Remember when The Clapper (yes, you can still get one) was the closest thing we had to
our Jeston-like smart home future?
Well, we’ve come a long way!
BUT … with so many “smart things” now, it’s easy to feel dumb, or
overwhelmed, or both!
You have smart devices from different makers.
Philips Hue lights or Wiz?
Ring or Arlo?
Nest or Ecobee?
They all have apps you can use for basic control and automation.
For the best smart home experience, pick an ecosystem to control
all of them.
The big 3 – Alexa, Google, & Apple – all have strengths and
weaknesses.
All can work well — just be aware that more devices are
compatible with Alexa & Google than Apple.
I have Apple everything … but finally decided on Alexa for the
flexibility.
If you want to create your own automations across
devices/platforms, you’ll want to check out IFTTT (which stand for IF This Then That).
That’s how you can have your Philips Hue lights blink when your
Ring doorbell rings.
Or have Strava add every run to a Google Sheet.
Or create your own if/then scenario!
For your Smart Homeowner list
Audit
What smart things do you have? Lights? Thermostats? Plugs? Other?
Control
Make sure you can control every device from its app and/or from
an app that controls multiple things (Alexa, Google, Apple).
Automation
Take advantage of the ability of these smart things to do things
for you.
If you can express your idea in an if/then statement, you can
automate it.
Best,
Travis
P.S. Happy to explore specific scenarios. Let me know how I can
help!
P.P.S. If you want to do a deeper dive, check out The best smart
home systems 2022: Top ecosystems.