Smarthome technology has come a long way. It still isn’t for everyone, but some of the common myths people use to avoid smarthome tech aren’t true. Smarthomes don’t have to be expensive, and they aren’t always listening to you, for example.
Myth: Smarthomes are Expensive
Smarthomes can be expensive—especially if you go for a custom build designed specifically for your home. But they don’t have to be expensive.
It’s easy to start small and then build out piece by piece from there. One great way to do that is to pick up inexpensive smart bulbs and see what you think. You could then consider adding a sensor or two. If you are more comfortable with electricity, you can install smart light switches to control several bulbs for a little more than an inexpensive smart bulb.
The best thing to do is to watch for deals. Voice assistants like the Echo and Google Home go on sale frequently. Even if the cost does add up, it’s easy to spread out that cost over time, so you feel less of the bite. You don’t have to buy every gadget, and you certainly don’t have to buy them all at once!
RELATED: How to Put Together Your First Smarthome (Without Getting Overwhelmed)
Myth: Smarthomes are Always Listening to You
If you become a Smarthome owner, or at least a Voice Assistant user, you’ll hear this frequently. But it isn’t true at all, at least not in the way people fear. Voice Assistant devices, like Alexa and Google Home, do always listen. But they are only listening for their wake word (like “Alexa” or “Hey, Google”).
This wake word is locally processed, and until the device hears those specific words, it sends nothing to Amazon or Google. As soon as they do recognize the wake word, they process the command that follows and then send it off for cloud processing. If these devices were recording everything they heard and sending it to the cloud, you’d see a drastic rise in network usage that would be easy to spot.
How easy? When an early Google Home mini review unit was malfunctioning and recording near constantly, the tech reviewer who had the unit realized fairly quickly. This was, of course, unintentional, and Google was quick to remedy the situation. But the point stands that near-constant recording is noticeable, even to someone who isn’t a security researcher.
