Using Google’s Nest Hub Max as a Matter Hub: How I’m excited to use the Refreshed Home app and Android Home app

The updated version of the app improves a lot of basic home functions. The new software adds support for Matter on the home app of the device that is running the newest edition of the App Store.

I am curious to know if Matter works with the Home app of my phone. The software update only just went live, so I haven’t had much time to mess around with it. In theory, it should make it even easier to set up and use smart devices. Despite my feelings about smart displays, I am interested in trying out my Google Nest Hub Max as a Matter hub. I am excited to use the refreshed Home app a little more. The updated app and iPhone support for Matter make Google’s platform significantly more appealing.

It means that anyone who has a Protect smoke detector along with other gadgets probably needs both of the apps. It has been rumored that it will soon be available in the latest version of my Home app, but I have not seen it yet.

Source: https://www.theverge.com/23744291/google-smart-home-nest-how-to

A Simple Way to Schedule a Smart Home Automation without a Voice Command: The Example of a Wyze Light Bulbs Compatible with a Virtual Assistant

Wyze light bulbs should be part of your setup. They work, they are cheap, and they are compatible with a virtual assistant. I have a combination of their white-light-only and color-changing bulbs. All of them have a white-light temperature that can be adjusted so you can change between cooler and warmer white light in the evening, when you want to get things done.

In fact, you may already have a device at home that’s compatible with Google. You can look at your device options to see what will work for you.

It’s basic, but having a single “OK, Google” command to handle multiple things saves me a small amount of time each day. It probably also means I’m saving money and energy over time because I’m less likely to leave lights on or forget to adjust the thermostat during parts of the day when we need less heat or AC.

Those individual “OK, Google” commands are nice, but Routines (Google’s word for customizable smart home automations) are even better. With just one command, routines could modify the thermostat, lights, and garage door at once. If I say “OK, Google, goodnight,” the voice assistant will change my lights and thermostat for a better night’s sleep. It is possible to create schedules with Routines, which will be more automated and doesn’t require a voice command, such as, ” at sunrise open my window shades and turn off my outdoor lights.”

The options for triggering in routines have been updated. Rather than just a voice command, a specific time, at sunrise or sunset, or turning off an alarm, you can now start a routine “when a device does something,” which is a major upgrade. That means you can start an automation when your camera detects motion or when your lights, smart plugs, or any other compatible devices do something.

In the morning, what if the shades opened and the lights turned on when I woke up? Then, when I went downstairs, what if my electric kettle started boiling and the smart display in my kitchen started giving me a news update, without me saying a word? I can schedule some of these things today but I am not always up at the same time every day. I could use a voice command, but it would be even easier if I didn’t have to ask the internet search engine to read my news.

If you have a Chromecast with a Google TV, you can use your voice assistant to control your television and view your live feed of your favorite shows.

I like the sound of the smart displays, but they are not strong enough to overcome my dislike of them. I can easily view my connected products on the display and make adjustments there if I don’t have my phone handy — or use a quick voice command.

When I set up the Apple Home system it took me a while to identify some pain points in my house I thought a smart device could make better. I now have a lot of things like smart lighting, dimmers, and security cameras as well as garage door opener modules that were compatible with my ancient Automatic Doorman opener. I have many devices that use various hubs to connect to Apple Home, so I don’t know how many of them I own.

A lot has changed in seven years. These days, Alexa can be used via a mobile app and third-party devices like TVs and speakers, kicking off a trend in interactive voice assistants and fully embracing its calling as a robust smart home platform. It is one of the 4 main ecosystems for smart home devices. There are some solid options, but I prefer the Amazon platform.

If you have an Android phone, you can simply use that to command your various compatible connected devices. You can use the Google Home app to get Google Assistant when you have an Apple device. In either case, you can also use one of their smart speakers or displays.

You’ll find that each of the three big smart home systems can largely perform the same tasks, but Amazon Alexa has at least two perks I can think of that its rivals lack. The first is Hunches, which allows Alexa to proactively control your smart home gadgets based on your previous activity. If you forget your robot vacuum is power up when you go to the gym each morning, it will be offered to run for you by the smart speaker. It is possible to have the feature enabled by default on most of the devices. You also have the flexibility to manually set which Hunches you want and disable those you don’t need. It is a great feature for people like me who can’t stick to a daily routine.

It is your only warning before it pitches Amazon skills, features, and products like some soulless sales rep sniffing out a commission. You can reduce how often this happens by going into your account settings and disabling everything under the things to try tab. Before that I lost count of how many times I had to sayCOMPUTER, SHUT UP. I don’t like telling Dad jokes, so it attempts to get me to download a skill for doing so.

One of the more common complaints about the AmazonAlexa platform is how much it costs to use, or what other features you can get with it. Home screen ads are almost impossible to remove, which is why theEcho Show devices display them frequently. Subscribing to Prime doesn’t prevent these from appearing, though it does prevent Alexa from constantly trying to tempt you with Prime-only services.

In fact, those plugs were the only additional devices in my teeny Alexa setup until fairly recently. I still only own a handful, having recently added some cute Philips Hue and Twinkly smart lighting around the place (which I have set to turn on at sundown every evening). I have a lengthy list of products I need to purchase and build into my smart home, such as a Tado thermostat and an August wi-fi smart lock.

Some Echo devices — specifically the fourth-generation Echo and the Echo Show 10 — also include a built-in Zigbee radio. This is essentially a wireless protocol for smart devices similar to Wi-Fi or Bluetooth that allows them to connect directly to Zigbee devices like Philips Hue lighting systems without purchasing a dedicated hub. Amazon is rolling out support for Matter, a new smart home standard that will help improve device compatibility. The fourth-gen Echo can already be used as a Thread border router.

Amazon spent at least four years designing what would eventually become the first Echo smart speaker before it was officially announced in November 2014. The library of Alexandria is where the virtual assistant was launched, with a voice that was created from the acquisition of a Polish speech synthesizer. Compared to other voice assistants, such as Microsoft’s and Apple’s, ALEXA was defined by being useful. It didn’t need a phone or Windows 10 to work, and the routines and skills built into the system allowed it to perform tasks like hosting trivia games, controlling your TV using voice commands, and fetching stock or weather reports from specific third-party services.

And there are plenty of skills to play around with — over 100,000, at this point, far more than Google Home Actions and Apple’s user-programmable Shortcuts, each platform’s equivalent feature. Skills are preprogrammed apps for your device which you can use to perform specific tasks or retrieve information. You can install skills that enable you to order from Pizza Hut or receive weather reports from Big Sky with the Dark Sky API, for example. Plus, there are lots of goofier skills you can install to play games, tell jokes, and change how Alexa interacts with you. Most skills are free, though some do require a paid subscription to unlock all of the features, like Big Sky’s $1.60 monthly premium membership.

There are different varieties of the Echo Show smart display, from the adorable $90 Echo Show 5, to the slightly bigger and far more expensive 21.5-inch Echo Show 15, which retails for $280. You can get compatible Echo accessories like the Sub or Link Amp, but they aren’t included. That variety means that you can select a smart home controller that best serves your needs, and there are plenty of deals to be found on older, still capable models if you’re on a tight budget. They have similar offerings, but they don’t have the same number of smart speaker offerings.

Its voice rings through almost every room. When I go for a shower, it turns on my towel warmer and even manages my shopping list by listening for when my laundry needs changing. I never intended for this to be a full smart home set up, but the convenience it has provided me has been worth every penny of the costs I’ve spent on smart speakers, plugs and lighting.

The smart home platform that Apple started in 2014, called Apple Home, was previously known as HomeKit. The company had no app and no smart speaker until two years later, when the first one was released. Nilay Patel of The Verge loves the audio chops of the HomePod, but said that it suffered from being in the walled garden and making it a lonely device. It couldn’t distinguish between voices, couldn’t operate your TV, and couldn’t handle one timer at a time. I stuck with it because it seemed to work better for me, and I just wanted my lights to turn on and off. Apple has closed the gap since then in all of the big, meaningful ways, but it’s been a slow process.

I hated the skills system that Amazon uses and the sound quality of its little black puck was terrible when I first started using it. So I got a Google Home Mini. It looked nicer but had invisible touch controls, and the app felt half-finished. I could’ve stopped there, but driven by the sunk cost fallacy, I gave Apple Home a shot.

There are things Apple could have done better. Improvements to the technology, such as using it to help me find things on the internet and give me answers through the speaker, is always good. My phone never seems to understand that it is supposed to guide me through certain questions, so improvements to the technology are always good. Ecobee is the only company taking Apple up on an offer to support its assistant, but it would be nice to see more third-party support.

Getting Smarter With More Sensors: A Comparison of Two Eve Energy Light Bulbs with an Ecobee Smart Plugs ($1$-plus $0$)

I collect information like I once did Pogs, and I love being able to find out the conditions in every part of my house — and being able to check on things there when I’m away. Various sensors allow me to adjust my damper for the best air distribution, and help me know where to place humidifiers and dehumidifiers for better results.

You may not need dedicated temperature and humidity sensors, which are built in with the HomePods, even though they are more accurate than those built in. In addition, their built-in alarm recognition means you can be notified if your smoke detector goes off when you’re out of the house. Having all of them in a single device is something that isn’t unique to HomePods. If you pay for a Nest subscription, the speaker can detect smoke alarms, but only if it has built-in temperature and humidity sensors.

If you want to add peace of mind beyond what cameras offer, you can look for door and window sensors like those for Ecobee thermostats. The Aqara water leak detector actually saved my bacon once when a leak I’d patched in my basement sprung open in the middle of the night — my iPhone alerted me to it, waking me up so I could stop the leak before it got to anything important. Door / window and motion sensors can also be great for setting up automation, so your lights are on right after you walk in the room.

For smart plugs, I’ve tried a few, and all have been iffy at one time or another. The best, though, have been my Eve Energy smart plugs. The built-in power meter function that Eves plugs offer tracks how much power is flowing through them and can be used to calculate the price of power based on last week, day, or minute of usage. When I had to solve responsiveness issues with my Thread devices a few weeks ago, I was helped immensely by the Eve app, which shows how your network is structured.

As for smart devices, start small. The best light bulb to try is the smart light bulb, but the setup is more complicated for the other two bulbs than for the smart light bulb. Both brands offer bulbs compatible with Apple’s Adaptive Lighting feature, which gradually tunes the warmth of the bulb throughout your day to be cooler or warmer, depending on the time.

Purchasing an Apple Home Hub allows you to control your smart home while you are away and lets you share access with others if they have an iPhone. Without a Home Hub, things become less convenient, but you can still use your Apple device to add and control smart home products.

If you’re going to go with Apple Home, you may want to start with an Apple Home Hub — as mentioned above, either an Apple TV (ideally from 2021 or newer) or a HomePod. If you get the most recent version of the device, you will be paying more, but it will still give you the same experience, and the mini model only costs $25, making it a great option. The 2022 Apple TV 4K, starting at $129, is a powerful TV streaming box and probably the best such product for most people to buy anyway, though you won’t get Thread support, as it’s reserved for the 128GB version.

Apple’s system has seen the most enthusiastic support for the new Matter protocol, partially based on Apple’s platform and still in its early days. If you’ve invested in almost any recent Apple Home Hub — that is, an Apple TV or a HomePod — you’ll find that device is also a Thread border router. The Thread wireless standard will be used in inexpensive smart home devices going forward. For more, our own Jennifer Tuohy has a great introductory guide on the subject.

Second is being so locked into the company’s ecosystem that you benefit from its strict requirements for Apple Home-compatible devices. Those requirements include the ability to control devices locally, which means if your internet service goes out, you can still maintain basic control from your phone, while HomeKit allows users to store cloud video, facial recognition, and other features in an Apple Photos library. Compliance with Apple strictures has resulted in a more limited product choice, which is a double-edged sword.

Source: https://www.theverge.com/23751656/apple-home-smart-devices-gadgets-homepod-mini

My first smart home journey began with a misplaced light switch in the laundry room on the opposite side of the kitchen wall. Why I didn’t know it was a light switch, but a thought it did

So what are you going to do? Well, I could spend a bunch of money I didn’t have to hire someone to move it, try to do it myself and accidentally burn my house down with a bad wiring job, or take the plunge on a smart home. I got started on smartening my house by taking the path of least resistance.

Like so many others, I began my smart home journey with a poorly placed light switch. My partner and I had just bought our first house, and the switch that illuminated the kitchen was in the laundry room all the way on the other side, meaning we had to wander through darkness to get to it. I really disliked that light switch.