HomeBot for HomeKit vs READYWARE Universal Remote
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
HomeBot for HomeKit
This app enhances your smart home automation by providing powerful new actions for your HomeKit setup. It allows for bulk control of scenes, devices, and properties, as well as detailed information retrieval from your connected devices and sensors.
- Bulk HomeKit action execution
- Detailed HomeKit item listing and filtering
- Trigger scenes and switch device status
- Change device properties like brightness and temperature
- Set primary home for default Siri use
- Supports a wide range of smart home devices and sensors
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HomeBot for HomeKit lets you automate your home with Shortcuts and the command line. It includes two powerful actions to manage your HomeKit setup: • Run Home Action: Control scenes and devices in bulk, adjust device properties, or set your primary home. • Get Home Items: Find and filter scenes, devices, device groups, rooms, and homes by name, item type, service type, room, home, activation status, or supported actions and properties. Results include item details, device properties such as light brightness and thermostat target temperature, and sensor readings such as temperature, humidity, and air quality. Action Types: • Trigger Scene: Trigger one or more scenes. • Switch Scene Status: Activate, deactivate, or toggle one or more scenes. • Switch Device Status: Activate, deactivate, or toggle one or more devices or device groups. • Change Device Property: Adjust supported device or device group properties, such as light brightness, thermostat target temperature, or the position of blinds. • Set Primary Home: Set the primary home shared with HomeControl. Setting your primary home propagates the change to all your devices. Explore the included example shortcuts to get started: • Trigger Scenes: Choose scenes in your primary home and trigger them together. • Switch Lightbulbs in Room: Toggle, activate, or deactivate all lightbulbs in a room. • Get Home Status: Export the status of all items in your primary home to a JSON file. • Get Temperature Measurements: Read each temperature sensor in your HomeKit setup. • Set Thermostats Temperature: Set the target temperature of one or more thermostats. • Set Light Brightness in Room: Set the light brightness of all lightbulbs in a room. • Change Lightbulb Colors: Cycle lightbulbs through the colors of the rainbow. • Set Primary Home: Choose which HomeKit home to use as your primary home. Automation Systems: • Shortcuts: Build advanced HomeKit workflows by combining HomeBot’s powerful actions with the built-in Shortcuts actions and automation triggers. • Command-Line Automation on Mac: Automate HomeKit from Terminal, scripts, or AI agents with the included "homebot-cli" tool. Export HomeKit data as JSON for use in your scripts. HomeBot supports macOS, iOS, and iPadOS. Notes: • HomeBot can detect and control the following types of devices: outlets, lightbulbs, switches, thermostats, fans, air purifiers, heaters, humidifiers, dehumidifiers, windows, window coverings, faucets, valves, irrigation systems, doors, garage door openers, and locks. • HomeBot also supports reading measurements or detections from the following types of sensors: temperature, humidity, air quality, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, contact (doors, windows, and window coverings), smoke, leak, motion, light, and occupancy sensors. • HomeBot supports changing and reading light brightness and color, thermostat and heating/cooling modes, target temperatures and thresholds, humidity targets and thresholds, fan and air purifier modes, rotation speed and direction, swing, physical controls lock, and the position of doors, windows, blinds, or shades. • HomeBot also reads detailed air-quality measurements, battery levels, and filter status when available. • HomeBot Command-Line Automation requires macOS 26 or later. Privacy by Design: HomeBot works completely on-device and does not store or send any information outside of the protected app sandbox.
READYWARE Universal Remote
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READYWARE - The Simple Solution. The Ultimate GUI. The ultimate smart universal remote control for iPhone and iPad. Turn your iPhone or iPad into a fully customizable IR and RF remote that controls every device in your home - TVs, cable boxes, soundbars, fans, ACs, smart lights, fireplaces, even sprinklers. One app. One canvas. Every room. So easy you won't even need instructions. Smart IR / RF & Learning - The Largest Database of Downloadable Remotes on the Internet 700,000+ IR signals. 1,100+ brands. Thousands of devices. Pick your device. Pick your brand. Your remote is ready in seconds. No manual code entry. No guesswork. Or learn any code from any existing remote - IR or RF - straight into your layout. Custom Canvas - Your Remote Can Look Like Anything The canvas is a blank slate. Drag and drop buttons anywhere - any size, color, shape, icon, label, or transparency. Pick any wallpaper: live streaming video, IP cameras, YouTube, GIFs, or any URL. Drop transparent buttons over a photo of your actual remote. Make it look exactly like the real thing - or something better. IR Blasters That Work Forever. Works with WiFi blasters (BroadLink RM4, RM4 Mini, RM4 Pro - IR and RF), USB IR blasters (Generic HID, SiLabs CP210x, CH341 / CH340), little USB-C IR blasters. The Ocrustar, Tiqiaa, ZaZaRemote, ElkSmart family. Global Caché iTach WiFi, TCP sendir protocol, Tuya and SmartIR devices. Use one - or many at once. The .irc Open Standard - A New Standard for the Industry Every remote saves as a portable .irc file - raw IR pulse timings that work with any hardware, forever. Download remotes. Share them with friends. Build your own from scratch. Save your entire setup as a .ircprofile and restore it on any device. Back up and restore in seconds. Never lose a setup again. Your remotes. Your layout. Your way. Forever. Features: • Custom Canvas Builder - buttons any size, color, shape, label, transparency • Web Viewer - full remote access from any browser worldwide • Video & Web Wallpapers - live cameras, YouTube, GIFs, any URL • IR & RF Learning - learn any signal from any remote • Signal Editor - edit IR pulse timings, visualize waveforms live • Format Converter - paste Pronto Hex, LIRC, Flipper Zero, BroadLink, Global Caché - all auto-detected • Smart Home - Philips Hue, Home Assistant, Kasa, any HTTP device • Voice & Siri Ready - ask Siri to find your remote, it finds it • Screen Mirror - cast your canvas to the big screen, buttons float over live video • No subscriptions. No ads. No in-app purchases. No data collection. No cloud lock-in. READYWARE.com
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: READYWARE Universal Remote at weekly against HomeBot for HomeKit's every 3 months. READYWARE Universal Remote also leads on iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). HomeBot for HomeKit's advantage is price ($5.99 vs $9.99) and chart position (#200 vs unranked). On ads, in-app purchases and device support 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
HomeBot for HomeKit costs $5.99 and READYWARE Universal Remote $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
HomeBot for HomeKit ships an update every 3 months, READYWARE Universal Remote weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 23, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | HomeBot for HomeKit | READYWARE Universal Remote |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $5.99 — better | $9.99 |
| Rating | 4.3 (18 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 35.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 18 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | — |
| Best chart rank | #200 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 15.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 13 MB | 52 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Pedro Jose Pereira Vieito | James Blackhall |
In-app purchases
HomeBot for HomeKit
No in-app purchases
READYWARE Universal Remote
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is HomeBot for HomeKit free?
Is READYWARE Universal Remote free?
Do HomeBot for HomeKit or READYWARE Universal Remote have ads?
Which is updated more often, HomeBot for HomeKit or READYWARE Universal Remote?
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