Aqara is making a major move in the smart home market by expanding Matter support to over 50 new device types and opening its ecosystem to seamless integration with leading third-party platforms. This significant update positions Aqara as one of the most comprehensive Matter-compatible smart home platforms available today.
With this latest announcement, Aqara is rolling out support for a vast range of new Matter device categories, dramatically broadening its compatibility across the smart home landscape. Newly supported devices include robotic vacuums, dimmable plugs, smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, air quality sensors, leak, freeze, and rain sensors, curtains and blinds, fans and air purifiers, air conditioners and heat pumps, water valves and pumps, pressure sensors, solar panels and battery storage systems, electric vehicle chargers, major appliances such as washing machines and dryers, refrigerators and freezers, cooktops, kitchen hoods, kitchen surfaces, ovens and stoves, water heaters, as well as video players and speakers. These additions build on the foundation of sensors, thermostats, switches, and lights that Aqara already supported, cementing its place as a top-tier hub for Matter devices.
The comprehensive update is scheduled to roll out with Aqara Home version 5.1.9 and Matter Controller firmware version 4.3.5 later this month. This expanded support is a clear reflection of Aqara’s commitment to openness and interoperability in the rapidly evolving smart home industry. Eugene You, CEO of Aqara, emphasized, “By extending Matter support, we aim to offer users greater flexibility and ensure that Aqara products remain useful across a wide range of platforms.”
One of the most significant advancements introduced is the enhancement of Aqara’s advanced bridging technology for all of its Matter controllers. This functionality empowers users to bring Aqara’s powerful automations, scenes, and triggers to any Matter-compatible smart home platform, such as Apple Home, Amazon Alexa, and Google Home. The advanced bridging not only allows integration of Aqara-exclusive features but also lets users bridge Matter devices—even those not yet natively supported by a given ecosystem—into those platforms.
This means users can take full advantage of unique automation features offered by Aqara. For example, the G4 Video Doorbell’s facial recognition can now act as a trigger in Apple Home, turning on lights automatically when a recognized individual arrives. This trigger appears within Apple Home as a virtual “occupancy sensor.” Similarly, advanced features such as package detection from a camera’s on-device AI, fall detection from the Aqara FP2 mm-wave sensor, and automations based on device energy usage are translated into either “virtual occupancy sensors” or “virtual plugs,” making them accessible across ecosystems. Additional features like fingerprint sensing, gesture control, and presence sensing are also supported through this bridging technology.
The advanced bridging capability was first launched with the Aqara M3 hub earlier in the year and is now being extended to all current and forthcoming Aqara Matter controllers, including entry-level models like the Hub M100. This ensures that even users with basic Aqara hubs can benefit from this expanded interoperability and automation power. Aqara notes that this bridging solution is proprietary to hub manufacturers and sits outside the standard Matter specification—paralleling similar features seen in platforms such as Home Assistant, which also enables the import of non-Matter scenes and automation into compatible systems.
