# \[HOW TO\] Make ipad turn on screen automatically when motion is detected **URL:** \ **Category:** Tutorials\ **Created:** [March 27, 2021, 4:31pm UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/how-to-make-ipad-turn-on-screen-automatically-when-motion-is-detected/45320 "2021-03-27T16:31:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Daniel\_J](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/daniel_j/32/38761_2.png) [@Daniel\_J](https://community.homey.app/u/Daniel_J)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2021, 4:31pm UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/how-to-make-ipad-turn-on-screen-automatically-when-motion-is-detected/45320/1 "2021-03-27T16:31:58Z")
Hello, So this is great if you have a wallmounted iPad as a dashboard and don´t want the screen to be always on. I searched everywhere for this but did not find any solution. Until yesterday ! I saw a post on reddit with a simple, yet brilliant solution. You need this: iOS device. I have an iPad with iOS 14 that is wallmounted. One motiondetector compatible with homekit (or any other sensor working with homekit). Sensors in homey can be used in homekit with the homeykit app. 1. In the Apple Home app set the motion sensor (or any other sensor of your choice) to send you a notification. This will trigger the display to turn on. In notifaction settings, turn off notification sound for the home app. 2. Go to settings for guided assess mode. Select how long the screen should stay on in guided access mode. 3. Open your dashboard of choice and then activate guided access mode with three clicks on the homebutton. DONE. Now everytime the motion sensor register motion it will send a notifcation, the screen will wake up. But the notifaction will not be seen beacuse you have activated guided asstiance. ATT: You might have to delete your screen password and set the screen to be always on in the screen settings for this to work. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHIudJJxCtA) Simple yet brillant 🙂 I cant find the post on reddit but i want to thank the guy comming up with this idea. ---
**Author:** ![Quakerix](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/quakerix/32/10155_2.png) [@Quakerix](https://community.homey.app/u/Quakerix)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 6:17pm UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/how-to-make-ipad-turn-on-screen-automatically-when-motion-is-detected/45320/2 "2021-04-01T18:17:49Z")
Show a video! ---
**Author:** ![Daniel\_J](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/daniel_j/32/38761_2.png) [@Daniel\_J](https://community.homey.app/u/Daniel_J)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 2:22pm UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/how-to-make-ipad-turn-on-screen-automatically-when-motion-is-detected/45320/3 "2021-04-02T14:22:47Z")
[https://youtube.com/shorts/YHIudJJxCtA](https://youtube.com/shorts/YHIudJJxCtA) 👍 ---
**Author:** ![Satoer](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/satoer/32/38113_2.png) [@Satoer](https://community.homey.app/u/Satoer)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2021, 11:10am UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/how-to-make-ipad-turn-on-screen-automatically-when-motion-is-detected/45320/4 "2021-04-04T11:10:16Z")
A year ago I created a tutorial how to use an ESP32 to unlock an iPad. The ESP32 emulates an bluetooth keyboard and is connected with homey using Homeyduino. With this you can lock and unlock the ipad (like pressing a keyboard) from Homey: > [@Homey ESP32 Bluetooth Keyboard firmware (can lock / unlock iPad remotely) Dev. review needed](https://community.homey.app/t/homey-esp32-bluetooth-keyboard-firmware-can-lock-unlock-ipad-remotely-dev-review-needed/20568): > > I’ve had several request how I unlock and lock my iPad dashboard remotely. I used an old Pad2 that needed an new connector, so when I opened the iPad, I directly soldered a wire to the smart cover magnetic hall sensor to unlock. But opening an iPad is a real pain, and there are better wireless non-intrusive solutions. One solution is to emulate an Bluetooth keyboard and send lock and unlock key shortcuts to it. I’ve written an firmware for a cheap ESP32 module, no need for solde… ---
**Author:** ![Daniel\_J](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/daniel_j/32/38761_2.png) [@Daniel\_J](https://community.homey.app/u/Daniel_J)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2021, 5:57am UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/how-to-make-ipad-turn-on-screen-automatically-when-motion-is-detected/45320/5 "2021-04-05T05:57:54Z")
That is great ! Good to know there is one more solution for this if ”my solution” gets deleted by Apple in the future. 🤩 ---
**Author:** ![Wout\_van\_den\_Dool](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/wout_van_den_dool/32/391_2.png) [@Wout\_van\_den\_Dool](https://community.homey.app/u/Wout_van_den_Dool)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2021, 8:06pm UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/how-to-make-ipad-turn-on-screen-automatically-when-motion-is-detected/45320/6 "2021-05-01T20:06:09Z")
This guy’s channel is great to subscribe, see this wall mounted ipad in combination with motion detection solution: [https://youtube.com/shorts/X9yr0s1kOX8?feature=share](https://youtube.com/shorts/X9yr0s1kOX8?feature=share) ---
**Author:** ![Hycken](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/hycken/32/33966_2.png) [@Hycken](https://community.homey.app/u/Hycken)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2021, 5:15am UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/how-to-make-ipad-turn-on-screen-automatically-when-motion-is-detected/45320/7 "2021-05-19T05:15:53Z")
What dashboard Software do you use? ---
**Author:** ![jeremypsl](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/jeremypsl/32/31124_2.png) [@jeremypsl](https://community.homey.app/u/jeremypsl)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2021, 6:10am UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/how-to-make-ipad-turn-on-screen-automatically-when-motion-is-detected/45320/8 "2021-05-19T06:10:01Z")
Possible on Android ? ---
**Author:** ![Daniel\_J](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/daniel_j/32/38761_2.png) [@Daniel\_J](https://community.homey.app/u/Daniel_J)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2021, 6:49pm UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/how-to-make-ipad-turn-on-screen-automatically-when-motion-is-detected/45320/9 "2021-05-22T18:49:09Z")
It is home assistant but i made some upgrades check this out [Neon Lovelace UI and theme for tablets - Lovelace & Frontend - Home Assistant Community](https://community.home-assistant.io/t/neon-lovelace-ui-and-theme-for-tablets/307230) ---
**Author:** ![Daniel\_J](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/daniel_j/32/38761_2.png) [@Daniel\_J](https://community.homey.app/u/Daniel_J)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2021, 6:50pm UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/how-to-make-ipad-turn-on-screen-automatically-when-motion-is-detected/45320/10 "2021-05-22T18:50:35Z")
No This is for the iOS devices only. ---
**Author:** ![Shiki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5fc32e/32.png) [@Shiki](https://community.homey.app/u/Shiki)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2021, 5:10am UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/how-to-make-ipad-turn-on-screen-automatically-when-motion-is-detected/45320/12 "2021-11-27T05:10:43Z")
my personal opinion ipad not an ideal device for 24/7 panel with power plugged in as battery tends to get bloated. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Joenoo](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/joenoo/32/18671_2.png) [@Joenoo](https://community.homey.app/u/Joenoo)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2021, 10:43am UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/how-to-make-ipad-turn-on-screen-automatically-when-motion-is-detected/45320/13 "2021-11-27T10:43:33Z")
Hmm…if only you could find a way to control the socket so the iPad wouldn’t constantly be powered on… 😁 ---
**Author:** ![anon61197305](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8baadc/32.png) [@anon61197305](https://community.homey.app/u/anon61197305)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2022, 10:57am UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/how-to-make-ipad-turn-on-screen-automatically-when-motion-is-detected/45320/14 "2022-01-06T10:57:56Z")
This is neat! 🙂 Unfortunately I do not have a spare iPad nor do I have power where I would want it. But this is really great! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Danbar78](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/danbar78/32/57455_2.png) [@Danbar78](https://community.homey.app/u/Danbar78)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2022, 11:20am UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/how-to-make-ipad-turn-on-screen-automatically-when-motion-is-detected/45320/15 "2022-10-25T11:20:42Z")
Hi there. Intersteing thread. Anyone have tried this with android device or have a guide or how to? ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Draper](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/jonathan_draper/32/33978_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Draper](https://community.homey.app/u/Jonathan_Draper)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2022, 9:19am UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/how-to-make-ipad-turn-on-screen-automatically-when-motion-is-detected/45320/16 "2022-10-30T09:19:44Z")
A couple more tips / options for getting this to work in case they’re useful to anyone. **Using an older iPad** I have an older iPad used as a dashboard and it can only run iOS 12 so I don’t have any direct control over how long the screen stays on when in guided access mode. Instead there is a setting under guided access mode which allows it to mirror the auto-lock timeout set for the iPad overall. So I have set that to 5 minutes for my use case and then set the guided access mode to mirror it. I also removed the iPad password as suggested in the original post above. **More control over when the screen wakes** To give a bit more control over when the iPad wakes, I use a slightly different approach than a motion sensor sending a notification via HomeKit. Instead I have the Homey app installed on the iPad and logged in as my guest account (which is also the account I use for my homeydash dashboard). I then have flows set up on Homey to send a push notification to the guest user when I want the dashboard to wake up. I do use a motion sensor as a trigger but this way I can factor in other logic as well and in particular, keep the screen awake while there is still motion (without it going off and coming back on again) by sending a new notification after a bit shorter delay than the screen timeout on the iPad while there is still motion. ---
**Author:** ![Patrick-M](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/patrick-m/32/56539_2.png) [@Patrick-M](https://community.homey.app/u/Patrick-M)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2022, 1:00pm UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/how-to-make-ipad-turn-on-screen-automatically-when-motion-is-detected/45320/17 "2022-11-04T13:00:19Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Draper](#): > > keep the screen awake while there is still motion (without it going off and coming back on again) by sending a new notification after a bit shorter delay than the screen timeout on the iPad while there is still motion. Hi Jonathan - I’m a newbie and can’t manage to make this work for me. Could you please share the flow you are using for this in order to make this work? A big great thank you! 👏🏻 ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Draper](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/jonathan_draper/32/33978_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Draper](https://community.homey.app/u/Jonathan_Draper)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2022, 7:14pm UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/how-to-make-ipad-turn-on-screen-automatically-when-motion-is-detected/45320/18 "2022-11-04T19:14:15Z")
Are you asking specifically about how to keep the display from turning off by sending repeat messages? I thought I had that working when I posted the message above but I think I must have been imagining it as after more testing I found the display going to sleep on the iPad can’t be extended with another message. So what I actually have now is the iPad going to sleep for a second or two before being woken again if there is extended movement. It goes something like this: ![Screenshot 2022-11-04 at 19.09.57](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/uploads/athom/original/3X/3/f/3fa596505ac65f9fe294a0f285494c98a1663392.jpeg) My iPad screen is set to sleep after 5 mins and it dims about 30s before that. I found that sending a message before the display is fully off results in it just turning off at the end of its original 5 min time. So I need to time the message as soon after that as possible to minimise the amount of time it’s off. I’ve just refined that with trial and error and so far ended up at 307s as you can see in the flow. I might be able to shave a few more seconds off that with it still working reliably - still a work in progress. ---
**Author:** ![Nick-Renard](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/nick-renard/32/123914_2.png) [@Nick-Renard](https://community.homey.app/u/Nick-Renard)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2026, 6:17pm UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/how-to-make-ipad-turn-on-screen-automatically-when-motion-is-detected/45320/19 "2026-05-15T18:17:50Z")
Hey all, I came across this thread after launching [DimDash](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/dimdash/id6768683806) and it solves most, if not all, of the features that are mentioned. **How it works** DimDash loads your dashboard URL in a full-screen web view. An idle timer starts after your last interaction. When it expires, a smooth overlay fades in to dim the display. Touch the screen and the overlay fades out with your dashboard exactly where you left it. **Device display controls** DimDash can keep your device awake while the app is open so your wall panel does not lock. You can also enable DimDash Brightness to apply a chosen device brightness whenever the app is active. **Integration templates** Getting started takes seconds. Choose from built-in templates for Home Assistant, Grafana, Dashy, Homarr, Glance, Node-RED, and Flame. DimDash auto-fills recommended settings. For Home Assistant, DimDash can discover local instances, run OAuth sign-in, pick a dashboard, securely store credentials, and silently refresh access inside the web view. **Made for wall panels** - Full-screen display with no visible browser chrome. - Keeps the screen awake while DimDash is open. - Optional device brightness control. - Pull-to-refresh for stuck dashboards. - Supports HTTP and HTTPS, including local network addresses. Works on any iPhone or iPad running iOS 16 or later. Take a look at the [website here](https://www.nick-renard.com/dimdash) to learn more. There are Pro features behind a $0.99 monthly (1-month free trial available) and a $9.99 yearly subscription to cover development costs. If you have any questions, feel free to start a discussion on the GitHub community page linked in the website and App Store page. ---
**Author:** ![smarthomesven](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/smarthomesven/32/79712_2.png) [@smarthomesven](https://community.homey.app/u/smarthomesven)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2026, 4:37pm UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/how-to-make-ipad-turn-on-screen-automatically-when-motion-is-detected/45320/20 "2026-05-18T16:37:56Z")
> [@Nick-Renard](#): > > DimDash loads your dashboard URL in a full-screen web view. But the Homey dashboard is only supported in the mobile app, not in the web app Do you use Homey? ---
**Author:** ![Nick-Renard](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/nick-renard/32/123914_2.png) [@Nick-Renard](https://community.homey.app/u/Nick-Renard)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2026, 11:32pm UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/how-to-make-ipad-turn-on-screen-automatically-when-motion-is-detected/45320/21 "2026-05-18T23:32:55Z")
If I’m not mistaken, the [https://homey.tv](https://homey.tv) site allows you to view your dashboards in a browser after authenticating with the QR code/link. If that is not supported, please disregard my post.