Aqara's newest HomeKit smart home accessory is a presence sensor, but you'll need a Matter Bridge to get the most out of it

(Image credit: Aqara)

There is no shortage of HomeKit smart home accessories these days, and we haven't always been able to say that. Aqara is one company that has a record of producing solid options for people who want HomeKit-compatible hardware, and the company's latest accessory is a new presence sensor.

The Aqara Presence Sensor FP1E is designed to help people create smart home automation that needs to know whether someone is in the room before being initiated. Such a thing would be useful if you want to turn the lights off when people leave a room, for example.

However, while this new Aqara presence sensor does support HomeKit there's something of a catch — you'll need Aqara's Matter Bridge for it to work.

Smart monitoring

Aqara announced the presence sensor via press release, saying that it allows "for precise, prompt presence detection that can be used for various home automation scenarios."

When installed alongside a hub the accessory will work with all Matter-compatible platforms including HomeKit as well as Amazon's Alexa, Google Home, and more.

The press release also detailed what makes a presence sensor so useful.

"Aqara Home users can utilize the FP1E to detect human movement or stillness within a space, unlocking a wide range of automation possibilities triggered by moving/still status along with the status duration," Aqara explains. "For example, the sensor can detect if the user remained still for over 30 minutes and can send notifications or change the color of the user’s smart lights as a gentle reminder to stand up. This automation aims to promote a healthier routine, reduce the risks of sedentary behavior, and prioritize self-care with visual cues and reminders."

If that sounds like something that you could make use of, the new Aqara presence sensor is available now for $50.

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Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.