IKEA MYGGSPRAY Review: Occupancy and Light Level in Apple Home
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The IKEA MYGGSPRAY runs Matter over Thread and presents in Apple Home as two separate accessories: an occupancy sensor and a light sensor. The occupancy half is unremarkable and works fine. The lux reading is what makes the automations usable: it lets an automation say 'turn the lights on when someone walks in and the room is below 10 lux' instead of firing at noon in full sun. Adding it to Apple Home took no effort.
Jump to where to buy →What works
- Reports lux, so lighting automations can be gated on room brightness
- Shows up in Apple Home as separate occupancy and light sensors
- Paired without errors, with no IKEA hub or account involved
- Occupancy holds state, so automations can act on a room emptying
What doesn't
- Passive PIR, so it misses someone sitting still in the room
- Runs on two AAA cells, sold separately
In Apple Home the MYGGSPRAY shows up as two separate accessories. Living Room Occupancy Sensor. Living Room Light Sensor.
Why two accessories matter
The standard motion automation is bad. Someone walks into the room, the lights come on. At two in the afternoon, in full sun, the lights come on. You disable the automation within a week.
The fix is a condition on brightness, and that requires a sensor that reports lux. Build the automation on the occupancy sensor, then gate it on the light sensor dropping below a threshold, and the lights only come on when the room is dark.
Apple Home exposes the light sensor as a first-class trigger. Pick the accessory, choose Rises Above or Drops Below, and set a level from 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 or 200 lux. Mine sits at Drops Below 10 lux, which in this room means dusk or curtains closed.
IKEA sells it as a motion sensor and the hardware is a PIR detector, but HomeKit exposes it as an occupancy sensor, offering Detects Occupancy and Stops Detecting Occupancy. Motion is an instant, so an automation built on it fires once and forgets. Occupancy holds state, so you can act on the room becoming empty as well as on someone arriving.
Adding it
Setup was uneventful. It paired without errors and showed up in Apple Home ready to use. IKEA of Sweden, Matter vendor ID 4476, product ID 12288, firmware 1.1.4.
There’s no IKEA hub or account involved. You scan the code and it appears.
Hands-on notes
Running in my living room. The sensor is basic and it works.
Both halves report reliably. The room view in Apple Home shows Occupancy Detected and a live lux figure, currently 0 with the room dark. I have a Desk Lights automation firing on Living Room occupancy, and the light sensor is what stops it being irritating.
The device itself is small, white, battery-powered, IKEA.
It runs Matter over Thread, like the rest of IKEA’s 2026 sensor range, so it needs a Thread border router on the network. Mine has an Apple TV 4K wired to Ethernet and two HomePod minis doing that job. Battery is two AAA cells, sold separately.
What to pair it with
A sensor is only a trigger; something has to act on it. Mine drives Linkind Matter bulbs that also handle Adaptive Lighting, so the room gets warm light in the evening and the motion automation only fires when the lux reading says it should.
Who should skip it
Anyone who wants presence detection rather than occupancy. This is a passive sensor. It knows the room changed, not that you are sitting still in it reading. mmWave presence sensors solve a different problem at several times the price.
Anyone outside IKEA’s shipping footprint, since the value here is heavily tied to what it costs.
Verdict
The occupancy sensor is ordinary. Few motion sensors this cheap also report brightness.
Where to buy, tested picks
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Common questions
Does the IKEA MYGGSPRAY work with Apple Home?
Yes. It runs Matter over Thread, and the one device gives you two tiles in Apple Home: occupancy detection and a lux reading.
Can the MYGGSPRAY trigger automations based on room brightness?
Yes. Brightness is available as a trigger condition, with Rises Above and Drops Below thresholds ranging from 5 to 200 lux. Combine that condition with the occupancy trigger and a lighting automation stops firing in daylight.
Is the MYGGSPRAY a motion sensor or an occupancy sensor?
Both descriptions fit. Inside is a PIR detector, and IKEA's packaging calls it a motion sensor, but Apple Home lists it under occupancy, with triggers for detection starting and stopping. The occupancy reading stays on until the space clears, which gives automations a way to respond when everyone has left.
Does the IKEA MYGGSPRAY need a Thread border router?
Yes. It connects over Thread rather than Wi-Fi, so a border router has to be present. In an Apple Home setup that means a HomePod or an Apple TV 4K with a Thread radio. IKEA's DIRIGERA hub can also route Thread, but it serves IKEA's own network rather than Apple Home.
Runs the homekit.reviews test home, a real mixed Matter/Thread/HomeKit house. Everything reviewed here was set up, paired, and lived with. See how I test →