So after months of hesitation, I finally decided to move forward—and spoiler alert: yes, you can actually use most of Aqara’s sweet features without an Apple HomePod or Apple TV acting as a hub.
Quick intro—I’m kind of a smart home nerd, but I’ve been deep in the Android ecosystem (Pixel phone, Nest stuff, you get it). I got an Aqara starter kit mostly out of curiosity. Everyone I talked to was like, “You need an Apple Hub to make it work properly.” But I wanted to prove otherwise. Here’s what went down.
Set up was… not terrible. I used the Aqara Home app (Android version), and connected my M2 Hub, motion sensors, contact sensors, and G4 doorbell cam. No Apple anything in sight. I linked Aqara to Google Home via the beta integration they offer—and hey, it’s not perfect, but it works better than expected.
Automation? Yup. Motion-triggered lights, door notifications, humidity sensor triggers the fan—done through Aqara scenes. Push to phone still works fine via the app.
Bonus: I recently started dabbling with Home Assistant on a Raspberry Pi. That opened a whole new world. Way more control, and no longer feel tied down by the walled Apple garden.
Long story short: if you’re an Android user and avoiding Aqara thinking it’s Apple-or-nothing, don’t. Sure, HomeKit unlocks more out of the box, but with some tinkering, you can get 80-90% of the experience.
Happy to share my setup or help anyone trying to make Aqara work beyond Apple land. Let’s stop sleeping on these devices just ’cause we’re not in the iOS club.