CarHA — Control Home Assistant from Apple CarPlay

[teddytodo (ted)]

Hi Lucian,

Does this app also support Home Assistant scripts? For example, for turning the heating or air conditioning on and off?

Ted

[Lucian7977 (Lucian)]

Hi Ted,

Yes, CarHA fully supports Home Assistant scripts!

When adding a button, simply enter the entity ID of your script (e.g. script.turn_on_heating) and set the type to “Toggle Button”. Tapping the button in CarPlay will trigger the script directly.

This works for any HA entity, including scripts for heating, air conditioning, lights, or any other automation you have set up.

Let me know if you need any help setting it up!

Best regards,
Lucian

[Lucian7977 (Lucian)]

@dLevesque

Thanks.

First impressions:

Configuration from previous version erased, had to restart from scratch;

Geofence radius: cannot change from interface, automatic set at 1 for inner and outer radius (changed in the JSON backup file and copied back);

was never able to trigger the device in geofence from previous versions, will try again. Changed the service from turn_on to toggle. Will let you know;

Cannot change the geofence message, changed it in JSON

Backup and restore: Cannot import from file, only from clipboard;

can change button icon in the dashboard from app, the json backup retains the original icon. Have to change it in app every time I import from clipboard

Cannot have a timer entity in dashboard

App not completely in english, many items still in Română

Honestly, this app shows promise but is still in beta mode,

Hope this helps

Denis

Hi Denis,

Thank you so much for the detailed feedback — it was extremely helpful and led to significant improvements!

Here’s what was fixed in version 1.6, now submitted for Apple review:

1. Configuration reset after update — fixed. Your settings will now be preserved across app updates.

2. Geofence radius sliders — fixed. Outer and inner radius can now be adjusted directly from the interface.

3. Import from file — you can now import your configuration directly from a JSON file, in addition to clipboard.

4. Timer entities — timer entities from Home Assistant are now supported in the dashboard, showing active/paused/idle status.

5. App language — all remaining Romanian text has been replaced with English.

6. Custom notification message — the geofence notification message now saves correctly from the interface.

Regarding the icon issue: the icon is stored in the configuration and should be retained after import. If you’re editing the JSON manually and the icon is reverting, please make sure the “icon” field is present in each button entry in your JSON.

Version 1.6 should be available within 24-48 hours.

Thanks again for helping make CarHA better!

Best regards,
Lucian

[Lucian7977 (Lucian)]

Hi Denis,

Regarding your geofence configuration: I noticed the coordinates in your export show latitude 99.49, which is invalid (latitude must be between -90 and 90). I understand you changed them for privacy, but please make sure your actual saved location in the app uses your real home coordinates.

Also, a few things to verify:

1. Go to iPhone Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services → CarHA and make sure it is set to “Always”.

2. With mode set to “Assist” and delay 0, you should receive a notification when entering the outer radius (100m). Tap “Yes, open” to trigger the action.

3. Make sure the zone is enabled (toggle is ON in the Geofence tab).

4. iOS geofencing has a minimum accuracy of about 100m, so very small radii (under 100m) may not trigger reliably. Try setting the outer radius to at least 200-300m for testing.

Let me know if it works after checking these points!

Best regards,
Lucian

[dLevesque (Denis Lévesque)]

Hello Lucian,

In my settings for Location services, I have only two options: “Never” and “When sharing content”. "Always is not an option.

Also,is it possible to chose our “Current position” when ading a zone? It currently defaults to Bucarest. Furthermore, there is no possibllity to change the radius from the app, it can only be done by changing the json file. It currently defaults to 1m.

Thanks

Denis