So, I’m what you’d call a smart home geek, but here’s the kicker—I don’t own a single Apple device. No iPhone, no iPad, nada. Still, I managed to get my Aqara setup fully working with HomeKit. Yep, it’s possible, and honestly, way smoother than I expected.
I figured I’d share how I pulled it off for those out there in the same boat—either Android users or who just don’t want to commit to the Apple ecosystem but still want to harness the HomeKit goodness.
The key? Home Assistant with the HomeKit Controller integration. Seriously, this thing is magic. It lets you pair your Aqara hubs and accessories (like the G2H Pro, FP2, sensors, you name it) as “native” HomeKit accessories without needing an iPhone or iPad in hand.
Couple of gotchas:
- Make sure you’re doing the pairing fresh—reset the device and get that HomeKit QR code ready.
- Patience. Sometimes it takes a few tries to get it paired, but once it’s in, it’s rock solid.
- The UI may not show all features like on the Aqara app, but you can do some wild automations through Home Assistant that Apple doesn’t even allow.
It’s been a fun ride figuring it all out. Anyone else here gone full HomeKit without Apple gear? What’s your setup like? Let’s swap tricks!