It’s official – the 1999 Disney Channel Original film Smart House has moved out of fantasyland and into reality. While admittedly we don’t yet have breathalyzers that analyze your diet or carpets that absorb smoothie spills, we aren’t as far off as you might think!
These incredible home apps upgrade daily living, allowing users to monitor and adjust their homes to startling specificity.
1. Robomow
Sick of sweaty, shirtless men ambling about your yard in August? Robomow provides all the benefits of hiring a professional to tend to your lawn, without the awkward eye contact moments glanced through the living room windows.
Robomow is an automated Bluetooth-connected lawn mower that syncs up with its partner app, which can be used to fine-tune your robot slave’s settings.
The Robomow app even allows you to remotely control the mower. Whether you use that power to trim around hedges or scare your neighbor’s yappy Chihuahua is up to you.
2. SmartThings
SmartThings is an iOS home app that allows users to add automation to a large number of home devices, from your coffee maker to your air conditioner.
Of course you can’t do all that with just the app – you’ll need the SmartThings platform, which comes with a hub and a collection of sensors that can be paired with compatible devices.
SmartThings devices can even communicate with one another, allowing for some cool possibilities. For example, have your coffee maker start brewing 5 minutes after your alarm goes off, or have your AC adjust if a door has been left ajar.
Best of all, SmartThings can consolidate other home automation apps, providing a centralized database for your smart house.
3. Nest
Nest’s smart thermostats have revolutionized home temperature control, allowing owners to adjust their home’s heat and AC, all from within a handy app.
No one likes coming home to a freezing cold house after a vacation in Barbados. With Nest, you can crank up the heat as you pick up your baggage from the airport, making your home all the more welcoming when you arrive.
With the addition of Nest Protect and Nest Cam, residents can do even more to protect and monitor their homes through the comprehensive Nest home app.
4. Alexa
Amazon’s smart home speaker is the roommate/butler that never tires of voice-activated tasks, from setting alarms and turning up your jammin’ playlist, to reminding you which actress starred in the 2005 Pride & Prejudice (Keira Knightly, if you’re stumped).
Alexa’s companion app helps users manage Alexa’s brain, setting up alarms, programming playlists, organizing shopping lists, and more.
5. WeMo
WeMo turns just about anything with a plug into a smart device, all while staying connected to you via an Android or iPhone app.
Left your flat iron on? Just whip out your smartphone and you can turn off that flat iron in an instant, no fuss or stress.
From scheduling to switching off, WeMo app-ifies dumb devices for smarter, streamlined living.
6. Withings Home
The Withings Home app is a power security device, connecting with the Withings Home HD video camera to provide night vision, two-way audio, and a 130-degree viewing angle. Use this pumped up security camera to monitor home activity from the convenience of your app screen.
You can even receive app alerts on everything from motion sensors to air quality, giving you an eagle’s eye view on all home happenings.
7. Philips Hue
The Hue app pairs with your Philips Hue bulbs around the home, allowing you to adjust the color, tone, and even contrast of your lights.
Set the mood however you like, from light recipes designed for a relaxing ambience, to crazy orange colors for Halloween.
8. BeOn Bulbs
BeOn bulbs aren’t your Grandma’s light bulbs. These babies can be programmed to turn on when your doorbell rings, replay your typical lighting patterns when you’re away from home (to deter any would-be thieves), and will even stay on when the power goes out!
Tap them on or off, dim them, and check their status, all from their super-powered home app.
9. Alarm.com
Alarm.com’s home app pairs with its sister system, allowing users to manage home security, from locking/unlocking doors to turning lights on/off.
You can event set up your system to track your whereabouts with GPS tracking, so that your house turns on lights and adjust the temperature as you arrive home.
10. Fisher-Price Smart Connect App
Crying babies aren’t exactly what you’d call fun, and even the most loving parents may find it hard to suppress resentment when forced to rock a screaming baby at 3am.
The Fisher-Price Auto Rock ‘N Play Sleeper offers a pretty unique solution, using its SmartConnect compliment app that enables parents to control cradle rocking speeds, play lullabies, and even gently vibrate babies to sleep.
The app can also be connected with other compatible Fisher-Price devices, including a projection crib mobile and a 4-in-1 baby swing.
An automated baby sleep rocker may sound like something out of a futuristic dystopian novel to the uninitiated, but no doubt as we grow more accustomed to letting automated apps run our lives, babies too will have to adapt.
What home apps do you use to monitor and manage your house? Share your favorites and thoughts in the comments!