So here’s the deal—I’m probably in the 1% of smart home fans who live full-time in the Apple ecosystem… without owning an iPhone. Yup, you read that right. I’m rocking an iPad and a couple of HomePods, but absolutely NO iPhone in the picture.
I wanted to share some of my experience trying to integrate Aqara devices into Apple Home without the typical iPhone setup. Spoiler: it’s possible, but it takes some hacking around.
First off, pairing Aqara devices (I’ve got the G2H Pro, some motion sensors, and a cube controller) with the Home app on iPad is totally doable—but hit or miss sometimes. The biggest pain? Limited automation options and setup routines that assume you’ve got iOS running on a phone. Your iPad has to be a Home Hub if you want remote access or automation, and that was key to getting this all working.
I used the Aqara Home app for initial setup, then jumped over to Apple Home via the QR codes. It’s a little clunky, but everything eventually synced up and worked fine. The motion sensors are snappy, and the automations are actually pretty reliable once you’re in.
Not gonna lie though, some stuff doesn’t make sense—like why I can’t access certain Aqara device settings directly from Apple Home, or why the Cube had to be re-paired more than once. But hey, that’s part of the fun, right?
Overall, if you’re deep in Apple’s world but don’t have an iPhone, don’t freak out. It works. Just expect a few bumps… and maybe keep a friend with an iPhone on speed dial just in case.
Curious if anyone else out here is running a setup like this? Or am I living in a smart home Twilight Zone?