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Aqara Hub Alarm Confirmed as Accessible in HomeKit

Eric, our man in Shanghai, has informed us of an individual that has bought a brand new Aqara hub, that he was then able to add to the Mi Home app. Nothing too special in that, BUT in the video below, you also get to see that besides the built-in light on the Aqara Hub, the alarm part of the Aqara Hub is now also exposed to HomeKit.

This all but confirms what we saw evidence of in our previous post. The only thing we were also told was that this was a new Hub bought from T-Mall in China and it’s supposed to be a ‘newer’ model. This could simply mean that the newest batch have already had the forthcoming update installed, meaning those of us with the current hubs will have to wait until the Nov. 25th update is issued.

You can also check out Xiamify’s YouTube video regarding the new Aqara Hub;

The Editor

Editor - Musician, graphic designer and HomeKit aficionado.

17 thoughts on “Aqara Hub Alarm Confirmed as Accessible in HomeKit

  • Nice!

    Did I notice that the hub is also added with a third Gateway tile now?

    I’m seeing a ton of devices that can be added. Is it true that you can add more devices to the Mi Home app when it’s set up to a Chinese server? Mine is setup to the EU server and only shows 1-2 dozen devices.

    • I’m still waiting for the official update before I try adding it to the Mi Home app, but I’m going to take a guess and think that some previously incompatible devices will now be exposed to HomeKit, like the Mijia smoke detector/alarm, which Aqara have already said will get Compatibility via the Aqara Hub. The tiles in the video are the Hub, the light and the alarm, so only the alarm is the new addition.

  • Just tried re-adding the Aqara HomeKit hub via de Aqara app, with the latest firmware. However, no alarm being exposed.

    • Hi Rob,
      The functionality for the alarm should be due via the next software/firmware update, which is due on the 25th according to our sources.

  • Still waiting for the EU version, any news about it?

    • In the Xiaomify video he hints at the possibility of it not getting released, so I don’t really know, although a German website said January 2019 was when the EU versions would be released.

  • Maybe he had real Chinese version (the reason it was bought in real Chinese shop and got Chinese language) – they got earlier EVERYTHING.

    Anyway – I hope there will be no need to buy NEW version Aqara!!!! (like Xiaomi did with their Hub 2nd gen to support Gas and Smoke alarms and support radio)

    That Aqara Gateway cost me 3x times more than Xiaomi Gateway!!!!

    I thought I pay for SPEED of Apple servers (HomeKit) but so far – NO! EVERYTHING HAVE TO GO through SLOOOOW Chinese servers.

    And I bet $20 that this 25th Nov – yes there will be possibility to add Aqara to Mi Home and there will be “alarm” function – BUT – STILL – EVERYTHING will be going through SLOW Chinese servers – even if You got international / global Aqara Gateway!!!

    • I really don’t understand why you keep talking about slow servers, I have had no problems and no one else seems to be having the server issues you keep mentioning.

  • I really hope this doesn’t require a new hub and I’m looking forward to the firmware update. I’m pretty sure they don’t need different hardware for this. I did it with a very simple piece of code with homebridge with the old Xiaomi bridge.
    If they pull this off, I am gonna be a satisfied man 🙂

    Thanks for the blogging on this by the way. Very informative and saves a lot of people the hassle to search the internet for Aqara/Homekit information.
    Does your Shanghai contact perhaps know what firmware version the hub from that individual had?

    @Bart: I think all of us are using the chinese server and in my case, it’s working instantly, nothing is slow. When I open my door for instance when it’s dark, Homekit lights my backyard instantly, before I’m even out. And thats with the Aqara doorsensor and Philips Hue lights working together with Homekit.
    You might want to try another wifichannel for your router, maybe Aqara’s Zigbee and your router are interfering with eachother.

    • Hi
      I’m almost certain that it won’t require another hub, as it would be a massive PR disaster for Aqara to do such a thing, even for their Chinese customers. Glad you like the work we’re putting it. I did ask Eric, in Shanghai, but he couldn’t get the firmware info unfortunately, as it wasn’t actually his video, he just saw it online.

  • do you know any difference or benefits of waiting for international/eu versions instead of the chinese one ? other than the plug adapter/language switch…

    • I Can’t see why there would be any additional benefit beside the plug. The language part can already be switched between Chinese and English, but I don’t know if Russian and Spanish language options will be available on the other models.

  • Apres avoir contacté Aqara par mail, ils m’ont confirmé que la mise à jour était disponible et effectivement celle-ci et disponible aujourd’hui et la fonction alarme dans HomeKit à apparu après avoir basculer le système sur Mi Home.

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