Haha I don't know about all that but I'll take the complement! Thanks for watching!

Undecided with Matt Ferrell haha that’s right! Thanks Matt

Windy Tech Thanks Eric!

Active JR thanks!!

YetiEddie thanks for watching!!

I was wondering if I can do this

Thanks Bernard! My house is a little smaller than yours, two stories also. I keep my Aqara hub basically in one corner (should probably move it to the middle of the house) and the farthest sensor is this one on my beer fridge in the garage. In my house all the sensors seem to stay connected and I haven’t had any issues with range. A thing to consider, if you do end up having range issues, you can always get a second hub sometime in the future. The hubs can work together so if one alarm sounds, it will trigger the other, etc. and you can pair the sensors to whichever hub is closest. Just a thought. You probably won’t need it, but it seems to be a good option for people with large homes and/or issues with sensors out of range.

Bradley Reece I know right. These are great to get notifications for certain things or for setting up automations. Thanks for watching!

Hey Pierre, thanks for watching! I'm not sure what the limit is, but it's pretty good (uses zigbee to connect to hub). I've heard of others doing just what you mentioned. I'd say if you can get your hub as close as possible to the front door/mailbox, it would probably work (assuming you don't have a crazy long driveway). I've recently put my hub upstairs and I have this same sensor all the way downstairs in my garage and it is working fine.

Thanks Nino! That’s a tough one and not easy or straight forward as far as I know. I have not tried that specifically. This may work or help (if I understand you correctly)... If you haven’t already, look into shortcuts, or converting your automation into a Shortcut. For example, you could create a new automation that is triggered when vibration is detected. Then “convert to shortcut.” Now you can do things like add IF statements and WAIT actions. So you could say WAIT 5 minutes, then IF motion is not detected perform action, otherwise do nothing and repeat. Those are just some ideas to play around with that MAY help... good luck!

David-Alexandre BADAROU David-Alexandre BADAROU Thanks for watching! Glad you are enjoying the videos lately. Great question about the battery life. As far as I know, the answer is NO, there doesn’t appear to be a way to check the battery level. I guess you’ll just know once it appears offline. I believe you can check it through some more advanced techniques involving code if you’re using something like a raspberry pi, but I am not. I would imagine you would get a “no response” message in HomeKit for any sensors that go offline due to battery. I believe you are looking at the Mijia temperature sensor (the circle one) which is made by the same parent company as the Aqara products (Xiaomi). This can be a little confusing as many sites often put all three labels on them. To be sure, I’d stick with the Aqara products. Although, I have heard that many of the Mijia products can also be paired with the Aqara hub. You can be sure by checking the official Aqara website. Or if you buy on Amazon, you can make sure the seller is Aqara and then you’ll know what you are getting. The speaker does get very loud. I do not know the max decibel level, but I know that I only keep the volume on mine set to about 75%. Not sure how it compares to a traditional security alarm, since I have not had one in many years. I think if placed on the main floor and the house is not super huge, it would deter anyone breaking in. And you can also use multiple hubs if you have a very large house. And, honestly, I’m not completely sure if the European version of the hub is available yet. I know there has been lots of talk about the EU version but not sure if it is out officially. The US version was very hard to get ahold of but saw that it recently hit Amazon again. The accessories are all the same, it is only the hub that varies by region, because of the plug. With that said, I simply use the Chinese version with a US adapter. I got it from Amazon and it came with the free US plug adapter. You can specify your region in the Aqara app. Hope that helps!

@@ShaneCreates Thanks a lot for your time answering all of this ! I love the raspberry concept, but I am not good enough in coding, and I would prefer a more user-friedly/plug&play solution^^. Do you know a similar solution for security management through Homekit ? With the same kind of accessories ? Just for comparison if possible. Indeed I didn't figure out there were a difference between the Mijia products and the Aqara products ! Thanks a lot XD Thanks again !

David-Alexandre BADAROU no problem! As far as I know, the Lyric system is the only other security system that works with HomeKit, but it’s more of a traditional system with monthly monitoring, etc and I don’t think a lot of the sensors and stuff are exposed to HomeKit. I believe the Aqara system is the only DIY security system that works with HomeKit at the moment.

Hey Freddie. Thanks for the support! Sensors do not show as individual tiles in the Home app anymore. They are visible in the “status” section of each room.

@@ShaneCreates thanks. Can you also point me to the correct video about making an audio announcement using Aqara and Apple Music

Nilay Maheta I set up that automation in the home app. You have the option of when a sensor “stops detecting motion.”

@@ShaneCreates Yes but how to get a notification from that automation? it works with other accessories but it doesn't make sense as let's say if I make my bulb to turn on when it stops detecting motion, I might not be around that bulb when this happen and also I am breaking another light set by that.

Nilay Maheta currently I don’t know of a way to directly do this. It might be possible with shortcuts once iOS 13 is released. Indirectly, you can set the automation to trigger something like a light bulb or a smart plug, and then turn on notifications for that bulb or plug.

Interesting idea. I'm not sure...it would if the smoke alarm vibrates I guess.

You might be better off using a door/window sensor for something like that.

Thanks for watching! So I don’t think there is a way for retain the state of a light bulb in order to use later. However, I believe you could have it change a color, then after a minute have it return to another predetermined color. You should be able to do this by converting the automation to a shortcut. Then in the shortcut, Change the color, add a wait function for a minute, then choose another color or scene to set. That should work...

@@ShaneCreates how do you convert an automation to a shortcut?

Burak Aktan you can create an automation like normal in the home app, then after you choose the trigger, scroll all the way to the bottom and you should see “convert to a shortcut”

Yes I do think it's sensitive enough for that.

@@ShaneCreates ok and what happens when I plug it off to save energy, while I'm at home for example and plug it again on when I want to use it: do I have to install all the other gadgets with hub again, or will the hub simply automatically recognize all sensors again? Thanks again

I think you'll need to use Convert to Shortcut. You could probably use a combination of Wait, Repeat, and IF actions to accomplish this. Check out this video if you need to understand the basics of doing this. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/p5x0i8J_zbPdh40.html

I keep mine set on medium. You can change it in the Mi Home app.

Adrian C yes you can adjust the sensitivity in the Mi Home app - low, medium, and high.

Technically yes. I haven't done it for a long period of time. My only concern would be possibly draining the battery quicker than usual since it would be constantly being triggered. Might not though.

Lee, is the sensor paired correctly in the Aqara app? I assume it must be if you are able to adjust the sensitivity. Are you using it in HomeKit?

Shane, I paired them in the Aqara app. They are added to HomeKit. I’ve since removed them, then re added them via the MiHome app, which seems a little smoother to me than the Aqara app. I was able to adjust the sensitivity to “high” via the MiHome app but they still aren’t picking up the vibration of the machines. Maybe they aren’t sensitive enough to the movements?

Lee Mitchell are they responding to other movements? Like if you shake it in your hand? If so then it definitely just isn’t picking up the vibration, but that seems unlikely. It worked for me, as you could see, when attached to my dryer. On a separate note I used the mi home app for a long time, but recently switched back to the Aqara app. It is working better for me with a US hub (and a Chinese version).

I’ll play with it more tomorrow. They seem to pick up vibration, then lose it, then gain again. Even when one isn’t moving. I’ll keep trying. Thanks for the responses! I enjoy your videos 👍🏼

Thanks Lee. Yea I’m not sure I haven’t had issues like that. Maybe it’s a connection thing too. Too far from the hub? Or maybe just a faulty sensor?

They are pretty sensitive, but I haven't tested out that scenario. You can turn the sensitivity to high in the settings. Not completely sure if it would work for that or not.

No

Johan yea it should work on a door. I’m currently using mine on my beer fridge door!

@@ShaneCreates thank you! I will try, the wife would go crazy with to much around the door :)

@@kafferast83 oh ok. Actually the door/window sensors are smaller IMO than the vibration sensors. The door/window sensors are some of the smallest homekit sensors I've seen. I've put mine up and pretty much forget they are there. Can't go wrong either way.

@@ShaneCreates Wow, thank you so much for fast feedback! I now order a few of each for pickup tomorrow :)

@@ShaneCreates So one final question, can the alarm function in HomeKit from Aqara include motion sensor built in from like the Netatmo Welcome or Philips Hue motions sensor as well?

Job van Onna thanks for watching! Unfortunately I’m not sure if there is a similar sensor that’s compatible with google home. I know there are temp sensors, motion sensors, etc. but this is definitely more of a unique product. And I’ve read that Aqara products can work with google assistant but I have not tried so I can’t say for sure.

@@ShaneCreates maybe the MultiSensor 6. From aeotec?

Job van Onna looks like it works with Smart things but not sure about google assistant. Not sure if google assistant supports sensors such as this without some type of work around.

@@ShaneCreates I've been searching for ages to find a smart light switch that is accessible for European buyers. Do you happen to know one?🙏

Job van Onna I think there are some available now but I’m not completely sure since I live in the US.

Frlecube good question I’ve never tested it to be that sensitive so I’m not sure. You can change the sensitivity in the Mi Home app (high, med, low) though.

Good questions. I do not know of a great way for this. Best option may be using the HomePod. If you wanted to get creative, you could use a workaround with an Aqara smart plug. In HomeKit use (When sensor STOPS detecting motion, turn ON the smart plug, turn off after one minute). Then in Aqara app create a new automation ( IF smart plug turns ON, Play ringtone on the hub). This of course would require using an Aqara smart plug simply as a dummy switch but that should work. If you did this, you could also use the Aqara app to send a notification when you run that automation to play the sound.

Shane Whatley thanks that’s pretty good. I’m still debating about subscribing to Apple Music or not, the nice thing is if I do it, I can get to play the washing machine sound in multiple rooms around the house with AirPlay 2 speakers and Apple TV’s. It’s strange that Aqara doesn’t support that option. maybe in a future update. Thanks for all the videos and keep it up! Can’t wait to learn what additional hidden features are coming to HomeKit in iOS 14

Shane Whatley I’ve been using this sensor on my drier and it’s not working for me as it is either too sensitive or not sensitive enough. I was wondering if you know of a smart plug that exposes energy consumption on HomeKit so I can just create an automation on the Home+ 4 app to turn on a scene when the drier stops using energy. I have the VOCOlinc and iHome ones and both of them don’t expose this on the Home+ 4 app.

Shane Whatley i finally found a solution for the washer and drier. Basically I used the VOCOlinc PM3 and activates my homekit scene with an automation on the Home+ 4 app that triggers it when the “realtime_energy” goes to zero (laundry done). There are certain limitations depending on the washer and drier one has but I can explain by messages. I think this would make a good video not only to clarify the fact that this vibration sensor doesn’t really work for washer/drier but also to offer an alternative solution

J_Grabs No I don’t think it’s waterproof.

@@ShaneCreates Too bad. Thanks for the reply.

Maybe putting it in a tiny ziplock bag?

And then tape it to surface of your choice.

PerpetualDragon You can do this in HomeKit. Create New automation > a sensor detects something > “stops detecting motion”

The TruthHurts haha yes, and thank you! I have one teen (which usually means there are more around) and an 8 year old. And when I say hub, yes this requires the Aqara hub to operate with HomeKit. Check out my other video, if interested, on setting up the Aqara hub (link in description). You can get lots of different, cheap Aqara sensors that can be paired with it and work in HomeKit. This includes the Aqara motion sensor. I made a video on that as well and actually set it up to turn on certain lights in the middle of the night when it detects motion. Also, Amazon sells lots of cheap light strips that also have a motion and light sensor built in that you could use if you don’t care about it working in HomeKit.

Good point! I was just thinking about adding a door sensor to mine recently, but this would work just as well. Thanks!