Hey ,
Been deep in the smart home game for a while now, and thought I’d share some tips that really helped me squeeze the most out of my Aqara ecosystem with HomeKit. If you’re just using Aqara for basic sensor triggers or notifications, you’re lowkey missing out.
So here’s the thing — once you get past the out-of-the-box automations and start stacking scenes, conditions, and even Shortcuts, things get spicy. For example, I’ve got my Motion Sensor triggering a shortcut that not only turns on the lights but adjusts the brightness depending on time of day and pauses the Apple TV if I walk out of the room after 10 mins. It’s little stuff like that that makes it feel next level.
Another big one: don’t sleep on the power of using multiple hubs. I use an M2 in the living room and a G3 cam in the hallway (which also works as a hub) — it doubled the stability for my sensors and helped split my network a bit. Game changer in a bigger home.
And if you’re using HomeKit Secure Video, that G3 is 
. Just be sure to assign your cameras to the right HomeKit room & recording settings, or you’ll swear your clips are disappearing (I’ve been there).
Curious if anyone’s gotten fancy with more advanced automations — like using environmental sensors to tweak thermostat temps or even trigger HomeKit scenes using third-party apps like Controller for HomeKit? Let’s swap ideas — I’m always looking to level up!
Would love to hear how others are pushing their Aqara + HomeKit setups beyond just smart light switches. Let’s get nerdy.