When you add devices to your smarthome, you usually have to download and use additional apps, which is frustrating and confusing. You can avoid all that—and you don’t need a hub to do it. You just need one app.
The Key to Smarthome Bliss: A Single App
Other than voice, the best to way to control your smarthome is through a single app. This is especially true if multiple family members interact with your smarthome. If everyone is always second-guessing which app controls the living room lights and which controls the smart plugs, you might be tempted to give up in frustration.
It’s even worse when you have to change infrequently used options, like routines, timers, or scenes. If you can’t remember which app locks the door every day, you have to dig through all of them one by one.
If, however, you control every function of all your smarthome devices through a single app, you can eliminate all (or most) of the confusion. After it’s correctly set up, you’ll only need the other apps for firmware updates and, occasionally, some additional features.
You Have Options for Which App to Use
The average smarthome might not need incredibly complex routines, in which case either Google Home or Alexa will work well as your single app. The bonus here is all your smartphone, tablet, and voice controls are all in one place.
You do have to make sure all your devices support your voice assistant of choice. That list is growing all the time, though. If you already own Google Home or Alexa speakers, definitely consider whether any smarthome gadget you buy is compatible with them.
If you’re an Apple fan, you can use HomeKit and the Home app. But just like Google Home and Alexa, you need to make sure all your devices have HomeKit support. HomeKit has some distinct advantages (like Apple Watch support) and, depending on your hardware, more local control. This means some of your commands will process more quickly than they would with Alexa or Google Home.
If you own a smarthub, like SmartThings, Wink, Insteon, Hubitat, or HomeSeer, they also have apps with dashboards to control your devices. You might not be able to control all features (like routines) in the app, though. Also, many Wi-Fi devices created for Alexa and Google Home aren’t compatible with hubs.
Hubs don’t offer native voice control either, so you still have to pair everything to your Google Home or Alexa app if you want that. However, smarthubs generally provide more powerful automation than voice assistants do.
How to Set It Up
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Source : How to Control Your Entire Smarthome Through One App
