Marvel Studios’ Iron Man had a lasting impact on me and my relationship with technology. It feels strange to even think something like that, but seeing Tony interact with J.A.R.V.I.S immediately captivated my imagination and made me begin to ask more of my devices. My iPod touch became less of a media device and more of a tool, and that theme carried over to phones, computers, tablets, and watches. And now, that shift has made its way into the home.
The first aspect of the home I looked to make “smart” was lighting. Without question, the most important part of the home, lighting directly correlates to my creativity and overall mental state. When it’s dark inside, I feel like watching a movie, and when it’s bright, I feel inspired and eager to create. I wanted to be able to control the lights with more control than a typical dimmer switch, so I looked to Philips Hue. Likely the most popular of the smart bulbs, Hue is well-built and reliable, rarely being unable to connect or control. I started with the White and Ambience Starter Kit but quickly upgraded to the full RGB versions. An added benefit of using these bulbs is their low-power draw. They don’t draw nearly as much power as traditional lights, and they last much longer. Add some automations to the mix, and you have yourself a pretty efficient setup going, but more on that in a minute.
It seems like everyone has video doorbells now, and I’m no exception. The second area I looked at was an inexpensive video doorbell, and while I don’t love the solution I found, it gets the job done — for now. I decided to go with the Blink Video Doorbell because of the price and the integration with Amazon’s Alexa. The video quality is pretty good, and the motion detection is a nice feature. I also wanted a camera to include in the garage, and for that, I grabbed a Eufy Indoor Security Camera. This camera records 2K video, has night mode, motion detection, two-way communication, and more. I really like this camera, and I managed to find it for $25 on Amazon.
I moved last year, and when I did, I knew I wanted to take some time upgrading the router situation. Home internet/Wi-Fi, to me, is ridiculously confusing, but after reading and watching a lot of reviews, I found the Linksys Velop Home Wi-Fi Mesh System at a reasonable price. The bundle contains three nodes, all of which act as routers for the home network. I put a node in the family room, basement, and upstairs. This way, coverage is reliable and strong no matter where you are in the house. Each node has an open Ethernet port, which is useful because the Ethernet situation in my house is severely lacking.
Nothing is worse than being comfortable watching a movie or getting ready for bed and not knowing if your front door is locked. Smart locks are ridiculously expensive, which makes sense when you consider how important this item is. You don’t want someone lurking around your house while you sleep. I managed to find the Yale Smart Lock around Christmas time on sale, so I quickly jumped on it. Installation was quite simple, though I downloaded the wrong Yale app and had a minor panic attack for 5 minutes before realizing it. Aside from being able to unlock and lock, you can calibrate the door so it knows when it’s open, have it unlock when you approach and lock when you leave, and a lot more.
The last major aspect of the house I wanted to look at was the garage door. My house is a fairly recent building, so a lot of the technology was already there. The garage door has limited smart capabilities built in, so I just decided to go with that. Turning them on was as simple as getting on a step ladder and following the button prompts in the user guide. The limits aren’t too bad, but this is an accessory that isn’t controlled by a tap or interaction. I can just tell Siri to open or close the door, from my phone, watch, or car. Everything else, however, is controlled through an app. Or apps.
An exception I was willing to make was the router situation. Each node is HomeKit compatible, but it only shows the device status and allows you to establish some security parameters. The rest of the router’s functionality, including restarting the devices, comes from the Linksys app. The app is okay, but I would much rather have the controls in the Home app. I know it won’t happen, but it’s nice to dream.
Everything else, on the other hand, is controlled by a singular app: the Apple Home app. Don’t get me wrong, these products all have their apps, but I’ve chosen to only use the Home app for all of my devices. The Home app acts much like the Apple TV app does. It pools all of your smart devices together into one place for easy access and control. My setup within the Home app is quite simple. I have every room created with the appropriate accessory in each room and a few automations created for convenience. My most used automation is when my phone connects to the lock, and the front door unlocks. I haven’t managed to grab the Wi-Fi module for the lock yet, but when I do, I’ll be able to perform much more complex automations.
I also have several scenes created within the home app. I always have a Bright mode, which turns the lights to their Adaptive mode and changes the brightness to 100%. I also have a Movie Mode scene, which creates a nice red and blue vibe. Countless scenes are similar, but a new favorite is my Develop scene. This scene creates a warm workspace atmosphere but also controls my HomePod mini, setting the volume to 15% and starting the Creative Focus playlist from Apple Music. It’s a relaxing place to sit down and complete some of the not-so-fun stuff about developing an app.
Creating a smart home, much like a desk setup, is never fully complete. I’ve merely scratched the surface with my setup, but I already have the beginnings of an upgrade path planned. The first is switching to a different video doorbell with HomeKit functionality. This would help us replace the reliance on Amazon Alexa’s spotty doorbell integration and allow the process of replacing Alexa altogether to begin. I also want to begin replacing some of the light switches with smart switches, but I haven’t the first clue on how to do any of that. There’s much more I have planned for this setup, though I’m biding my time for a lot of it. I’m still very far away from being at Tony Stark’s level (obviously), but I’m getting there. Slowly.