Alright, so I used to be that person who thought “Siri Shortcuts” sounded like some next-level coding thing I’d never touch. Aqara and HomeKit were already cool enough for me—open doors, lights on, done. But let me tell you… once I started messing around with shortcuts, it was game over (in a good way).
I’ve gone from “why won’t this thing turn off?” to walking in the door, and boom: lights adjust based on time of day, AC kicks on, and my robot vacuum starts cruising like I’ve trained it personally. All hands-free.
The game-changer was learning that you can stack conditions and control multiple Aqara devices with just one phrase. For example: I say “It’s movie time,” and:
- lights dim
- curtains (finally got the Aqara Curtain Motor E1—10/10) close
- TV strip turns on
- phones go on DND (via another shortcut)
And guess what? ZERO coding. Just some creative logic and playing around in the Shortcuts app. If I can figure this out, literally anybody can.
If you’re on the fence or think Siri Shortcuts is out of your league, don’t. It’s super approachable once you get the hang of it. Happy to share how I set mine up or troubleshoot if someone’s stuck.
Anyone else found some shortcut combos that are just chef’s kiss? Let’s swap setups.