Celebrate Pi Day with these great Raspberry Pi iPhone projects!
Updated March 2017: Added new great Raspberry Pi projects you can create with the help of your iPhone or iPad.
Pi Day is March 14, for obvious reasons. In honor of the mathematically themed holiday, we have a list of some great Raspberry Pi projects that you can use with your iPhone. The tutorials below assume that you already have some working knowledge of how to build projects using Raspberry Pi. If you are new to the RPi community, head over to our guide to getting started.
How to get started with Raspberry Pi
Here are our favorite Raspberry Pi projects that incorporate using your iPhone or iPad.
Siri-enabled HomeKit lights using Raspberry Pi
Siri-enabled temperature sensor using Raspberry Pi
Remote controlled car using iPhone and Raspberry Pi
R-PiAlerts Wi-Fi security system
Alexa on AirPlay speaker
iPad as a Raspberry Pi monitor
Network-wide ad blocker
Using Amazon Echo with Siri HomeKit
Siri-enabled HomeKit lights using Raspberry Pi
Thanks to Apple's HomeKit, you can setup connected home devices, like lighting, locks, and thermostats to your iPhone and ask Siri to activate them for you. This tutorial lets you use the Raspberry Pi as a relay for Philips Hue lights for some extra DIY fun. Once connected, you can ask Siri to turn on your various connected devices that are hooked up to the RPi.
Siri-enabled temperature sensor using Raspberry Pi
This project also uses Apple's HomeKit app, but when you set up a digital temperature sensor module, you can have it transfer data from your Raspberry Pi to your iPhone. Then, ask Siri to tell you the temperature in the room where the sensor is set up and you'll get an accurate reading.
Remote controlled car using iPhone and Raspberry Pi
This clever Raspberry Pi community member built an RC car that you can control with your iPhone using Raspberry Pi. It isn't so much of a tutorial video as it is a description of how he built it. He does, however, include information on the hardware and software that he used, so you can look up the tutorials individually. The project looks fairly easy to put together but might take you a bit of time.
R-PiAlerts Wi-Fi security system
This project is great for creating an outdoor security system that will alert you when something happens around the perimeter of your house. Using two Raspberry Pi units, you can set one up as a camera and the other as a notification device. Using iOS and macOS compatible software, you can get a notification sent to you, and then check to see if the movement is something you should be concerned with, or just a cat trying to find a warm place to hang out.
Get the tutorial
Alexa on AirPlay speaker
Since Amazon launched its always-on digital assistant, tech tinkerers have figured out a way to use a version of Alexa with Raspberry Pi. The program is called AlexaPi and it uses a lot of the same features that Amazon's official version does. This project lets you connect Alexa to any old Bluetooth speaker you have around the house. Plus, it has the added bonus of giving that same speaker AirPlay support. Two for one!
iPad as a Raspberry Pi monitor
The Raspberry Pi is a pretty incredible little computer. But, many of the projects you need require some sort of monitor in order to get the device up and running with proper software and coding. With this VNC viewer project, you can turn your iPad (or even your iPhone) into a monitor for your Pi, so you can take care of projects without needing to set up your PC monitor (or TV set) with it.
Get the tutorial
Network-wide ad blocker
We're all familiar with the advertisement issues facing our daily web browsing experience. If ads were a little more subdued, we wouldn't mind them so much. But, some websites take it to a whole new level. Instead of installing an ad blocker to each of your devices individually, you can use a Raspberry Pi to create a network wide ad blocker at the router level. It's important to remember that advertising is how websites make enough money to stay afloat. We recommend you whitelist sites you visit regularly to help them keep the lights on.
Get the tutorial
Using Amazon Echo with Siri HomeKit
Excited about Amazon Echo, but want it to work with Siri instead? Well, one DIY gadget builder figured out how to hack Alexia and switch her out with Apple's personal assistant instead. It is a complicated project that probably takes more time than justifies the result, but if you are a hardcore hacker, you'll get a kick out of getting Siri to do Alexia's work.
Get the tutorial
Anything Else?
What is your favorite Raspberry Pi project that uses the iPhone? Have you built it? How did it go? Show us pictures of your project.
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