Lately, the product team and I have been thinking a lot about the way we all control our smart devices. Right now, things are pretty locked in. A switch is just a switch, a sensor has fixed states, and you interact with them exactly how we designed the UI. It’s functional, but we believe that there are a lot more possibilities.
So, we’re exploring a new concept: what if we opened up the sandbox?
We want to open up the “sandbox” by introducing customizable Device Plugins. The goal is to give you the freedom to redefine how your devices look, feel, and behave.
To give you an idea of what we’re kicking around in the office, here are a few concepts:
Logic Flip: Repurposing a Water Leak Sensor for a fish tank—where “wet” is the normal state and “dry” triggers the alert.
Hi, @Sonja , especially this idea is very cool, I have been using this method for a long time to control the level of food water in the tank. The problem for this method is the lack of sensor status conditions in the IF section. By the way, the plugin can also be for a pool in the yard.
And if you combine it with a new outlet, it’s a total FANTASTIC
This is cool.
This sounds great! Looking forward to all the upcoming input!
I‘m a visual guy and love the idea of having a dynamic UI. Weather based visual adaption or high temperature or bad air quality changing the UI to red elements for example is what is love to see
Hi @gafich10, this is a great example — and even better, it’s based on a real usage pattern you already have.
You’re already thinking beyond the sensor itself, and into combined device behavior with an outlet.
Please feel free to go as bold and as specific as you want
If paired with an outlet, what should happen exactly?
What would be the ideal UI for this plugin?
And definitely feel free to use AI tools to visualize your idea. The images in the original post were AI-generated concept images, so AI mockups, UI sketches, or even simple scene illustrations are all welcome here too. The more concrete the idea, the better we can understand and evaluate it.
Would love to see your expanded version of this concept.
Hey @Sonja …. I would like to have another option! It would great if we could rename the automations and its alarm by ourselves- so if you abuse a water detector for measuring the water height of a pool - there shouldn’t come : leak is detected - it would better if you could rename into : pool is full!
Or if you use the water detector for outdoor to check if the rain starts ….
So if you use sensors for another project- you will get an accurate feedback in the automation
Hi @denis.w, thanks — really glad this resonates with you. We’d especially love to collect more vivid and fun dynamic UI ideas like this — the more visual and concrete, the better.
Feel free to share more visual ideas if you have them — even rough concepts or AI-generated mockups are very welcome.
Lots of the current Aqara devices have LEDs built in, but they can’t be used for anything custom. It would be great if e.g. the LED of the FP2 could be repurposed to show whether presence is detected (especially useful when positioning the device) or to e.g. show whether the alarm system is armed or whether there’s rain expected that day
Another one in the same spirit: The speakers built into door looks or hubs are currently limited to pre-recorded sounds, would be great if custom sounds could be streamed or uploaded programmatically
I think that mostly lighting would benefit from custom plugins. If I could just manually program lighting sequences on the LED Strip then I could go wild I would develop some effects like pulsing from the middle of the strip, or some non-standard transitions, etc.
Or maybe my own music synchronization that uses only whites or just a selected color palette, or is synchronized with an external speaker (honestly the mic in the T1 LED Strip never pick up music properly in my case)
For example, if I used an FP2, I could split my room into detection areas. I can just lit up the sections of the LED Strip T1 near a person by using saved effects (with only part of the strip lit up in RGB mode).
BUT if a second person walks in, then the whole automation is wrong, because I cannot smoothly lit up multiple sections to follow the people in the room.
If I could write a plugin that exposes parts of the LED Strip in RGB mode (because only RGB can light up a section of the strip), then I could just configure separate automations for them
IF presence detected in area 1
THEN
LED section 1: set color #FFA000 and brightness 10%
and etc for each area. Then I could have a very impressive effect when the guests come in
in the current h2 eu switch only the top two buttons have a relay and “click” when press them. I usually rely on the click to know I pressed the button, making a switch where each buttons clicks (can be via a unconnected relay) would make using the button more intuitive. As well the leds can only be blue, having them change colour based on the the mode would be great, e.g. red for x green for y
I’m looking forward to all the ideas that come up here!
my idea: Repurpose a temperature/humidity sensor as a plant monitor. The UI shows a little illustrated plant that looks healthy or droopy based on the readings. If conditions get out of range, you get a notification that your “plant is thirsty” rather than a dry sensor alert. Makes the data feel alive.
For Sensors I always like the idea of escape rooms and puzzles. The more hidden, reliable and easy to integrate a sensor is the better!
You can use light sensors as targets for Laser pointers or blow on temperature sensors as if they are a candle. Usually the creativity is the only thing stopping you. Sensor don’t have to be these serious things, they can be fun like the smart brick.
I absolutely love this idea — it’s a perfect example of how to transform sensor data into a vivid experience.
It takes traditional temperature and humidity readings and redefines them as a plant health model: healthy / wilted.
This is exactly the kind of semantic + UI reinterpretation we hope to explore through our plugin.
We’re especially looking forward to seeing more ideas like this—vivid, character-centric, dynamic UI concepts that breathe life into data.
That’s really creative—hiding the sensors turns it into an escape room puzzle game. It sounds like a lot of fun. I totally agree with you: Sensor don’t have to be these serious things, they can be fun like the smart brick.
Wow, I think you’ve completely transformed this device into a whole new kind of logical device—not just the device’s plugins, but also other modules that use it, such as automation. That’s definitely an area worth exploring.
I would be cool if a display could show different content, depending on which person / cellphone was in nearest proximity. That way each individual could have hers/his own preferred interface.
What I am missing is a presence sensor with the capabilities of the FP2 (zones) paired with the connectivity of the FP300 - maybe even run by a rechargable battery (magnetic charging plug like the Nuki door lock?).
starts ….
I would develop some effects like pulsing from the middle of the strip, or some non-standard transitions, etc.
— it’s a perfect example of how to transform sensor data into a vivid experience.