The smartphone has already made a lot of tech borderline obsolete. It can step up and fill in for a PC, TV, or GPS when you need it to. It can also serve as the centerpoint for an entire smart home, or greatly enhance an existing smart home if you already have a “hub” in place.
Let’s be clear, hubs still have their uses and can even form part of a mesh network (which your phone can’t really do). But it’s totally possible to have a functional smart home with nothing but your smartphone, a bunch of smart devices, and an app like Google Home or Alexa.
Here’s how to turn your phone into the center of your smart home world.
Your phone is the ultimate smart remote
You can use a smart home controller, tablet, or just your voice to control your smart home. But the fact that other great options exist doesn’t mean you should rule your Android phone out.
The high level of customization and abundance of widgets mean an Android phone is one of the best smart home remotes you can get. It’s pretty simple to set up, and the chances are you already have most of what you need installed anyway. Especially if you’re the person who set your smart home up in the first place.
What makes an Android phone so perfect is the ability to place and resize widgets. All major smart home apps have their own widgets, and the main smart home systems (like Google Home and Alexa) have overarching widgets too.
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Your options here are pretty much endless. You can have a page of widgets per room, group things like lights in one place, or even dump your most commonly used devices right on your home page. Y
You can also drop things such as TV remote apps right into your phone’s quick bar for lightning-fast access. The best part is, you aren’t overly reliant on the likes of Google or Alexa (which can be a bit janky sometimes). You can directly use the widget native to each smart device, and this shouldn’t break any wider smart home connectivity. You can still control the lights via Alexa, yet have even smoother access on your phone.
As an added bonus, any household member can do this, and each person’s personal “remote” can be unique. It’s also useful if you want to restrict access to certain smart home objects. Kids were messing with their parents’ TV as a prank long before the smart home days, but it’s easier than ever now.
Your voice assistant can go everywhere with you
We’ve all been there. You’ve installed smart bulbs in the dark, far side of the basement to make life easier, but don’t have a smart hub in the basement itself. Now you can either pass through the darkness to use the lights like dumb bulbs (and potentially break their connection to your network in the process) or walk back within yelling distance of a smart speaker to turn the lights on. Your high-tech smart home just became less convenient than your old setup was.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. You can have Alexa, Google Assistant, or both right in your pocket. Then you can turn those smart lights on or off with either your voice (and a wake word) or the tap of a button on a smart home app.
Amazon / Ring
As an added benefit, you don’t even need to be on your home’s WiFi network. You just need an internet connection, and you can control your smart home with your phone from anywhere.
Check in on what matters
As we’ve mentioned, you can use your phone to switch on, switch off, or check in on anything in your smart home network.
But are you one of those people who anxiously wonder if they’ve locked the back door an hour into a long road trip? Well, forget the U-turn, just pull your phone out and check.
In a worst-case scenario, you can engage that smart lock with a tap of a button. If you want to do all of this while still driving, your phone’s voice assistant should have access and be able to tell you. It should also be able to interact with pretty much anything in your smart home and engage that lock if needed.
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But your phone allows you to take home security even further. If you have a doorbell camera, like one made by Ring, you likely already know its feed can be viewed from the Ring app.
What you may not know is, so can any other compatible camera you have installed. And if you use an app like Alexa, you can view all of those cameras from one place instead of having to go between different apps.
Certain cameras also push notifications when they detect movement, and what better place to get those notifications than your smartphone? If you see something dodgy happening on the feed, you’re already holding the thing you need to call the police with.
Set routines to make life easier
Picture the scene. Your kids are acting up, and your partner is struggling to cope. Then, all of a sudden, the sound of breaking glass starts blaring out of every smart home speaker in the house, and Stone Cold Steve Austin’s entrance music fills the air. You’re home, and it’s time to lay down the law.
This dramatic entrance into a questionable domestic situation is just one of the many things you can do with smart home routines that work with your smartphone. Basically, when your phone connects with the Wi-Fi network, disconnects from the WiFi network, or otherwise interacts with the network, you can have your home react in a specific manner.
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It doesn’t have to be this over the top; it can be as simple as setting the thermostat to a particular temperature or turning the living room TV on. Or turning out all of the lights when you leave. Alternatively, you could pretend you’re a WWE star making their dramatic entrance – up to you!
Save a small fortune in the process
There are two types of smart home owners. Those who let their network grow gradually by purchasing little bits when it’s convenient, and those who plan a “World of Tomorrow” type dwelling from day one. Both will benefit from involving their smartphone more.
We’ve already touched on the fact that a phone can fill the gaps between other smart home controllers — like smart speakers or home hubs. This means you need fewer of them to make your home run properly.
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Getting proper coverage can be one of the most expensive parts of setting up a smart home. Even if you snag older-gen Echo Dots at a big discount on Prime Day or Black Friday, you could still be looking at a few hundred pounds or dollars to get complete coverage in an average to large home.
Shifting more functionality to your phone ensures you can save the hubs for ‘key’ areas where you’re likely to have your hands full or phone in another room, such as a bedroom or kitchen.