HomeKit Controller and Aqara FP2 Devices

Now that the latest 2.4.2 release has been made, I'm attempting to add my three Aqara FP2 devices to my Hubitat C8P.

I added the HomeKit Controller Integration, set it up, and got it running. It was able to fine all three of my FP2s. I went into HomeKit, deleted the devices, waiting a second, and now the "Status" shows the "Pair" button with the green background. I then click the button, enter the eight-digit code of of the FP2, hit the "Start pairing" button, and get the "Pairing in progress, please wait..." with the spinning green dotted circle.

And it just sits there. For over 20 minutes.

Does it really take that long to pair? Is there something else I can try to get it to work?

Thanks...

No, pairing should be done in 10-20 seconds, and a message should show up saying pairing is completed. Can you PM me the hub id?

When I paired my FP2 sensors a while back with Home Assistant's HomeKit Device integration, there was one additional step require to what you have posted above.

After removing the sensors from Apple Home, unplug the power to the FP2 sensor for a few seconds, and then power it back up. Only after doing this, was I able to add these sensors to a new HomeKit controller.

5 Likes

I’ve got my 4 FP2’s paired with Hubitat and don’t recall having to power them off for it to work. That said, I don’t imagine that it would be a bad thing. :blush:

Thanks, ogiewon...

Rebooting them immediately after hitting the pairing button worked wonderfully on 3 out of 3 devices.

3 Likes

Are you an iOS or Android smartphone user? When an iPhone user adds a FP2 sensor to the Aqara app on their phone, it automagically is also added to Apple Home via HomeKit. Thus, the FP2 sensor must first be removed from Apple Home on the user's iPhone, and then power cycled, before it can be adopted by a different HomeKit Controller. At least this was the requirement when the FP2 sensors were originally released. There have been many firmware updates since then on the FP2 that may have changed this behavior.

When an Android user adds an FP2 sensor to the Aqara app on their phone, the FP2 sensor is NOT joined to any other controller via the HomeKit protocol. Thus, the FP2 can then be added to a HomeKit Controller like Home Assistant or Hubitat (on the C8 Pro only) via the HomeKit protocol.

3 Likes

I assume that you mean that the FP2 must be power-cycled after removal from HomeKit (and not the iPhone itself). This is the situation I faced, I believe, as I use an iPhone.

IPhone user. Could certainly be a firmware issue! Mine is on the latest that it has access to.

1 Like

Correct!

I presume all the zones you may have created and the lux sensor are properly presented in Hubitat?

At the moment I have my FP2 paired with HA and then bridged into HE.

I don’t want to unpair and move it over if it’s not going to work properly with multiple presence zones and the lux sensor.

I’m trying to move away from HA and make HE where all devices are paired and this HomeKit Controller function I think might get me there at last!

Thanks!

Yes, all the zones as well as the illumination sensor are present as child devices:

2 Likes

While I don't use an iPhone (or any Apple device), I am grappling with something similar in my HA at the moment. It is painful trying to get them back into HA, and am hopeful it is a better experience on HE, as I may end up purchasing a C-8 Pro just for this.

To add to @jpcurcio’s comment - you will have to rename them in Hubiat. Unfortunately, the will come in with generic names. But they work great!

1 Like

Ah, good point!!! Yes, I did rename them (to make them make sense in my setup) as opposed to the generic names they came in with. I did have to trigger each zone to figure out which one was which; I think it may create them in the order that I originally defined the zones in the Aqara app (but I really don't remember, as it was a while ago).

2 Likes

Yup, did the exact same thing. :blush:

Thank you all, that’s great news.

I seem to remember them coming into HA with generic names as well. I guess Aqara couldn’t/didn’t advertise the custom names to HomeKit. A minor inconvenience though.

I look forward to a weekend of tinkering :grinning:

2 Likes

I similarly don't use an iPhone (or any Apple device). I found it really easy to get my FP2s (and ecobee tstats) set up in HA's HomeKit emulation.

That said, I already have a C-8 Pro waiting and am looking very much forward to migrating my C-7 to it probably in the next week. After that, all those devices on HA will come back to HE.

Just trying to be sure I understand correctly: With the new HomeKit integration app all I would need to get the FP2, with all features like zones, etc., into Hubitat is the FP2, an iPhone (I have a 16 Pro), a Hubitat (mine is a C-8) and the HomeKit intergration software.

That is I don’t need an Apple TV or Apple HomePod.

No, this is only available on the C-8 Pro. See: HomeKit Controller Integration | Hubitat Documentation

4 Likes

You do not even need to use an iPhone. You could simply use a HE C8 Pro hub, an Aqara FP2 sensor, and an Android phone (instead of an iPhone.) Either phone type will work.

3 Likes