Smart Home Primer: IFTTT

If you’ve never heard of Stringify, we’re honored to introduce you to it. Similar to IFTTT, Stringify allows you to connect disparate devices in the cloud for free. For example, your Wink Hub might support Ecobee 3, but not in a way that allows you to do everything that you want. This is one way Stringify in particular can help. Don’t misunderstand us, we like IFTTT and find there’s great value in their partnerships, especially the one they announced with Stringify on January 13, 2017. We’ll get into that in a follow-up post, because it’s advanced and requires you have a good understanding of both Stringify and IFTTT to get results. Be sure to read our post "How-to: Connect Smart Home Devices with IFTTT" in preparation.

Before we start, you’ll need to download Stringify from either the Apple App Store or Google Play Store on your smart device. Currently, there is no iPad specific version, but you can still use it on iPad in so called “Universal App” mode where everything is scaled to fit the larger format. Be sure to select “iPhone Only” when searching the iOS App Store for Stringify from an iPad.

Put security first

This app and the associated services in the cloud will be able to control devices around your home and send notifications to your smart devices, so we recommend you review our How-to: on using password managers with Smart Home devices

Your first flow

For most of this article we’re going to refer you back to Stringify Knowledge base documents with links throughout this article, because they are well written. However, many people still struggle with creating their own flows in Stringify when getting started, so the purpose of this article is to reinforce some important basics you’ll need to know.

Start with a basic flow to get a feel for how Stringify works. This first will be similar to what can be done with IFTTT, but once you understand how to add “Things” to your canvas, how to connect them and complete your flow, we’ll get fancy and you'll quickly see how powerful Stringify is. In this example, an email will automatically be sent to your partner anytime you're home early from work.

The good part

Now that you understand how to build and connect a basic flow by following the links above, lets get more advanced by adding an “ONLY IF” trigger to a flow. This is something that IFTTT cannot do alone.

“Things” you’ll need

Start by adding Location, Date & Time and the Gmail “Thing” to your canvas.

Now configure the Date & Time “Thing” to start on today’s date, the time should be set to 5:00 PM or whatever time would be considered early for you to be home, and it should repeat Every Day.

Set the location to “ONLY IF” I’m at a location. We suggest within 1000ft for best accuracy.

Configure triggers or actions

Tap the Gmail “Thing” and set your partner as the recipient, with the subject “I’m home early”. It’s necessary to also enter something into the body. If your partner has a good sense of humor, try “What’s for dinner?”, but use with caution as your milage with that phrasing may vary.

Putting it all together

Now connect the “Things" together. First drag Date & Time to Gmail.

This will create a quick link between them showing they have a relationship.

It’s a common error to next want to drag the “ONLY IF” trigger to the Gmail “Thing” as in this example. But as you can see, this tries create a second relationship with Gmail and that will result in a red quick link and an error when you attempt “Enable Flow”.

Flows can contain only one “WHEN” trigger, but may contain unlimited “ONLY IF” triggers as explained in the Stringify KB here.

Your goal is that the Location “Thing” should interact on the relationship between Date & Time and Gmail. So WHEN the TIME EVERYDAY is 5:00 PM, ONLY IF I’m at a location should the flow continue and send the email to the recipient I have specified in the Gmail “Thing”

To make that happen, you must drag the Location “Thing”, not to the Gmail “Thing”, but to the Quick Link that defines the relationship between Date & Time and Gmail.

Your flow should look like the image below and the lines will change from dashed to solid then the flow is enabled.

Congratulations, you've built your first Stringify Flow! Stringify runs in the cloud, so there's no need to have the app running in the background on your device.

Have a comment or question? Please gives us your feedback in the comments sections and do join us in the discussion on Twitter @smarthomeprimer where you'll find us posting about the latest news in IoT and smart home innovations.

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IFTTT is an acronym for If This Then That, and is one of the most popular services in consumer Smart Home and IoT. When it started out, the services IFTTT connected had nothing to do with either of those things, but it didn’t take long for manufacturers and developers to add support for this popular cloud-based service which links together other cloud-based services in a chain of Triggers and Actions.

In it’s simplest form, IFTTT asks one simple question and gives one simple answer.

If THIS happens, then THAT should be the result. An example might be two IoT devices, the first device in the string is the trigger and the second is the action or in other words, if THIS smart home sensor detects motion, then THAT smart bulb should turn on. This is only an example to illustrate a possibility, and typically you wouldn’t connect a sensor and smart bulb in this manor because the delay and reliability of such a connection is not practical today.

Many consumer Smart Home manufacturers now support IFTTT, and even use it as a selling point to make their devices more attractive to buyers. Rather than having to work inside the parameters of the various Application Program Interfaces or APIs from different manufacturers, each company can create an IFTTT service that can be connected to another IFTTT service to automate an action. The capability of each trigger and action is based on what the manufacturers decide is possible or are willing to make available.

IFTTT connects disparate devices that might not otherwise work together, but its limitations are reached very quickly. It’s not possible to have additional AND statements or ONLY IF conditions to create complex logic flows. To answers this need, a cloud service named Stringify was created. See our post here for a discussion on what Stringify is and how to create a basic flow. To our great delight, Stringify and IFTTT acted on our advice to form a partnership with support for nearly all the major smart home hubs and devices. Together, Stringify and IFTTT have formed a powerful alliance to connect otherwise disparate devices in your smart home. Like IFTTT, Stringify operates from the cloud, so there is no need to have an app running all the time.

Building an IFTTT Applet is easy

Before we start, you’ll need to create an IFTTT account. Although it’s possible to use the app, we recommend you use the web interface from a laptop or desktop the first time as it’s easier to explore the available services and get an understanding of how to configure Triggers and Actions.

Put security first

IFTTT and the associated services in the cloud will be able to control devices around your home and send notifications to your smart devices, so we recommend you review our post, How-to: Put Security First in Smart Home

Your First Applet

Once you are signed into your account, select “Search” in the upper-left of the IFTTT home page. This will allow you to browse by device type or you can type the manufacture of your smart device in the search box to see if it’s supported by IFTTT.

In our example, you will create an IFTTT Applet that sends a notification to your partner any time you arrive at, or leave work. For this to happen, you will need to also download IFTTT for your iOS or Android device.

Linking services

Continue to build the IFTTT Applet using a web browser on your laptop or desktop. Select “My Applets” in the upper-left, then click the “New Applet” button on the right of the page.

Click the word THIS and type “location” in the search box that follows, and then click on the blue “Location” box. Click “Connect”. Initially, this will connect your location of your laptop or desktop, but once you build the Applet and sign-in from you iOS or Android device, it will use that device location as the trigger, without the need to have the app running.

Now click, the blue box that says “You enter or exit an area” and then specify the address for the location to monitor. Use + to narrow the monitored and - to select a wider area. Lastly, click the “Create Trigger” button.

Next, click on THAT and type “gmail” in the search box that follows, and then click on the Gmail icon. Click the dark blue box that says “Send an email” and then enter your partner's email address in the “To address” field and then click the “Create Action” button.

Decide if you want a notification on your phone whenever this applet runs. If you don’t want to a push notification on your phone when the applet runs, then click on the switch to turn them off. Click the “Finish” button. Applets may be turned off anytime you don’t want them to run. Notifications can be very helpful in troubleshooting an Applet that isn't working as you expected, or if for example, your IFTTT Applet enables your home security system, you may wish to be notified when that Applet has successfully run.

Congratulations, you've built your first IFTTT Applet! IFTTT runs in the cloud, so there's no need to have the app running in the background on your device.

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As you begin to explore Smart Home products and the Internet of Things industry, one common theme you will encounter is the emphasis on digital security. We’re big proponents of this careful approach and we commend those that are vigil and further the effort to protect the public from becoming victims or unwitting participants in wide scale attacks like the Mirai Botnet, a malware that was discovered running on thousands of video cameras and routers that had not been secured with a strong password. The malware allowed devices to combine computing power to deliver a Distributed Denial of Service attack on Dyn, a popular Domain Name Service provider for many large companies on October 21, 2016. While damage was temporary, 73 big names brands like Amazon, Netflix, PayPal and Visa were forced offline for several hours by the attack. Not at all insignificant in scale.

Tell us something new

If at this point in our article, you’re already wondering how this affects your smart home or you’ve convinced yourself that is doesn’t because you only buy from reputable companies or you’ve invested in all Apple HomeKit products, you may be mistaken. If you are not using highly randomized passwords for your devices and smart home apps or if you have duplicated any passwords on any of the devices or services you use, you are at risk.

Rules are rules

The same password rules that apply to typical online behavior, also apply where the smart home is concerned.

Always use highly randomized passwords
Never duplicate passwords on any service or device
Never store your passwords in an insecure manor such as an unencrypted plain text file on your computer, phone or tablet

Begin as you mean to go on...

A simple fact is, if you’re going to add IoT devices to your home and use apps on your smart devices, you’re going to need to provide an email address and password for every single one one of them, so begin as you mean to go on. Use a secure means of automatically generating and storing passwords. Do it from here forward.

Our favorite is the very popular LastPass, where you only need to remember a single complex password, and it takes care of the rest. Automatically generating highly randomized and unique passwords, LastPass then securely stores them in the cloud where they cannot be lost, and will never be of value for theft, because they are encrypted until the moment you view or copy them on your own device.

Be a part of the solution

Using secure password generation is a major step in securing the Internet of Things; One that is unfortunately left entirely up to the end consumer at this point, rather than in partnership with experts like LastPass or 1Password. For example, where in-app automatic generation, storage and autofill password are all possible from within iOS, we're not aware of any consumer Smart Home apps that currently support the feature aside from IFTTT. Look for the keyhole icon as shown in the password field of the IFTTT login screen for iOS below. This indicates that the app supports autofill from LastPass, so tapping the icon will automatically launch your LastPass app, allow you to login, and it will then fill-in the username and password fields for you and sign you into the app. If the app does not have this icon, you must manually enter the email address in the app, switch to LastPass, search for the account, copy the password, return to the app, paste it into the password field and sign in.

So the next time you buy a new smart home device, follow one of our How-to: articles, or use a new app that needs a user login, instead of allowing your activity to be tracked by Facebook, Twitter or Google with an OAuth login which may not be as secure as you are lead to believe, we recommend you use a free email account created just for smart home services, and then generate a random password with your password manager app. Do it for that extra email account and do it for every app that needs a unique password, which is all of them.

Important to note

LastPass has been evaluated and is trusted by security experts, plus it’s now free on all devices, so there’s no excuse not to use it.

To maintain privacy, prevent unwanted advertising and for possible home resale, we recommend you register your smart home devices and apps with a free email account from companies like Google that place strong emphasis on security of their user account and personal information.

Keep passwords long and random with special characters whenever allowed. The more complex the password, the more difficult it will be for software to reverse the protection put in place against such efforts. Since apps like LastPass store your passwords securely, you only need to copy and paste the password into the app when logging in.

Some devices and apps do not allow passwords to contain certain characters or exceed a certain length, but unfortunately the manufacturer will not always specify this and while the password may be accepted, you sometimes won’t be able log back in. We’ve also encounter situations where copy and paste of the password caused the account log-in to fail. Some of these situations are rare, and if you discover a limitation, we encourage you to reach out to the product or service support team to help them update their software to improve security and ease of use.

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|Updated - February 2017|

Early adoption of electronics is not without its risks, especially for startup companies struggling to survive what some might refer to as "The Valley of Death", where a startup's early investor capital is running out and they are just beginning to approach the break even point. Many haven't made it and many more will not.

Even if the startup is actually a spinoff or acquisition by a larger corporation, they are responsible for turning a profit and if they don't or if there are product issues or concerns that tarnish a reputation, they are unlikely to make it past the initial dip or even a second, or third round of funding without enough momentum to carry them forward.

This is a growth industry and it's projected to be massive. The stakes are high and there will be many new companies, bringing forth amazing products and ideas, but unfortunately many will not be around to support your purchase. So if you're well to do, an early adopter who doesn't care about the risks or you're just interested in funding new companies without any monetary gain, then you may only be interested in discovering who has reliable options. If you instead need to take a conservative approach to this new idea of the smart home, then you will hopefully gain both perspectives here.

Starting out - Watch for warning signs

Your initial investment should be small. Look for a product or family of products that will solve a need or a powerful want. Spend a fair amount of time acquainting yourself with it to ensure you are happy and it meets or exceeds your expectations, but be realistic. Be cautious of products from startups that offer "a total solution" in a single purchase. With advancements and rapid changes in IoT communications and operating layers, the total solution doesn't exist and will not exist until the dust settles and the victorious emerge.

Choose a team, but be willing to welcome free agents

As young as the Smart Home industry is, there are some established brands and communication protocols that are a pretty safe bet, but you have to make choices and at the moment, you will encounter limitations.

The limitations can come in many forms:

• Communication protocol

• Reliability

• Speed

• Accuracy

• Security

Few offer everything, but do your homework and make sure the last point is well addressed. Even if there might still be potential security flaws (which is a risk factor you must consider), the company should have a documented and firm policy regarding the device security and updates to address any that are discovered.

Apple is one such company and although they don't make any Smart Home devices, any product that is Apple HomeKit certified should meet that criteria as long as they are operated in the Apple HomeKit environment. To encourage adoption, most manufacturers products that support Apple HomeKit certified can also allow use with non-HomeKit compatible devices such as Android smart phones. If you connect your HomeKit certified smart home devices with non-Apple phones, tablets and uncertified hubs, the HomeKit security precautions cannot protect you. You will then become partially responsible for ensuring your device is securely connected to the internet.

If you want to have maximum choice in the smart home of today, you should also expect to have multiple hubs in your house. A hub is typically in the form of a small box and is a device that connects your home network either via ethernet cable or WiFi, to the smart home devices that you want to control.

It is the translator from the internet to the language that your smart home devices speak.

Since there isn't one standard, it's best to keep your options open with at least two hubs and at least two different supported communication protocols among the two hubs. Expect to pay between $50 and $100 for each hub, depending on whether they are on sale or part of a kit that might lower the initial purchase price.

Plan how you will interact with your Smart Home

Look ahead and plan what you might want to do and how you think you might like to use and interact with your new smart home. One of the hottest smart home products this year is the Amazon Echo. What looks like nothing more than a Bluetooth speaker about the size of a tennis ball can, is in fact an assistant like no other. Echo spends it's days waiting for its wake word "Alexa", and then springs to life with the ability to control the physical world on your command. The Echo is a marvel of natural language research that is sure to impress. This well designed gadget responds very quickly to every voice that's tried it in our testing center, including a visitor with a very heavy accent. He was surprised and said that Siri has a lot of trouble with his voice.

Today, Echo is able to natively control lights and outlets on hubs from Insteon, Philips Hue, Samsung SmartThings, Belkin WeMo, Wink and more are added on a regular basis. Echo can also control many other devices and perform other tasks via "Skills" which you could equate to apps on a smart phone or tablet. Another game changing connection service called IFTTT (If This Then That) is also available to Echo users. As you ask "Alexa" to turn OFF or ON lights in your home, tell you the weather, read you the latest news, read a book to you, convert a measurement or tell you the traffic ahead of your commute, to name but a few of it's many uses, you get the real sense that a Star Trek like future we've been waiting for has finally arrived.

If you choose Apple HomeKit compatible devices, you can control them with Siri on iOS devices, but you'll need your iPhone or iPad near by, and all the devices HomeKit can control must bare the Apple HomeKit compatible label. Amazon Echo on the other hand can control devices and services from a much broader selection, and even some devices that allow both HomeKit and non-HomeKit compatibility. Amazon Echo pleasantly responds to anyone from across a room, without shouting or having to constantly repeat yourself.

Protocols to consider

Decide what products you want and check their supported protocol before deciding how you will connect them. The current six most popular choices are Bluetooth LE, Lutron ClearConnect, Insteon, WiFi, ZigBee and Z-Wave. Each has strengths and weaknesses. None are dominant or perfect.

Strengths and Weaknesses of each:

• Bluetooth LE - Ubiquitous, secure and low-power consumption, but not yet capable of forming a mesh network, where devices help each other by repeating signals from one device to the next. This significantly limits the possibilities because the transmission range is so short. Few smart home devices exist that can address the current limitation and those that do may not be compatible with the future hubs that will support Bluetooth Mesh Networking. However, Bluetooth is the one to watch. We definitely expect to see the first Bluetooth Mesh smart home products at CES 2017 or at least in the early part of the year.

• Lutron ClearConnect - Designed for lighting control, Lutron's proprietary protocol is used in the DIY Caséta product line and is well liked by those who are using it. It also controls Lutron Serena shades and certain Honeywell connected thermostats are compatible. While an Apple HomeKit version of their hub is also available, you must use Lutron switches and dimmers. Wink hubs are compatible with some of the devices, but controlling Serena shades still requires a Lutron hub.

• Insteon - Mature protocol from a stable manufacturer that has a lot of experience with smart home and a large product selection. Most devices use a dual mesh network that utilizes both your home power lines and proprietary radio signals to repeat communications from one device to the next. The proprietary nature means the Insteon hub is restricted to controlling Insteon devices using the Insteon protocol, with the only exception being infrared devices via the Insteon to IR bridge and the just announced IP control of Sonos devices.

• WiFi - Ubiquitous and devices do not require a hub. Problems can arise from signal loss (we've all experienced that with WiFi) as each device must communicate back to the main router because it is not a mesh network. Power consumption is high and this lowers the feasibility of battery operated devices, but new methods of using low power are emerging. Known as 802.11ah or HaLow, it has just been announced and is not yet available. You're also going to need a new WiFi router, so our advice is to buy a hub and enjoy having a smart home today instead of years in the future.

• ZigBee - Supported typically in lighting products such as Philips Hue, GE Link, Cree Connected and others. Uses radio only mesh networking and power consumption is very low, but compatibility from one manufacturer's ZigBee device to the next is hit and miss. Most manufactures test and certify devices for use on specific hubs to avoid support issues and dissatisfied customers.

• Z-Wave - A large catalog of Z-Wave device are available. Power consumption is higher than ZigBee, but much lower than WiFi. Communication is radio only and setup can be challenging. More than one type of Z-Wave exist and this can be frustrating for a smart home owner who just wants things to work. The Wink hub, for example is Z-Wave Plus compliant, but some Z-Wave Plus devices simply will not work with Wink.

Which hub offers what protocol?

Oort: Homegrown Bluetooth Mesh

Zuli Smart Plugs: Bluetooth LE

Cassia Networks High power Bluetooth LE, up to 1000ft open air, expect less range in the real world where buildings exist

Lutron Caséta Smart Bridge Pro with HomeKit: Lutron ClearConnect

Insteon 2245-222 Hub or Insteon 2243-222 Hub Pro: with HomeKit: Insteon

Belkin WeMo, D-Link, and iDevices: WiFi (iDevices also uses Bluetooth LE)

Philips Hue 2 with HomeKit: ZigBee

SmartThings v2 and Wink: Bluetooth LE, WiFi, ZigBee and Z-Wave (Wink also supports 433MHz Lutron and Kidde for integration with Kidde Connected Smoke and CO Alarms).

[Intermediate Hubs]

Logitech Harmony Hub: Bluetooth LE, IR and WiFi (ZigBee and Z-Wave via Harmony Hub Extender)

Amazon Echo: Bluetooth LE and WiFi

Hubs to consider

We use many hubs in our research facility, but Insteon and Wink hub are among two of our favorites. Despite all the negative things people wrote about this hub early on, we find this first generation hub is really quite stable as long as you keep it at least 3 feet away from your WiFi router. The initial WiFi setup was tricky, but once you understand the timing required, it's pretty simple and it's not something you have to do all the time. We're also big fans of Insteon. Their products are well made, respond very quickly and they're very consistent. Initial setup can be weird and a pain at times, but once you get the hub online, adding products is as simple as pressing a button. No need to walk around with the hub to set things up.

You may not think of Logitech Harmony when building a smart home, but this is a very important hub to bridge connections between devices.

They support connection and control of Nest, Ecobee, Insteon, Philips Hue, Hunter Douglas, Samsung SmartThings, Lutron Smart Bridge, Honeywell, Rheem, Lifx Bulbs, and certain WiFi devices like Belkin WeMo and the August Smart Lock Connect bridge. In addition, they also offer ZigBee and Z-Wave compatibility by attaching a Harmony Hub Extender. IFTTT scripts can also be used to activate Harmony Hub Activities. They allow time-based activation, scheduling and grouping to create "Activities" that are similar to scenes used by other hubs. The ability to tie your AV control together with other home automation products is especially impressive when you control it all by voice. In our setup, the Amazon Echo handles this task.

If you're into tinkering and custom scripts, the Samsung SmartThings hub is quite powerful and has a large user base.

The latest version has local control, so even if internet access goes down, you can still control your devices. A recent announcement from Wink stated their hubs are slated to also get local control in the next update. All the other devices we've mentioned with the exception of Bluetooth, need internet connection for a user to control devices from an app, but local control at the light switches works even if the hub is unplugged. In other words, they survive the "babysitter test" since they are familiar looking wall switches and anyone can operate them without any training or prior experience. The Insteon and Wink hubs will also continue to control device timers even when the internet is offline.

What about home security?

Of course we didn't forget. It's the most popular use case for the internet of things. We'll go into more detail in a later post, but we would advise that you strongly consider a connected stand-alone security system, the one exception is SmartThings which gets very high ratings as a connected alarm. However, we feel the system that will protect you, your family and your valuables should do just one thing and do it well. Leave the lighting control, leak detectors and other inputs to the smart home hubs to handle. There are several good choices out there like iSmart Alarm, Scout, and Oomi. All are connected, all are relatively new to the scene.

How about connected smoke alarms?

Hands down it's still the Nest Protect v2. No other manufacturer offers as many features in a single smoke/CO alarm. In fact, it's such a good value for the protection and peace of mind you get, we suggest you just go buy one today, your lives are worth it. To keep cost low for the rest of the house where you just need a regular smoke alarm, you can receive notifications via any phone with the Leeo Smart Alert Nightlight. We like this more than most other options since it will phone any regular number. No smartphone data plan required to be notified of a smoke or CO emergency in your home.

Want more? There's tons more, but for now these are the basics to help point you in the right direction and clear up some of the confusion. Keep checking back. We'll be telling you more about connected security solutions, Wink's revival and return from the brink, Amazon Echo in detail, connected multi-use buttons for your smart home and more.

As always, you can find us on Twitter @smarthomeprimer posting and exchanging ideas around the latest news and development in IoT and smart home innovations.

|Update - February 2017|

As can be expected, a lot has changed in a short time.

• Apple HomeKit is rolled into iOS 10 making it easier to use than before and the choice of devices and functionality continues to improve, albeit at a slower and some would argue, more cautious rate than devices that operated via both Android and iOS without HomeKit compatibility.

• Amazon Echo now has competition from Google Home. Although the edge still goes to Amazon as far as smart home control is concerned, the massive data and search capabilities behind Google are a serious threat to their market lead if Google is as open to developers and the proliferation of their voice services on non-Google hardware as Amazon has been with AVS.

• IFTTT now has both stiff competition, and at the same time, collaboration from Stringify, a free service that allows flows with multiple input and output variables, triggers and actions. To our great delight, Stringify has acted on our advice to partner with IFTTT, allowing input from, and output to IFTTT applets. With this powerful partnership and support for nearly all the major smart home hubs and devices, Stringify is one of the most powerful means to connect otherwise disparate devices in your smart home. Like IFTTT, Stringify operates from the cloud, so there is no need to have an app running all the time.

• Lutron Caséta now supports Samsung SmartThings; ZigBee Alliance and Thread Group's IP Network Protocol have joined forces to bring ubiquity to Thread and potentially better security to ZigBee in the future; and the Z-Wave alliance introduced the Z-Wave Plus certification program to help manufacturers and consumers move to more secure devices utilizing the Next Gen, Z-Wave 500 Series capabilities.

• Wink 2 is out and now has Ethernet, WiFi and Bluetooth LE built-in. In addition to local control so your devices can still be controlled locally if your internet goes down, Wink has continued to expand their device support, which now includes August Smart Lock via their August Connect bridge. We're particularly pleased with this addition because it allows the exceptional August HomeKit Smart Lock to be controlled by Wink, Stringify, and Flic buttons. Flic recently added support for Wink via Wink Shortcuts.

• Amazon now allows developers to integrate any smart home device directly to Alexa Voice Services via the Echo or any device that uses AVS. Most notably, you can now control your AV devices with Logitech Harmony Hub as if they were connected smart home devices, without using the nomenclature "Alex Ask..." or "Alex Tell...". As a side note, Logitech has added an Alexa Skill to "Ask Harmony" to expand voice control even further with commands like Pause, Play, Fast Forward, lower the volume, etc. and we're big fans of this new capability.

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With so many choices and startups in the burgeoning smart home space, it's helpful to take a simplified look at the idea of the smart home versus the reality of what we actually have available today to make our lives more comfortable. Whether you're just starting or have already purchased some products, we hope you'll benefit from our experiences.

First let’s get this out of the way. The smart home we have today, actually has no intelligence at all. It's not really smart, but rather nothing more than cleverly connected timers and sensors with remote control. Even the early efforts to make smart environments more "intelligent" are still largely relying on you to respond to questions to fulfill the intelligence part.

In the 1950’s the first appliances to be electrically controlled by a timer were freezers in order to prevent frost buildup. Since then we’ve added more and more advanced timers, but haven’t really advanced automatic control beyond the timer before the early 1990's, when Passive Infrared Motion Detectors became affordable and their use increased. Today we see wider spread use of so-called Geofencing technology, which uses the GPS location of your smartphone to control devices.

Is a smart home only in the eye of the beholder?

A large number of the smart home devices available today are essentially timers and switches. Some are similar to traditional wall switches while others are part of an appliance, such as a light or coffee maker. There are some differences such as variable level settings, but the general function is simple on/off through user interaction or reaction. Your house and the appliances in it cannot actually think or anticipate change.

Hobbyists, enthusiasts and professional integrators have been almost silently breaking new ground in the home automation arena for a decade or more. But you begin to notice a certain pattern. Many have narrowed their focus so tightly on a single way of doing things, that the simple solutions and new technologies are often fuzzy outliers in their periphery.

Walk past the outdoor lighting section in any big hardware store and the security lights come to life, flooding the aisle with light to acknowledge your presence. But with so much focus on how to make a smart home do things like activate lights when you walk in the door or descend a staircase, simple occupancy sensing dimmer switches, available for a fraction of the cost of any smart home wall switch, proximity sensor or door switch are frequently overlooked. So much focus is directed to connecting absolutely everything, when really a single dedicated device might be more appropriate, and much more cost effective, rather than layer upon layer of devices, each dependent on the other to perform the simplest of functions.

You don’t need a thermostat or door lock to sense your presence, talk to a hub, go through an IFTTT Applet (If This Then That), communicate with a cloud server, relay the command back to your smart hub, and then send a wireless signal to a switch or bulb just to turn on a light. A single $30 occupancy sensing dimmer in your foyer when entering your home with your hands full or walk up or down the stairs is a great addition. Simple and no internet connection, smart bulb, WiFi or other radio signal required.

There are of course good uses and reasons to own smart devices and we don't wish to diminish the importance of the “WOW-factor” these gadgets hold for some people. This stuff has some very good use cases, some of which the masses are just beginning to realize. In fact, we’ve had several “Wows” from visitors just from lights smoothly increasing automatically as they approached a non-connected occupancy sensing dimmer.

Don’t try to solve problems that don’t exist

Designers and engineers of smart home products are paid to imagine products that quite often solve problems that don’t actually exist. It’s marketing’s job to then convince you that you have a problem that needs solving, when many times you don’t. For example a connected smart coffee maker may not be all that useful, since most coffee makers have timers built-in that are simple enough to use. The smart home should start with living in comfort and convenience as the primary goal, not a checklist of features.

Turning off a light from your bed with the simple touch of a button is a great use case. Turning off an iron remotely is not. All modern irons turn themselves off to prevent fires. If yours doesn't, throw it away an buy one that does. Don't rely on connected technology in place of safety features.

Be strategic about smart switches and devices

We think smart locks and video doorbells are a great place to start, so long as they offer convenience, have good digital security and offer strong benefits that make them a worthwhile investment. If you have a single entry, we favor the conversion type smart locks that do not eliminate the ability to use a simple key when needed or desired. A key will often be the fastest way for your to enter your home, even if it’s not necessarily always available or the most convenient.

Don’t rush to add smart switches, smart bulbs or other device to every single aspect of your life. It’s completely unnecessary since lights are incredibly easy to turn on, even if they’re not always easy for everyone to remember to turn off. Don’t overcomplicate this simple and reliable tool with unneeded and often unwanted extra technology.

It's true that when you want lights to turn ON and OFF by schedule so it appears someone is home when there isn’t, smart switches and smart bulbs can make a lot more sense then a simple timer. First, they can come ON automatically when the sun sets, so the ON time varies throughout the year. This is good if someone is “casing” your house or apartment. Also, turning ON major, high-use lights in the house is a lot more convincing than turning ON a single table lamp here and there. Turning ON and OFF various overhead lights throughout the house while you are out is going to be really convincing and should add just enough uncertainty to anyone thinking about breaking in. But the most important thing to keep in mind is that it doesn’t have to be every light in the house. This will save you hundreds to thousands of dollars on unneeded smart switches, smart bulbs and complicated setup.

Always use a switch, bulb or device that can still be operated by anyone in the house without internet requirement, having to pull out a smart device or control from a single central panel. Keep it simple! You may be enthused by what seems a “Jetson” lifestyle to you, but your family will very likely, not share your utopian vision. Put in a few devices that satisfy your craving for something futuristic and wow your friends without driving the rest of the household mad.

Your TV or music does not need to turn on the moment you walk in the house!

Gimmicks will become old quickly. Don’t blow your hard earned money on tricks that aren’t going to improve your enjoyment or ease of use. We're big fans of universal remotes and wireless music systems like Sonos, but we doubt you'll want your AV system turning on every time you walk in the door. They can’t predict your mood, so why would anyone always want them on when they arrive home? Ask yourself, do you always want to watch TV or listen to music the moment I walk in the door? What are the chances it might disturb someone else already a home?

Keep your activity as private as you can

You don’t know where or how the collected data about your movement and location is going to be used in the future. Even if one vendor says they don’t keep it, they either may not be telling the truth, which is too often the unfortunate reality, or there is another partner in the automation puzzle which you did not consider or know about, and they may not be bound to the same privacy policy, or any privacy policy at all.

Data about you is going to be used in future ways that you will not like and there will be little to nothing you can do about it after the fact. It may also set precedence for future privacy violations of your children and later generations. Keep it private from the start and they’ll have nothing to gain from you. We're not referring to consenting fair use scenarios such as Google services where there is proper disclosure and opt out possibilities, but rather data that is captured and stored without your knowledge and/or consent.

Send us your questions and thoughts about this subject. Leave a comment or send us a tweet @smarthomeprimer

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