Control All Your Smart Home Devices in a Single App
8 August 2021
Smart home technology has been improving at an incredible pace despite all the recent events. It’s easier than ever for anyone to automate, secure and enhance their home without spending a ton of money. Controlling the variety of gadgets still takes a little effort though. But configuring and operating them through an app can be fairly intuitive it you’re even the least bit familiar with your mobile device.
Not long ago you very often needed a physical smart home hub to bring all of your devices into a single interface. If you’re not familiar with hubs, you can learn more about them in my previous post here. Thanks to Apple, Amazon and Google, that’s no longer the case. You don’t even need to use their products to get better smart home controls.
One of the big advantages of using a smart home hub is the unified experience for all of your devices. No matter the brand, as long as they can connect to the hub, you can control them with one app, whereas smart devices that don’t use a hub require their own third-party apps.
If you mix and match several different brands of smart devices, it’s easy to see how this could become very complicated really fast. You have one app to turn on the lights in the living room but your kitchen lights require a separate app.
Thankfully, this challenging scenario doesn’t have to exist anymore. While you’ll still probably need those third-party apps to do the initial setup, there are plenty of ways to bring all of your smart devices into one unified experience without a physical hub. Let’s take a look at some of the options …
You might assume that you need a Google Nest smart speaker or display to use the Google Home app, but that’s not true. It can integrate with a wide variety of products from popular smart home brands. The app is available for iPhone, iPad, or Android.
The Google Home app allows you to create rooms in your home, and you can place smart devices in them. You can turn on or off all the lights in a room at once, create handy routines and control everything with Google Assistant.
You don’t need a Google Nest device, but if you do have some, they sort of act like a “hub.” They allow you to control things with your voice. If the speaker is in the living room and you say “Turn off the lights,” it will only turn off the living room lights.
To add your smart home device to the Google Home app make sure that the device has the “Works with Google Assistant” label or mentions Google Assistant in the description.
To add it to the Google Home app, you’ll simply open the app and tap the + icon in the top-left corner. You’ll be guided through setting up your home and selecting the type of device it is.
Similar to Google Home, an Echo device isn’t necessary to use the Amazon Alexa app. Many smart home products from popular brands can be added to it. The app is available for iPhone, iPad, and Android.
The Alexa app lets you organize devices into “Groups.” You can set up these groups to be rooms, like putting all of your living room devices into one group. It’s totally up to you how you want to organize all the devices.
If you do have some Echo devices in your home, they can control all of the smart devices that you add to the app. The app also allows you to create routines, which can automate smart home controls like a hub would.
When you’re buying devices to work with the Alexa app, simply look for the “Works with Alexa” label on the packaging. Amazon.com also prominently displays “Works with Alexa” labels in search results.
To add a device to the Alexa app, open it and go to the “Devices” tab. You’ll then press the + button in the top-right corner and choose the type of device that you’re trying to add.
If you’re an iPhone or iPad user, you already have a smart home app installed on your phone. Apple’s Home app supports any device that’s compatible with the HomeKit platform.
The Apple Home app allows you to organize smart home devices into rooms. You can also add multiple homes and invite others to be able to control the devices. The Home app includes “Automations” as well, although they’re more limited than Google and Amazon.
Like many things Apple, the power of the Home app comes with the entire ecosystem. You can control devices from your Apple Watch and through voice commands with Siri. The only downside is that Android is not compatible.
Look for the “Works with Apple HomeKit” label when you’re shopping for compatible devices. Adding a device to the home app is as simple as tapping the + button and scanning a QR code, holding the phone near the device or entering a number from the packaging.
The evolution of digital assistants and smart speakers has really changed the smart home game. While there are certainly still advantages to having a dedicated hub, the lines are being blurred. You can do a lot with nothing more than your phone.
The best approach to integrating any smart home devices in your home is having an idea of what you’re looking to accomplish then doing your homework. There’s nothing more frustrating than getting a great new gadget for your home and then finding out it’s a siloed platform. Luckily Matter is working to drive more standardization in the smart home world to avoid these kinds of issues in the future.
Not much has changed over the past week on the home build front. Debbie and I have been on the road getting in some vacation before the summer is over, visiting with family and friends. We’ve shared our floor plans and gotten more feedback and ideas which we always love to hear. I’ve also had the chance to evangelize smart home where I’ve seen opportunities. There’s just so much stuff out there that there’s a great solution for every challenge.
Debbie and I have also been talking about potential construction timelines. Recent conversations with builders have been both disappointing and encouraging regarding home construction in general so we are still undecided about when to move forward. For the second consecutive month, lumber prices are down and a welcome sign but not a reality yet on the retail side. Lumber prices are also still up nearly 100% from the spring of last year.. Homebuilders are still seeing strong demand, but they have slowed construction due to high costs. Saw mills have gotten back online, but many are having issues finding enough labor.
At some point we may just have to bite the bullet and move forward.
As always, keep your questions and comments coming through the comments section here, DMs, emails and social media — Debbie and I really appreciate the feedback. Also let us know if you have any ideas for future posts here on Smart Home on the Range. Until next week …
In full disclosure, I’m not an affiliate marketer with links to any online retailer on my website. When people read what I’ve written about a particular product and then click on those links and buy something from the retailer, I earn nothing from the retailer. The links are strictly a convenience for my readers.
