Hey everyone! Just wanted to share a little discovery that might help folks like me who are deep into smart homes but don’t have a single Apple device in the house (yep, we do exist 
).
I’ve been running a bunch of Aqara gadgets — door sensors, motion detectors, the usual suspects — and I always heard how nicely they integrate with Apple HomeKit. But as an Android user (and a stubborn one at that), I thought I was locked out from that whole side of things.
Long story short: you’re not. You can totally tap into some of the HomeKit magic even without owning an iPhone or iPad. I’ve been using a Raspberry Pi running Homebridge, and paired it up with an Aqara Hub M2. Homebridge basically acts like a fake Apple Home Hub. Once you have it up and running, you can link everything to HomeKit and control it from anything compatible — like a web UI or even Google/Home Assistant workarounds.
Honestly, the automations are smoother, especially with scenes and multi-trigger setups. I had a little learning curve setting up the Homebridge plugins, but once I got the right ones (shoutout to “homebridge-aqara” and “homebridge-camera-ffmpeg”), everything clicked. Zero regrets.
So, for anyone else who’s admiring HomeKit from a distance — you don’t need to switch to an iPhone overnight. Just a bit of tinkering and boom: doors automagically unlock when you get home, lights go moody based on time of day, all the good stuff.
Happy to drop the plugins I used if anyone’s curious. Anyone else gone this route and found cool tricks?
