Hi everyone,
I just set up the Aqara U400paired directly to my Apple TV hub via Matter over Thread (no Aqara hub).
I want to receive a push notification on my phone if my door is left unlocked for a period of time.
Since Apple Home doesn’t natively support this alert, and the Aqara app only connects via Bluetooth when I’m nearby, how do I actually set this up? Is there an official way to get these remote alerts with a Matter-only setup, or do I need an Aqara hub?
Thanks!
Hi! Actually, Apple Home supports this, but it’s more complicated.
You need to use “Convert to shortcut” to make more sophisticated automations.
When you select accessories to be controlled (after selecting the trigger, which is Aqara Lock Unlock), scroll to the bottom.
As you can see, you can make the automation wait, and then check the lock state again. As you can see, you can use the “if” action to set a scene or trigger something (like play a sound from HomePod) to notify the residents about an open door.
If you sync a scene from Aqara Home to Apple Home, you will also be able to activate it here, but you need an Aqara hub (like the M3) for full features.
Btw sometimes Apple Home works very strangely and “is 0” doesn’t work in this if condition. You can try changing it to “text” and entering “Unlocked” because sometimes Apple Home registers the state as “Locked” and “Unlocked”, and sometimes “1” and “0” works in this type of automation
Thanks for your reply. Do you know if there’s a way to get a basic alert/push notification to my iOS devices? I wants to get an alert if I’m not home or even if I’m home if the door were to remain unlocked.
I also tried to give the HomePod ago because that did sound like a cool option for when I’m home, but I can’t seem to find an option to play an alarm since I don’t have Apple Music.
No, there is no way to send a push notification from Apple Home. But Aqara Home is able to send a push notification. More info about Aqara Home at the bottom.
And you can play music even if you don’t pay for Apple Music. Apple Music automatically syncs your library if you import your music (your mp3 files) on the computer. Then you can just select it here by selecting your HomePod and “play audio”.
The only prerequisite is - you have to have a HomePod.
Optionally if you have an Aqara Hub M3 (or an camera hub), you can setup a scene in Aqara Home to play audio through the hub, and then sync this scene to Apple Home.
Aqara Home can send a push notification, but only via an automation, so the whole automation needs to be configured in Aqara Home instead of Apple Home.
I need to think how to configure such an automation that will recheck the open status, because “unlocked for more than … minutes” is not currently easily possible to automate in Aqara Home.
Aqara Home has other capabilities regarding automations so gimme a few minutes to think
While configuring the automation in Aqara Home, you can just add additional check that will ensure the trigger (in this case: unlocked state) will last for a set duration
Okay, that was easier that I thought 
I forgot about one nifty feature in Aqara Home.
Note: You need an Aqara Hub with Matter (like Aqara M3) to be able to configure this automation
Maybe not push notifications, but they can still send themselves an SMS, iMessage, email, or even a WhatsApp message using Shortcuts.
Only if it’s an iOS shortcut, but if it’s an Apple Home automation, then there are no such options.
Apple Home automations are run by the hub (like a HomePod) and because of that, they cannot send emails or run apps that are locally on your iPhone.
And iOS shortcuts have the downside of running locally on your iPhone, so if your phone is dead or you have weak signal (and the shortcut cannot check if the lock is unlocked), then it won’t run
That’s right — with Apple Home alone, only the “Activity Notifications” (door locked or unlocked) work.
thanks for your replies. A bit disappointing, I had checked w/ support to ask about door unlocked notifications prior to my purchase and was informed I would not need an Aqara hub for that.
Maybe I’ll see if I can find one used or return the lock for something else.
@cezary806 everything i can find says i need apple music sub to be able to sync custom tones or audio files. i tried to import one to my music library but only get the choice for “apple music (sub required) or ambient tones” when creating the shortcut to play audio on my homepod via Homekit
Hmm, maybe something changed. I remember syncing my music collection I had ripped from my CDs (but maybe it was because it was iTunes back there and now the sub is required?). The sure thing is that Apple Music DOES NOT show any progress if the music is synced and you need to have it open for a few minutes before it syncs.
But nevertheless sorry for mistaking you.
Btw you can check anyways if you are able to create this Aqara automation even without the hub, maybe it will work. I have my U200 bound to the M3 and the app said you get full features this way.
And depending on the question asked it’s not a lie, you probably get Apple Home notifications about locking/unlocking, but as far as I understand you want custom notifications about the door unlocked for a specific time
Thanks for your reply again. Yeah I specifically had asked about the door left open alert without having an Aqara hub
Illl try configuring it without one and see
