BLUCONNECT / USER GUIDE

Shortcuts

Last updated: 7 October 2026

You don't have to open the app every time to control your home. You can run scenes and control your favorite devices from the Home Screen, the Lock Screen, Control Center or with your voice, and turn a tablet into your home's control panel. Widgets and Siri are available on every plan; the wall panel and kiosk mode are part of BluConnect Plus.

iPhone and iPad widgets

Widgets and tiles show your favorite devices and your scenes. To make a device a favorite, turn on Device settings › APPEARANCE › Favorite in the device's settings; favorites apply to you only. You create scenes from the Routines tab. Devices you've hidden don't appear in shortcuts.

Touch and hold an empty area of the Home Screen, then tap Edit › Add Widget.
Choose BluConnect from the list, pick a widget type and size, and add it.
For the Scene or Device widget, touch and hold the widget and edit it to choose which scene or device it shows.

Scenes: runs your scenes with one tap (small, medium, large).
Favorite devices: turns your favorite devices on or off and shows their status; the large size also shows today's energy use.
Scene: runs a single scene of your choice from the Home Screen or Lock Screen.
Device: turns a single device of your choice on or off from the Home Screen or Lock Screen.

Widgets use the language you've chosen in the app and show the latest state the app knows. If a widget says "Sign in to the app", open BluConnect and sign in.

Control Center buttons (iOS)

On iOS 18 and later you can add two kinds of BluConnect buttons to Control Center: BluConnect scene runs the scene you choose, and BluConnect device turns the device you choose on or off.

Open Control Center and touch and hold an empty area.
Tap Add a Control and search for BluConnect.
Choose BluConnect scene or BluConnect device, then pick which scene or device to use.

Android widgets

Touch and hold an empty area of the home screen and tap Widgets.
Find BluConnect and drag the widget you want onto the home screen.
Tapping a scene on the widget runs it; tapping a device turns it on or off.

BluConnect scenes: runs your scenes with one tap.
BluConnect favorites: turns your favorite devices on and off; at a tall enough size it also shows today's energy use.

If the phone can't send the command in the background, BluConnect opens briefly, runs the command and returns to the home page.

Android Quick Settings tiles

Three Quick Settings tiles match the first three devices in your favorites. Each tile shows the device's name and status (On, Off, Offline); tap it to turn the device on or off.

Pull the notification shade all the way down and tap the edit (pencil) icon.
Find the Favorite 1, Favorite 2 or Favorite 3 tile and drag it into your active tiles.
The tile takes your favorite device's name the first time it's shown.

If a device without an on/off control is in your favorites, its tile says "On/off not supported".

Siri and Shortcuts (iOS)

BluConnect makes your device and scene names known to Siri; no extra setup is needed. You can say things like:

"Run Movie night with BluConnect"
"Turn on Living room lamp with BluConnect" / "Turn off Living room lamp with BluConnect"
"What's the status of Air conditioner in BluConnect"
"How much electricity did I use today in BluConnect"
The Shortcuts app also offers these actions: Run scene, Turn on device, Turn off device, Set brightness, Curtain / blind position, Volume, Set temperature, Robot vacuum, Playback (TV, speaker), Start program, Stop program, Device status, Today's energy use.

You can add the actions from Shortcuts to your own shortcuts and Shortcuts automations. Devices you've hidden aren't suggested to Siri.

Wall panel (tablet, Plus)

The wall panel turns a tablet into your home's control panel: a large clock and date, who's home, today's energy use, how many devices are online, cameras, running appliances, scenes and every device by room, all on one screen. The screen stays on while the panel is open.

On the tablet, tap Account › Control › Wall panel (this row only appears on tablets).
To close the panel, tap the X at the top right (Close panel).

Kiosk mode (Plus)

With kiosk mode on, the wall panel becomes the app's only screen: the close button and the Android back button don't work, and you can only leave the panel with a PIN. When the app is opened again, it goes straight back to the panel. The kiosk setting applies to that tablet only.

On the wall panel, tap the settings icon at the top right (Kiosk mode).
Set a kiosk PIN: type a 4–8 digit PIN and tap Continue, then enter it again and tap Turn on kiosk.
On Android, the system asks once to confirm pinning the app to the screen. On iPad, to fully lock the tablet, turn on Settings › Accessibility › Guided Access, then with the panel open, triple-click the side (or top) button and tap Start.
To exit, press and hold the lock icon at the top right, enter the PIN and tap Exit.

App lock

You can lock BluConnect with Face ID, Touch ID or your fingerprint. When it's on, the app asks you to verify at launch and after a long time in the background; your device passcode works as a fallback.

Open the Account tab.
Under Security, turn on "Lock with Face ID" (shown as Touch ID or fingerprint, depending on your device).

This section only appears when you're signed in and your device has biometric unlock set up.

FAQ

My devices don't show up in widgets. What should I do?
Open BluConnect once; widgets use the state the app writes for them. The Favorite devices widget and Android tiles only show devices you've made favorites, and hidden devices don't appear in any shortcut.

Do I need Plus for widgets, Siri or Shortcuts?
No, these are available on every plan. The wall panel and kiosk mode require BluConnect Plus.

I forgot my kiosk PIN. What can I do?
The PIN is stored only on that tablet and can't be reset from within the app. First end screen pinning (Android) or Guided Access (iPad) using the system's own method, then uninstall and reinstall BluConnect and sign in again.

What can I use on Android instead of Siri?
The Android version of BluConnect has no Siri-style voice control; use home screen widgets and Quick Settings tiles to control scenes and favorite devices without opening the app.

BluConnect is coming soon to the App Store and Google Play. Start free; upgrade to Plus when you need it. See plans ↗