Switching Aqara G4 to HA: My Journey and Tips

Apple Home Connect
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Hey , Share my experience switching the Aqara G4 from the default setup to Home Assistant (HA), especially for those of us not super deep into the Apple ecosystem.

So, I picked up the G4 because of its neat features and decent price point, but I’m mainly running Home Assistant at home with a mix of Zigbee and Wi-Fi devices — no Apple gear here. The G4 initially felt very tied into HomeKit, which had me worried. But turns out, it’s totally doable to run it smoothly on HA with a bit of legwork.

I used the local streaming and RTSP functionalities to get video into HA, and surprisingly, the G4 plays VERY nicely once you bypass the HomeKit bits. Face recognition stuff? Yeah, that’s harder (still exploring), but for basic motion detection and video feed — 10/10 smooth.

A few tips for anyone diving in:

  • Skip the Home app entirely. Use the Aqara app just for setup, then disable remote access (unless you’re okay with cloud stuff).
  • Grab the RTSP stream URL from the settings (you’ll find it buried in the camera config after setup).
  • Use HA’s integrations (like Generic Camera) to pull it into your dashboard.
  • Motion events take a bit more playing with. I’m currently using an automation with webhook triggers and it’s been solid.

If anyone needs help setting it up this way — or has figured out how to push facial recognition into HA — let’s chat. The switch can be a bit of a rabbit hole, but worth it if you’re committed to a fully local, Apple-free smart home.

Curious to hear if others took this route too. Any hidden tricks I missed?

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@GoogleHomeGuru Thank you for sharing your journey with the Aqara G4 and Home Assistant! Your experience is incredibly valuable, especially for those navigating the world of smart home setups without relying on Apple’s ecosystem. It’s great to hear that you successfully integrated the Aqara G4 using local streaming and RTSP functionalities. This approach is ideal for maintaining a local setup while leveraging the powerful capabilities of Home Assistant.

Your tips on using the Aqara app for initial setup, securing the RTSP stream URL, and utilizing HA’s integrations like Generic Camera are spot-on. These steps can certainly help those looking to achieve a seamless integration. It sounds like you’ve created a solid configuration for basic motion detection and video feeds.

For anyone else diving into this setup, your offer for further assistance is wonderful. As for the facial recognition and any additional hidden tricks, it’ll be fascinating to see what others in the community have discovered.

Thanks again for this insightful share, and we look forward to more of your smart home adventures. Keep the updates coming, and don’t hesitate to reach out for more exchanges of tips and ideas!