Beginning with version 1.5, Eve supports all HomeKit-based triggers (location, value, time) and conditions. The simplest type of automation with HomeKit involves timers. At a user-defined day and time, the timer triggers a prebuilt scene, such as turning on the kitchen lights via Eve Energy. Timers can be set to fire up once or on repeating basis, e.g., every day at 7 a.m. This post explains how to use timers.

Simple Timers
The simplest version of a trigger involves triggering (activating) a pre-defined scene at a certain time on a specific day. To create a timer, simply navigate to the “Scenes” tab and choose “Timers” at the top. Select “Once” and set the date and time. Next, choose the pre-defined scene that should be triggered and set a name for the timer.

Repeating Timers
In addition to simple timers, HomeKit also supports repeating timers, which are also found in Eve’s timer settings. The first step in creating repeating timers is the same as that for simple timers: set the date and time when the timer is supposed to start for the first time. Select “Repeat” and then choose the repeat time for the timer, such as “daily” or “every 30 minutes.”
An important note about repeating timers: You can only select repeating intervals that match the range of frequency repetitions HomeKit offers. The minimum interval is 5 minutes, and the maximum is 5 weeks. You cannot specify a duration, i.e., a date range for when the timer is valid and should be executed.

Fixed Time and No Conditions
If you have ever used rules with value or time conditions, you might have been using time conditions. They are completely different from timers, so don’t get them mixed up. While timers always trigger a scene at a certain time, time conditions restrict a rule based on a location or value trigger and offer different options. For example, you can trigger a scene if you arrive home (location trigger) later than 8 p.m. or after sunset (time condition). Timers aren’t based on daily events, such as sunrise or sunset, or settings such as before or after an exact time.

Timer Requirements
As timers are part of HomeKit Automation, you need a device at home to reliably set your preferred scene at the time you have chosen. This can be either an Apple TV 4 with tvOS 10 or later, or an iPad with iOS 10 or later set up as a home hub. If you want to learn more about how this works, check out Apple’s detailed overview. If you don’t have a home hub, timers set up through the Eve app will only work when the iPhone or iPad you have used to set them up is nearby.