Having Trouble Adding Matter Devices via Aqara Home App? Try This New Workaround!

If you’re experiencing issues adding Matter devices (especially Thread devices) using the Aqara Home app, you may want to try our newly released workaround method.

Background:

By default, the Aqara Home app uses the Matter Commissioning API, which turns your iPhone into a Matter Commissioner to discover and add Matter devices. This method requires:

• Your phone to be connected to your home Wi-Fi network

• Your phone to be close to the device

• Scanning the Matter QR code for pairing

However, we’ve recently received reports that on iOS 18.4 and 18.5, this method may occasionally fail.

To solve this, we’ve introduced an alternative method where the Aqara Hub M3 acts as the Matter Commissioner. In this case, the Aqara app assists the hub by providing the pairing code and instructions, improving the success rate of onboarding.

Requirements:

• Aqara Home app version ≥ 5.2.8

• An Aqara Hub M3 is required and firmware version ≥ 4.3.7

• Wi-Fi router must support IPv6 and mDNS / local discovery

• Your phone and Hub M3 must be connected to the same local network

Steps:

1. Open the Aqara Home app, and start the Add Matter Device process

2. Scan or manually enter the Matter pairing code

3. If pairing fails, you’ll see a screen with further options

4. Tap “Add via Matter Controller”

5. Follow the on-screen instructions — the Hub M3 will attempt to discover nearby Matter devices via Bluetooth or LAN