alert: shows if your garage doors are Open or Closed. •Push notifications when a door is opened or left open. •Event history: see who opened each door and when. •Guided Wi-Fi setup for iSmartgate MINI and LITE 2, and automatic Wi-Fi setup through HomeKit for PRO and LITE. •Clean, intuitive and user friendly interface. •Unlimited number of users can download the app and operate a single garage. •Remote access. •Compatible with all garage door openers. What's new in 2.9.0: •Live camera video is now built into the door screen. •Rebuilt and much faster iSmartgate MINI setup. •Improved settings and event history on MINI devices with older firmware. •Lower battery consumption and general stability improvements.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Controller for HomeKit at 4.1 against iSmartgate Access's 2.5. Controller for HomeKit also leads on ratings volume (2.7K vs 34) and update cadence (every 10 days vs every 2 months). iSmartgate Access's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10) and iOS requirement (14.4 vs 17.0). On price, review sentiment and ads there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Controller for HomeKit sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. iSmartgate Access asks for nothing beyond the download.
Controller for HomeKit holds the better App Store score, 4.1 against 2.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Controller for HomeKit has 2.7K ratings behind it against 34, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 27% of Controller for HomeKit's written reviews are positive against 23% of iSmartgate Access's.
Controller for HomeKit ships an update every 10 days, iSmartgate Access every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Controller for HomeKit | iSmartgate Access |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.1 (2.7K ratings) — better | 2.5 (34 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 26.7% of reviews — better | 23.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 2.7K — better | 34 |
| Update frequency | Every 10 days — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 14.4 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 210 MB | 84 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | acasa Software GmbH | PYKRS |
Customer experience
Controller for HomeKit
iSmartgate Access
User reviews
Controller for HomeKit
From 2.7K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Powerful automation features
- 📚 Helpful backup and restore functionality
- 🔍 Detailed logging and troubleshooting
- 🧠 Advanced HomeKit control and customization
Room to improve
- 🐛 Buggy and crash-prone
- 💰 Expensive subscription model
- 🤖 Poor customer support
- 🤔 Confusing and unintuitive UI
iSmartgate Access
From 34 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Works with HomeKit
- 👍 Works with Apple Watch
- 👍 Saves time
- 👍 Good support when available
- 👍 Reliable when working
Room to improve
- 🐛 Buggy and cumbersome app
- 🐛 Inconsistent performance
- 🐛 Frequent connection issues
- 🐛 Poor HomeKit integration
- 🐛 Baffling interface
Bugs and requests
Controller for HomeKit
Reported bugs
4 issues- Backup and restore issues
- Disappearing automations and accessories
- Compatibility problems with iOS 16.2
- Slow performance and unresponsiveness
Requested features
4 requests- Improved documentation and tutorials
- Better integration with Apple Home app
- Support for more HomeKit device types
- Ability to customize automation triggers
iSmartgate Access
Reported bugs
19 issues- App crashes and freezes
- Login forms break password manager integration
- Automations stopped working after iOS updates (e.g., ios26, 16.2, 16.4, 18)
- Device stops responding after a few minutes
- Door sensor keeps losing connection
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- Lost Wi-Fi connection after updates
- HomeKit 'no response' errors
- App slow to refresh and load pages
- Incorrect door status in HomeKit
- App doesn't detect door position
- Alerts not working for the app
- Cannot access users menu
- Warning 'feature' (sound/light) requires factory reset to disable
- Device stops working after Wi-Fi upgrade
- App doesn't match screenshots, missing remote access/add user options
- Wrong doors opening after update
- Sensor states flipped, identity flipped
- HomeKit compatibility broken after firmware update
- Video codec requires additional payment
Requested features
5 requests- CarPlay integration
- Schedule open/close options
- Apple Watch app
- Ability to open gate partially (e.g., 20%)
- Add additional users/user menu access
In-app purchases
Controller for HomeKit
- Controller Essentials2 variants$4.991 Month
- Essentials Lifetime - Plus Addon$4.991 Month
- Controller Plus$8.991 Month
Show 3 moreShow fewer
- Essentials Lifetime - Plus Addon3 Months trial$39.991 Year
- Controller Essentials7 Days trial2 variants$39.991 Year
- Controller Plus7 Days trial$79.991 Year
- Controller Essentials Lifetime$99.99
- Controller Essentials Lifetime$139.99
iSmartgate Access
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Controller for HomeKit free?
Is iSmartgate Access free?
Which has better reviews, Controller for HomeKit or iSmartgate Access?
Do Controller for HomeKit or iSmartgate Access have ads?
Which is updated more often, Controller for HomeKit or iSmartgate Access?
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