Been tinkering with my Aqara Motion Sensors in HomeKit lately and figured I’d share what actually made a noticeable difference. I’m by no means a tech wizard—more like a curious enthusiast with too much time on weekends.
First off, the usual complaint: delays in automations or sensors missing motion altogether. Super frustrating when you walk into a room and the lights just stare back at you like, “Not my job.”
Here’s what helped:
- Moved the hub (Aqara M2 for me) closer to the rooms where sensors are — made a crazy difference. Zigbee doesn’t like walls that much, apparently.
- Set up automations in the Apple Home app instead of the Aqara app — smoother responses and less weird delay.
- Changed the placement of the sensor — instead of high up in the corner, I angled them at about chest level near the doorway. Picks up motion way faster.
- Turned off the battery-saving mode in the Aqara app. Slight battery hit, but performance improved big time.
Also, be patient with firmware updates — sometimes it fixes weirdness out of nowhere. Just check the version once in a while in the Aqara app even if you’re mostly living in HomeKit.
Anyone else found other tweaks that helped? Would love to hear — always trying to squeeze more out of these little guys.