Apple TV Gen 6 as a Home Hub – Is it useful with Aqara and Matter?

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Hi everyone,

I’m currently exploring the combination of Aqara devices with Apple Home and wondering how important an Apple TV is for a larger smart home setup.

From what I understand, Apple TV can work as a home hub and help with remote access and automations in Apple Home. This seems particularly interesting when using Aqara devices through Matter or HomeKit.

I’m trying to understand a few things before deciding whether to add an Apple TV to my setup:

  • How reliable is Apple TV as a Home Hub for everyday automations?
  • Does it make a noticeable difference when using Aqara Matter devices?
  • Is it still useful if I already have an Aqara Hub?
  • Are there any limitations when combining Aqara, Matter and Apple Home?

I found this article about Apple TV Gen 6 and its potential role in a smart home setup:

For those using Aqara with Apple Home, I’d be interested to hear your experience. Do you consider Apple TV an essential part of your setup, or is an Aqara Hub enough for most automations?

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Aqara things work very well with the Apple ecosystem - it’s what started me with using Aqara in the first place and has kept me with them as my go-to for smart home devices.
An Apple TV as a home hub for an Apple Ecosystem is pretty much a must IMO. Very reliable, easy to setup/use and allows that stable remote access to your Apple Home setup. I’d highly recommend this, especially if starting out with smart home things. The best part is you don’t necessarily need to replace it over time, it can just keep being a part/extending your smart home. Plus it as a TV watching device is top notch.
The ONLY thing I’d say watch out for is Apple might announce a new Apple TV within the next 2 weeks, so if you want the latest and greatest Apple TV you might want to wait (or the current Thread version might get cheaper then too). But definitely get one with Thread to ensure it’s helpful with future smart home stuff.

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In a larger Aqara/Apple Home setup, an Aqara hub and Apple TV solve different problems. The Aqara hub handles Aqara Zigbee/Matter bridging, while a Thread-capable Apple TV acts as an Apple Home hub and border router for remote access and Apple-side automations. I would use an Apple TV 4K 2nd generation or newer with Thread; it does not automatically eliminate duplicate bridges, so I try to keep one exposure path per Aqara accessory where possible.