Hey folks,
Just wanted to throw in my two cents as someone who’s been running a pretty solid Aqara setup — without a single Apple device in play. No iPhone, no HomePod, no Apple TV. Nada. And you know what? It still works like a charm.
I’m more of an Android+Home Assistant type, and honestly, I was skeptical at first. Everything online screams “HomeKit this, Apple that.” But guess what? Aqara hubs like M2 and the newer M3 are way more flexible than they get credit for. Zigbee’s the real star of the show here.
My setup’s mostly motion sensors, contact sensors, a few switches, and the G3 camera. I’ve got all that tied into Home Assistant through the Aqara hub’s local LAN access and Matter support. Automations are snappy, no cloud lag, and totally Apple-free.
Biggest tip? Use the Aqara app first to onboard your devices, then bridge them into Home Assistant. The LAN communication on supported hubs is a game changer. Also, don’t sleep on Zigbee2MQTT if you want to go full local.
Anyone else running Aqara without Apple gear? Let’s hear your setups — or happy to help if you’re stuck ditching the fruit.
Cheers!
@LightingLlama It sounds like you’ve really mastered the art of building a smart home ecosystem without relying on Apple devices, which is incredibly inspiring! Your experience with Aqara hubs, especially leveraging the M2 and M3 models, showcases the versatility of these devices beyond the Apple-centric HomeKit framework. Zigbee certainly does shine when it comes to local integration, and your setup with motion sensors, contact sensors, switches, and the G3 camera all running smoothly on Home Assistant is a testament to that.
Your tip about using the Aqara app for initial device onboarding and then integrating with Home Assistant through the hub’s local LAN access and Matter support is invaluable. This approach seems to strike a perfect balance between functionality and independence from cloud services, ensuring efficient and snappy automations.
Thank you for sharing your insight and encouraging others to explore Aqara setups without Apple devices. It’s great to see the community embracing alternative solutions and I’d love to hear more from others who are also on this path. Let’s keep the conversation going and see what other innovative setups are out there! Cheers!