Homekit: triggering automation when camera detects person
In the Apple Home app, you still can’t seem to trigger an automation - e.g. to turn on lights - when a camera detects a person. You can trigger automations when a camera detects motion or (with some cameras at least) occupancy. However, this is pretty unreliable and prone to false positives. I have discovered a workaround, but it is camera-dependent: I recently changed my old Homekit Logitech cameras for the new Aqara G5 Pro models, which also support Homekit. The Aqara Home app allows you to trigger automations when a person is detected… but doesn’t link to accessories in the Apple Home app. However, the new cameras have a built in spotlight which you can interface with and
control in both the Aqara and Apple Home apps. I’ve used this as a ‘bridge’ as follows:
- In the Aqara Home app, I created an automation that switches the spotlight on for a short period (I went with 15 secs) when a person is detected.
- In the Apple Home app, I then created an automation that’s triggered when the Aqara spotlight switches on.
It’s a bit Heath Robinson, but this has enabled me to reliably trigger automations on a person being detected.
Anyway, I thought the above might be helpful for other folk trying to achieve the same sort of thing within the Apple Home app. Does anyone have any better workarounds for this? And does anyone know if/when Apple are planning to update their Home app to allow you to directly trigger automations on person detection?