Especially during the darker months, many people struggle to get out of bed. A wake-up light can help with this. With a Workflow and Hub Mode in Controller for HomeKit, you can easily achieve this using any Apple Home-compatible lamp. For an enhanced experience, don’t miss the bonus tip at the end, which explains how to automatically start your wake-up light with your alarm via a Siri Shortcut.
Start Event
First, add a start event with the time when the wake-up light should activate and set the repetition to “Daily”. In our example, this is every day at 5:40 AM. The specific weekdays on which the wake-up light is active are defined in the conditions.
Condition
As a condition, we add another schedule and set the time to “After 12:00 AM.” Then, we can specify the weekdays—in our case, Monday to Friday.
Steps
Add the Step “Control Accessory”
Start by adding “Control Accessory”, select the lamp and set the color to a warm red hue.
Add the Step “Control Accessory”
Now, add “Control Accessory” again, select the lamp, and set the brightness to 10%.
Add the Step “Control Accessory”
Add “Control Accessory” again, select the lamp, and turn it on.
Add the Step “Wait”
Then, add a “Wait” step and set it to 1 minute.
Repeat the Steps
Repeat all steps except for turning the lamp on. Gradually change the color from red to orange to a warm white and increase the brightness by 10% each time until it reaches 100%. You can also add additional steps to adjust the color temperature or saturation.
Tip: You can duplicate steps by tapping on the step’s icon.
Final Overview
From Monday to Friday, the wake-up light turns on at 5:40 AM and gradually dims up to 100% over 10 minutes, transitioning from red to orange to a warm white.
Bonus Tip: Automatically Start Your Wake-Up Light with Your Alarm
Create a Siri Shortcut that includes the “Run Workflow on Hub” action from Controller for HomeKit and select the Wake-Up Light workflow. Then, open the Automation tab in the Siri Shortcuts app and create a new personal automation triggered by your alarm—specifically when the alarm is turned off. Make sure to enable “Run Immediately” so that the workflow executes without any confirmation, and finally select the shortcut you just created.
