Hey everyone! I’m fairly new to the smart home world but went down the rabbit hole with Aqara devices a couple months back. I don’t own any Apple stuff (Android gang here), but I was dying to try out the simplicity and automation goodness everyone raves about with HomeKit. Long story short, I pulled it off — no iPhone, no iPad, no Mac. Yep, it’s possible, and it works great once you tweak a few things.
Here’s my setup:
- Android phone
- Aqara G3 hub (super clutch — supports HomeKit)
- Home Assistant running on a Raspberry Pi
- Friend who lent me their old iPad during initial setup (pro tip!)
So what I did was:
- Used the iPad just long enough to set up the HomeKit code via Aqara Home app and connect everything.
- Once devices were added to HomeKit on that iPad, I linked them using Home Assistant’s HomeKit Controller integration — this bridges the devices over without needing Apple gear afterward.
- From there, I control everything via Home Assistant on Android — automations, notifications, camera feeds, all of it.
It’s wild how smooth it runs once it’s up. I only needed the iPad once and I haven’t touched it since. You could probably use an emulator too, but I haven’t tested that route.
Anyone else gone the “non-Apple HomeKit” route with Aqara? Drop your setup below or ask away — I’ll try to help. Would love to hear any better shortcuts too!