Sadly, it only worked with HomeKit and nothing else. Then I bought a switch that was HomeKit-enabled. And as it turns out, a bunch of other stuff, too. They worked with HomeKit but I could also hook them up to Google Home.

Pick the wrong one and you might find yourself limited. Here are just a few of the more popular ways: The first thing to consider is how everything will communicate with each other. The trick is to get all the devices talking together. In the most vaguest terms, you have a device (light bulb, light switch, outlet, or whatever) that can communicate and be controlled by another device (hub, phone, voice device, or whatever). Not a terribly difficult requirement, per se, but there are some considerations here. I shouldn’t have to get them to install an app to be able to interact with the house. The other requirement I had was that anybody in the house shouldn’t necessarily need something complex to work the lights. Long answer: we can come pretty damn close and maybe that’s okay. There’s voice control on the desktop, on mobile, and as a standalone device.Ĭan I build a system that works across all of these? The short answer is: no. I’m a fan of being able to easily move between ecosystems.

I started buying smart switches and smart lights and smart thermostats and, wow, is this stuff complicated.

This idea opened the floodgates of research into the world of having a “smart home”. To which, I thought, maybe I should by a HomeKit powered garage door opener! I tried to use Siri in the car to open the garage door but to no avail. However, I realized after the purchase that the car didn’t have a built-in garage door opener like my old car had.

Old Snook instal the new for android