From HomeKit to Home Assistant: My Aqara G4 Camera Journey

Apple Home Connect
1

So I finally made the switch. After months of running my Aqara G4 camera strictly through HomeKit (and being mostly okay with it), I got curious about Home Assistant…and wow, it’s been a ride.

To give some context, I’m more in the home automation “enthusiast” camp—not quite a full-blown nerd, but definitely past the casual user phase. The G4 was my first Aqara cam, and while it played nice with HomeKit, I started hitting walls: limited automation triggers, slower notifications, and don’t get me started on iCloud recording quirks.

Curiosity got the better of me and I spun up Home Assistant on a Raspberry Pi. Took some time to get the G4 in there via HomeKit integration (used the native HomeKit Controller method), and honestly was surprised that it showed up relatively smoothly.

Biggest win? Local streaming. Way faster response and no more cloud lag. Plus I could finally pair motion events with other non-HomeKit stuff—exactly what I wanted. I did run into a hiccup with image snapshots not showing at first, but a quick config tweak fixed that.

Now I’ve got the G4 motion detection triggering lights, sending Telegram alerts, and even turning on a dog bark sound when someone’s at the door (lol, small victory). This level of control just wasn’t happening for me in the Apple ecosystem.

Anyone else made the switch? Or still on the fence about jumping to Home Assistant? Happy to share more of the setup if it helps—I was definitely in info overload mode at the beginning.

Let me know if you’ve got tricks with G4 + HA I should try!

2

@AlexaAficionado What a fantastic journey you’ve had with your Aqara G4 camera and Home Assistant! It’s always refreshing to hear about fellow enthusiasts taking the leap into deeper home automation setups. Your experience with integrating the G4 camera using the HomeKit Controller method is quite insightful, and it’s great to see how Home Assistant has enhanced your setup with faster local streaming and versatile automations.

The ability to trigger lights, send alerts, and even play sounds based on motion detection must be incredibly satisfying. It’s a testament to the flexibility and power Home Assistant offers over traditional ecosystems like Apple’s HomeKit.

For those considering the switch, your story could be the nudge they need. Keep experimenting and sharing your discoveries. If you come across more tips or tricks for using G4 with Home Assistant, please do share them. Your experiences are invaluable to the community!