Does Reolink Work With HomeKit?

Does Reolink work with HomeKit? Not officially. Reolink has no native Reolink HomeKit support for any of its cameras, doorbells or hubs (its support page on Apple HomeKit says so for all products), and none of them support Matter, so you can’t add a Reolink camera to the Apple Home app on its own. However, most Reolink cameras stream video over your local network, and that makes them easier to bridge into Apple Home than most camera brands. A free tool called Scrypted can add them, with HomeKit Secure Video recording.

This guide explains which Reolink cameras you can bring into Apple Home, how the bridges work, how to set up Scrypted, and what you give up along the way.

Quick answer: No, Reolink doesn’t work with HomeKit natively, and it doesn’t support Matter. You can still add most wired and plug-in Reolink cameras and doorbells to Apple Home with a third-party bridge such as Scrypted, which supports HomeKit Secure Video. Battery cameras need a Reolink Home Hub or NVR in between, and 4G LTE cameras can’t be bridged at all.

Which Reolink Cameras You Can Add to Apple Home

Every bridge needs a local video stream from the camera (RTSP, RTMP or ONVIF). Reolink’s support site lists which products offer one, and that list decides what you can bring into Apple Home.

Reolink camera type	Examples	Can it be bridged to Apple Home?
PoE cameras	RLC-810A, Duo 3 PoE	Yes, directly or through a Reolink NVR
Plug-in Wi-Fi cameras	E1 Pro, E1 Outdoor Pro, TrackMix WiFi	Yes, directly
Wired doorbells	Video Doorbell (PoE and WiFi)	Yes, including doorbell press alerts
Battery Video Doorbell (2nd Gen)		Only in Wired Power Mode, with the latest firmware
Battery cameras	Argus, Altas, Battery Doorbell (1st Gen)	Only through a Reolink Home Hub or NVR
4G LTE cameras	Go series, TrackMix LTE	No

The Reolink Home Hub and the new Home Hub 2 don’t add HomeKit support themselves. They work with Alexa, Google Assistant and Home Assistant, but for battery cameras their value here is the local stream they provide for each connected camera. If you’re still choosing a model, our guide to the best Reolink cameras explains how the lineup splits between battery, plug-in and PoE.

Matter won’t fill the gap soon. Reolink hasn’t released a Matter camera, and Apple Home doesn’t support Matter cameras yet, even in iOS 27. Our guide to security cameras and Matter explains where each platform stands.

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How Reolink Connects to HomeKit

A bridge is software that reads the video stream from your Reolink camera and presents it to Apple Home as a HomeKit camera. It runs on a computer that stays on at home: a Mac mini, a Windows or Linux PC, a NAS or a Raspberry Pi 4.

Unlike Ring or Arlo bridges, which go through the manufacturer’s cloud, a Reolink HomeKit bridge talks to the camera on your own network. You don’t need a Reolink cloud account, and the cameras keep recording to their own storage if your internet goes down.

There are three bridges worth knowing about:

• Scrypted is free, open-source camera software with an official Reolink plugin and a HomeKit plugin. It’s the best choice for most people: it handles live view, motion alerts and doorbell presses, and it supports HomeKit Secure Video, so Apple Home can record clips to iCloud.
• Homebridge adds unsupported devices to Apple Home through plugins. Its general camera plugin (homebridge-camera-ffmpeg) can show a Reolink stream in the Home app, but motion and doorbell events need extra setup, such as MQTT or HTTP triggers. Our guide to what Homebridge is and when you need it covers the basics.
• Home Assistant has an official Reolink integration that runs locally, and its HomeKit Bridge can pass the cameras on to Apple Home. It doesn’t support HomeKit Secure Video, so it suits people who already use Home Assistant more than people who want Apple’s recording. Our Home Assistant vs HomeKit comparison explains how the two fit together.

None of these are made or supported by Reolink or Apple. On the Apple side, you’ll want a HomePod or Apple TV set up as a home hub: it sends notifications when you’re away, runs automations and is required for HomeKit Secure Video. Our guide on whether HomeKit needs a hub explains what a hub adds.

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How to Set Up Reolink With Scrypted

A Scrypted HomeKit setup is manageable if you’re comfortable installing software. These are the main steps:

1. Prepare the camera. In the Reolink app or web interface, open the camera’s network settings and turn on RTSP, RTMP, ONVIF and HTTP, and turn off HTTPS (the Scrypted plugin can’t handle Reolink’s HTTPS redirects). Give the camera a fixed IP address in your router.
2. Set the video to H.264. Apple Home only plays H.264 video. Reolink cameras switch to H.265 at 4K, so set 4K models to 2K for the main stream, and turn off H.264+.
3. Use a simple password. Scrypted’s documentation says Reolink streams fail to load with special characters in the camera password, so use letters and numbers only.
4. Install Scrypted. It runs on Mac, Windows, Linux with Docker, many NAS models and a Raspberry Pi 4 or newer.
5. Add the Reolink plugin. Install it in Scrypted, then add each camera with its IP address, username and password. For a Reolink doorbell, turn on the Doorbell option in the camera’s settings so presses reach Apple Home.
6. Add the HomeKit plugin and pair. Install the HomeKit plugin, then open the Home app, tap +, Add Accessory, and scan the code Scrypted shows.

To record with HomeKit Secure Video, open the camera’s settings in the Home app and choose Stream & Allow Recording. You’ll need an iCloud+ plan (50 GB covers one camera, 200 GB up to five, and 2 TB or more is unlimited), and the footage doesn’t count toward your iCloud storage. Our guide to HomeKit Secure Video explains the plans and recording options.

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What Works in Apple Home, and What Stays in the Reolink App

Once Scrypted bridges a Reolink camera, Apple Home handles the everyday tasks:

• Live view on your iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV
• Motion notifications, and doorbell press alerts for Reolink doorbells
• HomeKit Secure Video recordings with person, animal, vehicle and package detection done by your home hub
• Motion as a trigger for automations, for example turning on the porch lights
• Siri and scenes with your other HomeKit accessories

Some things stay in the Reolink app:

• Recordings on the camera’s microSD card, Home Hub or NVR
• Camera settings, detection zones and firmware updates
• Reolink’s own smart detection alerts and playback

You can use both at once. The camera keeps recording to its own storage while Apple Home records its clips to iCloud, so you have a local backup and Apple’s timeline.

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Limitations and What to Watch For

A bridged Reolink camera works well for many people, but it’s not the same as a camera with HomeKit built in:

• Two-way audio. Scrypted can’t talk through Reolink cameras, because Reolink uses an undocumented audio protocol. Reolink doorbells are the exception: they support two-way audio through ONVIF.
• Lower resolution in Apple Home. Because Apple Home needs H.264 and Reolink cameras only use it below 4K, a 4K Reolink camera streams to the Home app at 2K.
• Battery cameras. Without a Home Hub or NVR, Argus and Altas cameras have no stream to bridge. With one, every live view wakes the camera and uses battery, so wired and PoE cameras are a better choice for Apple Home.
• An always-on computer. The bridge has to stay running. If it stops, your cameras show “No Response” in Apple Home until it’s back.
• Community software. Scrypted and Homebridge are maintained by their developers, not by Reolink, so a Reolink firmware update can occasionally change something the plugin depends on.

If a Reolink camera stops responding in Apple Home, check that it works in the Reolink app first, then restart Scrypted. Our guide to HomeKit cameras that are offline or not responding covers the Apple side.

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If You’re Still Shopping: Cameras With Built-In HomeKit

If you haven’t bought cameras yet and Apple Home is your main platform, a camera with built-in HomeKit Secure Video is simpler than any bridge. These two from Aqara keep what people like about Reolink, local storage and no required subscription, and they also work with Alexa and Google Home.

Aqara Camera Hub G5 Pro (PoE) — Best Native HomeKit Outdoor Camera

The G5 Pro is the closest Apple Home match for a wired Reolink camera: it runs on Power over Ethernet, records locally and supports HomeKit Secure Video without a bridge.

Best for: Apple Home users who want a wired outdoor camera that works in the Home app out of the box.

What stands out in real use

One Ethernet cable carries power and data, so there’s no battery to charge, and you can use a USB-C adapter instead if a PoE switch isn’t available. The camera stores clips on 8 GB of built-in storage or a NAS, and it also acts as a Thread border router and Zigbee hub, which helps if you add Aqara sensors around the outside of the house.

Key specs

• 2688 x 1520 video, 133-degree field of view
• PoE (802.3af) or USB-C power
• IP65 weather resistance
• 8 GB built-in storage, plus NAS recording
• HomeKit Secure Video, Alexa, Google Home

Pros

• Native HomeKit Secure Video, no bridge needed
• PoE power and data on one cable
• Local storage without a subscription
• Thread border router and Zigbee hub built in

Cons

• Costs more than most Reolink PoE cameras
• 8 GB of built-in storage fills quickly without a NAS
• HomeKit Secure Video cloud recording needs an iCloud+ plan

Installation and compatibility notes

The PoE version needs a PoE switch or injector (802.3af). Aqara also sells a Wi-Fi version of the same camera if running a cable isn’t practical. HomeKit Secure Video needs a HomePod or Apple TV as a home hub.

Price: ~$230

Aqara Smart Doorbell Camera G410 — Best Native HomeKit Doorbell

The G410 is a 2K doorbell with HomeKit Secure Video built in, and it runs on batteries or existing doorbell wiring.

Best for: Apple Home users who want a doorbell that records locally and works in the Home app without a bridge.

What stands out in real use

It runs on six AA batteries (Aqara rates them for up to five months), so there’s no doorbell to take down and recharge. The chime in the box stores footage on a microSD card, so recordings stay inside even if someone takes the doorbell, and it also acts as a Matter controller, Thread border router and Zigbee hub.

Key specs

• 2K video, 175-degree field of view
• 6x AA batteries (up to five months) or 12-24V wiring
• microSD up to 512GB in the chime
• HomeKit Secure Video, Alexa, Google Home, SmartThings

Pros

• Native HomeKit Secure Video, no bridge needed
• Replaceable AA batteries, so no downtime for charging
• Free local recording on microSD
• The chime also works as a smart home hub

Cons

• HomeKit Secure Video records at 1080p (2K only in the Aqara app)
• HomeKit cloud recording needs an iCloud+ plan
• The chime must stay plugged in

Installation and compatibility notes

It connects to 2.4GHz or 5GHz Wi-Fi, which helps at a door far from the router. HomeKit Secure Video needs an Apple home hub and an iCloud+ plan, but the microSD card in the chime gives you a free local option.

Price: ~$145

For more options, see our list of the best HomeKit security cameras.

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The Bottom Line

Reolink doesn’t work with HomeKit on its own, and Matter won’t change that soon. Still, Reolink HomeKit setups work better than most bridged cameras, because the cameras stream locally. If you already own wired or PoE Reolink cameras and want them in Apple Home, Scrypted is the best choice: it’s free, it supports doorbells and it adds HomeKit Secure Video. Battery cameras need a Home Hub, and LTE cameras won’t work. If you’re buying new cameras for an Apple home, a native HomeKit camera like the Aqara G5 Pro is the simpler choice.