Story time: I’m pretty much a luddite. I do not like technology, and I do not like multipurpose devices. I like real books, a real laptop that’s not connected to any kind of cloud, a phone that does phone things, a Garmin GPS that does GPS things, a Casio watch that does nothing but tell time, an iPod Classic that needs to be plugged in to get new music.
My television does television things, my microwave does not speak to any other appliance, and if I can’t make it with a balloon whisk or a sharp knife (of which I only have two) I do not eat it.
This might explain why I have had such a bad time when it comes to adopting home automation – Why can’t the light switch just switch on the lights?
However, as mentioned before certain parts of the whole home automation journey have been useful. (I draw your attention back to the little speaker thingy that helps me find my phone when I yell at it.)
Anyway, the final step in accepting and embracing home automation has been:
(Drumroll please) Installing The Apps
Now, apparently the apps are there to help you speak to your home. So they are the things that make the light switches obsolete and listen when you curse at your phone.
My experience has been that the apps actually work and are surprisingly intuitive. Even for a technophobe.
Open source and multi-device/brand
Home assistant
Home assistant is an open-source bit of genius software that can be used for more than 1000 different devices.
It is one of the home automation tools that integrates with any brand. Home Assistant also puts a premium on privacy and gives you total control of all your devices. What’s more, is this clever little bit of tech will automatically scan your network, once installed, and alert you to, and allow you to easily set up any new links.
Samsung SmartThings
Although Samsung promises a simplified, customized and connected home, it comes with a big caveat…as long as all your devices are Samsung…This App still does everything it should, it’s easy to use and reliable, but it is linked to the greater Samsung cloud and shares the same privacy parameters of the whole Samsung device network.
The same goes for Apple Home. and even Google home to a certain extent.
These brand specific applications are really good at delivering what they promise, but they only serve a very limited network of devices, and the moment you have an iPhone, a Samsung television and a Dell laptop or Microsoft Surface tablet, you’re crossing the boundaries of what they can offer. This doesn’t mean that you can’t speak to each other, it just means that the simplicity is taken out of the process.
Click into the future and accept your fate.
Home automation, for all the hate I’ve been giving it, IS the future. It’s there to do so much more than just find your phone and fail to switch on your lights.
It is a way to take some of the control back from our devices.
A way to bring them into line and make them work for us again.
Telling your speakers to “Ssshhhhhh” and having them obey you makes you feel like the apex predator you deserve to be.
