iOS Quick Controls: Run Your Alarm.com System Without Opening the App
Alarm.com just shipped one of those features that sounds small and changes how you use the system every day. iOS Quick Controls puts arming, locks, the garage door, lights and Scenes directly into your iPhone’s Control Center, Lock Screen and Action Button — so the things you do most no longer require finding and opening the app. It’s live now for every Alarm.com customer with an iPhone: nothing to enable on our end, nothing to buy.
What it is (and what you need)
Quick Controls are native iOS controls, the same kind Apple uses for the flashlight and timer — but wired to your Alarm.com system. They can live in three places: the Control Center (the panel that opens when you swipe down from the top-right corner), the Lock Screen (the two buttons in the bottom corners), and the Action Button on the side of newer iPhones.
- iOS 18 or later, with a current version of the Alarm.com app signed in
- Any iPhone for Control Center and Lock Screen; the Action Button needs an iPhone 15 Pro or newer
- Supported controls: security arming, locks, garage doors, lights and switches, Scenes, and Buzz Open for buildings that use it
Add one to the Control Center
- Swipe down from the top-right corner of the screen to open the Control Center
- Tap the + in the upper-left corner, then Add a Control
- Scroll or search the gallery for Alarm.com and pick the control you want — each device or Scene is its own tile, so add as many as you use
Put one on the Lock Screen
- Press and hold anywhere on the Lock Screen, then tap Customize
- Tap the − on the button you’re replacing (flashlight or camera, in the bottom corners)
- Tap the + that appears and choose your Alarm.com control
One honest note: Lock Screen buttons show only the device’s icon, not its name — so if you add one lock among several, remember which one it is.
Map the Action Button (iPhone 15 Pro and newer)
- Open Settings → Action Button
- Swipe across to Controls and tap Choose a Control
- Pick the Alarm.com action you want on the hardware button
The garage door is the sleeper pick here: hold the button as you pull up the driveway and the door is opening before your thumb finds any screen.
The fine print worth knowing
Your phone must be unlocked for a command to execute. That’s deliberate — Face ID is what keeps a stolen phone from disarming your house from the Lock Screen.
Status feedback varies: security, locks and garage doors show a “Sent” state while the command travels to the panel; lights and switches flip immediately.
These are not widgets. Home Screen widgets still exist and still work — Quick Controls are the ones in Control Center, on the Lock Screen and behind the Action Button. Use both if you like. Full details in Alarm.com’s reference article.
Our recommended setup
For most households: arming in the Control Center (the thing you check and fix most), the garage door on the Action Button if your phone has one, and a Goodnight Scene — arm, lock, lights off — wherever you’ll actually tap it. If you haven’t built that Scene yet, that’s a five-minute job in the app.
Questions, or a system that can’t do this?
If we installed your system, we’re happy to walk you through any of this — send us a message or call (928) 843-7767. And if your current alarm company’s app doesn’t do things like this, that’s usually fixable: we take over existing systems onto Alarm.com across Utah — same equipment in most cases, month-to-month, no contract.
