Xiaomi is a relatively new brand, but the success that the Haidian district-based company has achieved in our country is absolutely undeniable. The key to Xiaomi’s good work lies not only in the good value for money of its products but in the breadth of its catalog.
And it is that Xiaomi sells everything: starting with mobiles, tablets and peripherals, reaching all kinds of connected home devices. And precisely about this second segment we are going to talk to you, since we are going to see step by step how we can connect a Xiaomi smart device in the Mi Home mobile application so that you can manage it from it.
What is Mi Home?
Mi Home is an application developed by Xiaomi that is available for mobile phones with Android and iOS operating systems completely free of charge. From this app you can add devices and also manage them.
Download Mi Home for free on the Google Play Store and App Store.
What kind of devices can I connect
As we said a few lines above, Xiaomi manufactures and distributes all kinds of devices. The categories that are available to connect through the Mi Home application are the following:
- Cameras: within this section are all the cameras, from action cameras to home security cameras.
- Switches: here you will find strips, sockets and switches.
- Lighting: this section includes table lamps, night lamps, ceiling lights, LEDs and smart bulbs.
- Home security: here you will have relay modules, switches and cameras.
- Routers and repeaters: Wi-Fi signal routers, switchboards and repeaters.
- Treatment of the environment: at this point are the models of heaters, humidifiers, fans and air conditioners.
- Household appliances: kettles, robot vacuum cleaners, rice cookers and induction hobs.
- Sensors: temperature and humidity sensors, window and door sensors, and photodetectors are connected here.
- Health: this point is only for toothbrushes, since the Xiaomi scale connects with the Mi Fit app dedicated to health.
- Entertainment: portable photo printers.
- Devices for vehicles: cameras for the dashboard of the car.
- Others: Scooters and bicycles.
How to connect a device
Now that we know what type of devices can be connected through the Mi Home application, let’s see what steps we must follow to do them.
First, download and install the application in order to create an account in it. You will have to enter your credentials and name your home (where the devices will be connected).
- To connect a new device, click on the cross icon located in the upper right corner of the application.
- A drop down menu will open with all supported devices and you will have to search for yours. You can do it manually or type its name or category in the search box. Remember that if it is not connected to the network or it is not turned on, the app will not be able to detect it, so make sure to turn it on.
- Click on the product to start the configuration process.
- The first step is to select the Wi-Fi network that the device will connect to. Enter the network name and password for it.
- Depending on the type of device, the application will ask you to connect to its network. If this is the case, go to the network connection settings of your phone and connect to the network with the name that the app indicates. This network does not have a password so the connection should be automatic.
- When you have connected the mobile in this network, a new window will open in which the connection process will be indicated. Here it is very important that you bring the mobile as close as possible to the router to avoid failures in the connection process.
- When it is finished and it has been done successfully, you will go to the next screen where you have to choose in which room of the house this device will be found. You can choose between all the options that the app shows you by default (bedroom, dining room, bathroom, kitchen, children’s room, baby’s room, etc.) or, on the contrary, put a personalized name. To do this, click on the icon with the plus symbol and write the name. When you have it, just press accept.
- In the next step you can rename the device. It is not a mandatory step, you can leave the one that comes by default, but if you want to do it, you only have to click on the name that appears and write what you want. When you finish, click “next”.
- In the next step, a screen should appear with a message that says “Added successfully”. Press “Let’s get started to use it.”
From this moment you will see that your device appears in the main menu of the application in the room where you have located it and to be able to manage it, you just have to click on its name to open the individual menu for each one.
Each device has a different menu. For example, if it is a camera you can access to see what it is recording or if it is a lamp or a bulb from the menu you can turn it on, turn it off or regulate the intensity of the light.
How to manage the devices in Mi Home
The application offers you the possibility of managing all the devices you have connected within it. To do this, press and hold on the one you want to manage and you will see that all the icons of the devices “tremble”.
The device will be selected and you can do the following options with it by simply selecting them in the lower menu:
- Move to the top: pressing this option you move the device to the top of favorites.
- Remove from favorites: you remove it from this section.
- Move: you can move it to any other room in the house in the app.
- Share: you can share permissions to run it with other users.
- Remove device: you unlink the device from the app.
- Rename: you can rename it.
- Create light group: only for lamps.
- HomeKit (only on iPhone): to integrate it with your iPhone and be able to use it with Apple’s assistant, Siri.
