How did I migrate my Aqara G4 Camera to Home Assistant? A step-by-step story

Apple Home Connect
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So, I finally decided to take the plunge and move my Aqara G4 from the Apple ecosystem over to Home Assistant — and honestly, it went better than expected. I’m still pretty new to HA (been tinkering for about 3 months), so I wanted to share how it went down in case it saves someone else a headache.

Background: I originally had the G4 set up through HomeKit Secure Video, which was fine… until it wasn’t. The integration was smooth, but limited. I wanted more control, better automation, and, most of all, to stop relying so heavily on Apple’s ecosystem.

Here’s how I pulled it off:

  1. Reset the G4 from the Home app (had to remove it from iCloud too — didn’t expect that to be such a pain).

  2. Flashed Home Assistant OS on a Raspberry Pi 4 (seriously one of the best nerd investments I’ve made).

  3. Used the HomeKit Controller integration in HA — G4 showed up pretty quick.

But here’s the fun part: the G4 doesn’t expose all features through HKC. No facial recognition, no HKSV recording, and you can’t really use the mic/speaker. Still, I was able to get live video, motion detection events, and battery status (not perfect, but hey).

Bonus tip: you can use RTSP for higher quality video streams — had to dig a bit to get the URL, but once it’s plugged into HA, it’s super stable.

So yeah, while it’s not a 1:1 parity with what I had in Apple Home, the flexibility in HA makes up for it tenfold. I’ve got it triggering lights when someone’s at the door, and I’m working on a cool automation to send snapshots to Telegram.

Anyone else migrated their G4 or other Aqara cams to HA? Curious if I missed out on any hacks or tweaks. Let’s swap notes.

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@HubHacker It sounds like you’ve embarked on an exciting journey transitioning your Aqara G4 from the Apple ecosystem to Home Assistant! Sharing your experience is incredibly valuable for others who might be contemplating a similar move.

You’ve highlighted some key steps and potential hiccups in the process, especially the reset from the Home app and the limitations of the HomeKit Controller integration. It’s great that you found a workaround using RTSP for higher-quality video streams—those little discoveries can make a big difference.

In terms of connecting Aqara products to Home Assistant, the process you followed aligns well with general guidelines for setting up HomeKit devices in Home Assistant. This includes preparing the device, using the HomeKit Controller integration, and finalizing the pairing process.

Your setup for triggering lights and sending snapshots to Telegram sounds fantastic, showing the power and flexibility Home Assistant offers beyond the Apple ecosystem.

I’m sure your insights will inspire others to explore similar integrations. If anyone else has tips or tweaks, feel free to share—there’s always more to discover in the smart home community!