Every smart home app I have used is a list. Rooms, then devices, then a toggle. When you have forty devices, finding the one you want takes longer than walking over to the switch.

So I built SimpleHaven. You scan your home with the LiDAR camera on a recent iPhone Pro or iPad Pro, and it produces a 3D model of your rooms in a few minutes. Then you drag your Apple Home devices out of a list and drop them where they actually are: the lamp on the nightstand, the fan on the ceiling, the lock on the front door. From then on, you tap the thing in the model to control the thing in your house.

The scan is the easy part. What I spent most of my time on is making the model yours after the scan. Move the couch the scanner placed wrong. Delete the phantom chair. Change the floor to the color you actually have. Resize the weather widget. It is all drag and drop, no settings pages.

The setup I actually live with is an old iPad on the kitchen wall showing the whole house, always on. Guests get it instantly.

Quick facts:

• Apple Home only, so HomeKit and Matter devices. No account and no cloud, everything stays on the device.
• Free to scan your whole home and place five devices. Lifetime unlock is $39.99 one time, no subscription, shared with your family.
• Requires a LiDAR iPhone or iPad Pro.

I am one person doing this from Texas and 2.0.1 shipped this week. Happy to answer anything, including what does not work yet.

App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6774370998

My partner and I share a bathroom and a few connected devices, and the annoying part is not really the hardware. It is the accidental crossover in the apps. A phone notification appears while someone is testing Bluetooth, an account stays signed in on the wrong device, or a shared scale turns a private number into something both people have to actively avoid seeing.

I am not looking for a more detailed health dashboard. I am trying to figure out whether a shared smart device can be set up in a way that still feels private for two people with different habits and comfort levels around tracking.

For anyone who shares health tech at home, what simple account, notification, or device-placement rule actually prevented awkward crossover? Or did you eventually decide some data is easier to keep on separate devices?

We have three windows set into a faceted corner in our living room, similar to a bay window but without projecting out from the wall. There’s an outlet under one side, so I’m deciding between three separate smart roller shades or one powered curtain track around the whole corner. The shades would give us separate control, but the curtain may be simpler than trying to keep three motors moving together. Which option would you use here?

Hey all,

I want to switch to a smart thermostat at my office. I have permission from the landlord, they’re not much help on what I need

It’s a commercial building, heat and AC blow from the ceiling vents over head.

I’ve attached the current thermostat.

Please help

Thanks!

hi, I'm looking for advice to make my smart home setup.

Currently my smart home devices are from ikea, both older and newer generation, so some of them using zigbee protocol and some of them matter protocol. In the future I'm planing to add more smart home devices from other brands, so would be nice to have flexibility and possibilities in the future. Also I'm iphone user and want to use apple home kit.

One option is diy setup. I have macmini 2014 and I can usi it as a smart home server, but I need a USB zigbee/matter dongle. What would be recommendations for that?

Another option buy a already existed today for dedicated smart home hub. What good options would be for that? How about ikea dirigera?

thx.

Looks like I don’t have a C wire in my old thermostat, the board downstairs does show a c connected though. Are there any smart thermostats that work well without a C connected or am I missing anything with my existing wires?

I own the following

SONOFF SNZB-06P Zigbee Human Presence Sensor, Zigbee Smart Motion Detector with 5.8GHZ cmWave Radar, Requires ZigBee Bridge (1)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D146T6QG?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_2

I have 1 in my bedroom

Human Presence Sensor ES1,Smart Motion Sensor with 24G mmWave Radar,Occupancy Sensor Requires Tuya Zigbee Hub for Home Security and Automation,Compatible with Alexa,Smart Life,Z2MQTT,ZHA

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C7C6L66J?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_3&th=1

I own three of them and one is directly starring at my computer monitor and someone claims can see everything I see.

I swapped four fixtures and the whole room went noticeably darker even at full output. I now realise I never checked lumens once, I just bought whatever was on the shelf with an app. Trying to work out whether bright smart bulbs actually exist or whether the colour capability inherently costs you output. What are people using where the room stayed as bright as it was before?

Getting everything configured, updated, and wired up on the desk first to make the actual install go smoothly. Gotta love a clean pre-configuration bench test!

Anyone else prefer setting things up in the office rather than troubleshooting live on site?

Meet Homey Portal, a sleek smart home controller with a round 2.8-inch touchscreen wrapped in a stainless steel ring.

Assign it to a zone, and it controls everything you’ve connected there, with a tap or a twist. Anyone in the room can use it.

Pre-orders open today, at an introductory price for the first production run.

Take a closer look:
https://homey.app/homey-portal/

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

I’m thinking about getting SmartWings cellular shades (I like the energy saving benefits) for my kitchen . The problem is that the window is directly behind the sink, and I’m worried that cooking oil, tomato sauce, or other splashes could stain or damage the fabric.

Would this be a good choice, or should I go with a different type of shade? Thanks, everyone!

Hey everyone, I was looking for support for some recommendations for Smart light switches that I can control with my phone (on/off). wanted to see which one would be the best and easiest to work with. Currently I have no smart hub, but I was just trying to see where I could start out.

Would I also need to buy smart bulbs? or just with the smart light switch is fine?

Any support is appreciated!

Gira（德国吉拉）创立于1905年，总部位于德国，是欧洲知名的电气安装与智能建筑品牌。经过百余年发展，Gira已经从传统开关制造商，发展为涵盖开关插座、灯光、遮阳、暖通、门禁、可视对讲及全屋智能的综合品牌。

Gira的核心理念是：让智能融入建筑，而不是让设备破坏空间。

01｜极简设计

Gira非常重视产品与建筑、室内设计之间的关系。其经典的System 55采用模块化设计，以55×55mm标准尺寸为基础，可自由组合开关、插座、调光、智能按键、温控、USB等功能，并搭配不同材质和外观系列。

其中经典的Gira E2系列，以简洁的几何线条、平整的墙面效果和极简设计著称，非常适合现代住宅、别墅及高端商业空间。

02｜KNX建筑智能

Gira是KNX生态的重要品牌之一，其智能系统以KNX有线总线为基础，可将住宅中的灯光、窗帘、空调、地暖、新风、门禁、安防及场景控制进行统一管理。

相比单纯的智能开关，Gira更强调系统化、稳定性和建筑级自动化。

例如：

回家 → 门锁识别 → 灯光开启 → 窗帘打开 → 空调进入舒适模式 → 背景音乐启动

一个动作，可以联动整个住宅。

03｜完整智能产品体系

Gira拥有较完整的智能家居产品矩阵：

Gira One：更简单易部署的智能住宅系统
Gira X1：住宅级智能服务器
Gira HomeServer：高阶KNX智能建筑服务器
Gira G1：7英寸智能触控终端，可控制灯光、遮阳、暖通及场景
System 55：开关、插座及墙面智能控制平台
Door Communication：门禁及可视对讲系统

04｜Gira的核心价值

如果说普通智能家居是：

设备 → App → 控制

那么Gira更接近：

建筑 → 电气 → 控制 → 场景 → 自动化

也就是说，智能不是后期添加的功能，而是建筑空间的一部分。

这也是Gira与普通消费级智能家居最大的区别。

Gira适合什么项目？

高端住宅｜别墅｜豪宅｜设计师项目｜高端定制家居｜智能建筑

它特别适合追求极简设计、德国品质、建筑智能化和长期稳定性的用户。

Gira，不只是一个开关品牌，更是一套融入建筑的智能生活方式。

#Gira #KNX #德国 #Sensor4

One thing I think is missing here is an always-visible category list near the top of the subreddit.

Not just post flairs, but an actual index of smart home categories that you can tap to browse that part of the ecosystem.

Something like:

Smart locks

Smart blinds

Smart lighting

Thermostats

Cameras

Doorbells

Garage doors

Sensors

Robot vacuums

Smart appliances

Home Assistant

HomeKit

Alexa

Google Home

Matter

Thread

The smart home category is huge now, and everything gets mixed together in the main feed.

A permanent category index would make it much easier to see what kinds of products exist, browse discussions by type, and discover options you may not even know are available.

Basically a simple smart home directory at the top of the subreddit.

/rant

this is a genuine question about where the model breaks, not a which one should i buy thread.

the whole pitch for these is that it goes out every day, takes a little off the top, and you stop thinking about it. that only holds if it can get around the whole area faster than the grass grows back. on a quarter acre thats obviously true.

im at about an acre and a half. everything i read puts one charge at somewhere around an acre. so if it needs a few days to work through the whole thing, then by the time it finishes the far end the near end is ready again.

the lawn is never done. its just permanently half done.

which might be fine to look at, i dont know. but its a different product than the one that was described to me.

so where does that line actually sit. at what size did it stop feeling automatic and start feeling like a system you manage, schedules, zones, moving a base station around.

asking the people running these on real acreage, not the demo lawn

Over the last week, my kitchen table light and my upstairs closet light have been randomly turning on (at the same time).

\- They are NOT on the same circuit.

\- I have had no power outages that I know of.

\- There are no automations that I have created that have them both turning on.

\- There are no automations that are running when they turn on.

\- Gemini is \*useless.\*

Any ideas?

EDIT: Sorry, my last edit did not go through.

I have a Google Nest hub and various Google-branded smart speakers throughout the house.

Both lightbulbs that are doing this are five year old Merkury brand smart bulbs using Geeni, which is linked to my Google account.

I haven't been able to ascertain whether they are kicking on randomly or if it's a certain time, but they both come on at the same time, and they both light up gradually (like they're being controlled) rather than flicking on during a power outage.

As far as I know, the only two automations I have that use both devices are set up specifically to turn them off (nothing that activates sets of lights has both of these lights in them).

I recently had to reset ALL of my lights when I replaced my Wi-Fi router (which was a pain in the ass), but nothing else changed.

Hi smathome-community,

For our board-gaming-group I want to build a turn-tracker where each player has their own wireless button and LED. The LED shall start shining when it's that players turn, pushing the button shall end the turn.

So I need wireless buttons that also have an integrated light (or separate wireless little lights that I can somehow put together with the buttons).

Do you know whether any such thing exist in the world of smart home?

Thanks and have a great day

Janis

PS: I will have to program an app for laptop/smart-phone to manage the buttons/LEDs, so bluetooth would be great for connectivity. But I am glad for any help :)

I just installed a Lockly Visage smart lock and I have a few helpful hints for future buyers.

The installation video and instructions are all geared toward their v1.0 lock. That version has an external wired door sensor. The V2.0 lock has a magnetic door strike plate which eliminates the need for the external wired door sensor. The door sensor determines if the door is open or closed.

I have a v2.0 lock which is indicated by a label on the bottom of the box that says "v2.0". While I was following the Official Lockly installation video, nothing was mentioned about the wire extending from the deadbolt and nothing about the orange dots on the strike plate or deadbolt plate.

v2.0 has a magnetic sensor on the bolt, and its wire needs to be fed through the door along with the external housing touchscreen wire harness. The internal housing will have a recipient plug for the bolt sensor wire along with a plug for the external touchscreen wire harness and one for the antenna. The wires from the external housing and internal plugs are mentioned in the video but nothing about the bolt wire.

Also note that the bolt plate has an orange sticker in the upper left, your door frame strike plate also has an orange sticker and you need to install the strike plate in an orientation that matches the door sticker. My door plate had the sticker in the upper left, my door strike plate had to be installed so it's sticker was in the upper right. Guess who installed it wrong the first time....

My v2.0 box included the external door sensor, that must be a failure of QC because the magnetic door plate already does what it was supposed to do and there were no extra wires sticking out of the lock to plug it into.

All in all it was a pretty straightforward lock install but a few tweaks to the video and install instructions would have made it effortless.

It's only been installed for a few hours but I've installed the Android app, setup some fingerprints, touchscreen codes and even integrated it with Alexa and it has so far worked flawlessly.

Recently bought a house with smart stuff everywhere and slowly trying to understand what I have in more detail.

These switches work great. They illuminate when you are close / wave a hand in front, plus the small lights show what is turned on. What specific model/brand are they? (I have tried to pry some off the wall but feels like im going to break something)

I also have an RTI control system that I am considering replacing with HomeAssistant hence trying to understand the lights.

Wanted to get the double phillips hue lights to go on my desk and then realised you constantly have to have the hue bridge plugged into your router. Is there any other smart lights where they’re are off wifi or bluetooth i can get????

Pretty much the title. I really did not want appliances that connect to Wi-Fi, but there was a mixup with my housemates, and it seems we are going to have a BOSCH one with Wi-Fi connectivity. If I never connect to the network and just use it as if it didn't have Wi-Fi connection, is it still a security vulnerability, can it still be hacked?

Thanks for any help

My Nest Doorbell has been sort of a miserable experience for the last while. I dropped my subscription, but I thought I used to be able to see SOME video without the subscription. I might just be remembering wrong, but now I see events and it only shows a photo of the time of the event which often just entirely misses that anyone was even there so the photo is just nothing useful. Load times are also abysmal in the Google Home app so someone is at my door and it takes too long to check who's there.

Anyway, I'm looking to replace it. I'd like something that supports HomeKit/Apple Home, ideally doesn't require a subscription, and is a wired option rather than battery. What are the options like these days?