Smart Home
How To: Every New Feature iOS 14 Brings to the Home App on Your iPhone
Using your iPhone for a smart home remote just keeps getting better and better. Apple has consistently improved its HomeKit platform since the Home app came out, adding new features, tweaks, and refinements to the system with each update. And iOS 14 continues this trend with a few changes to help make your home even smarter and easier to use.
How To: Organize Your Smart Home, Rooms & Zones in Apple's Home App to Streamline Siri Commands
Every home is a little different, and for a smart home app to work, it has to be able to be customized to work with each person's unique setup. With the iPhone's Home app, everyone can set up a smart home just how they want, including the number and names of rooms, and where those rooms are in the house.
How To: Why Apple's HomeKit Secure Video Is a Big Deal for Privacy
In iOS 13, Apple added an important new feature to its HomeKit smart home ecosystem called HomeKit Secure Video. With it, you have a secure, private way to store and access recordings from your smart home IoT cameras.
How To: Enable HomeKit Secure Video on Your Logitech Circle 2 Cameras
In iOS 13, Apple introduced HomeKit Secure Video, which allows smart home devices with cameras to give iPhone users a private and secure way to store recorded videos. Plus, it has benefits such as object detection and activity notifications. Logitech is the first to add support for HomeKit Secure Video with its Circle 2 cameras, and all it takes is a quick firmware update to get started.
News: Make Your Smart Home Smarter with a Truly Universal Remote
True home automation doesn't require interaction from the user. But let's be real, no system is going to be 100% autonomous. You'll always need a manual override for situations programming can't account for. So what's the best manual override system? I'll tell you right now, it doesn't involve yelling at Alexa or Google.
How To: Talk to Google Home Normally Without Having to Say 'Hey Google' Each Time
At I/O 2018, Google showcased features that would make the Google Assistant easier to communicate with. While some people were impressed with (and maybe creeped out by) Google Duplex, one feature that was well received was the ability to talk to the Assistant without the constant "Hey Google" before each question.
Google Assistant 101: How to Add Your Smart Home Devices to Control Them by Voice
The world around us keeps getting smarter. Not only do we have advanced AI services like the Google Assistant, but now we've got the Internet of Things connecting physical objects to the digital world. It's amazing when you think about it, but the real sci-fi stuff starts to happen when these two technologies intersect.
How To: Send Text Messages from Google Home to Any Contact
If you use the Google Assistant on your Android device, you can easily send a text message to any one of your contacts. But even though that same Assistant is powering the Google Home, you can't use the smart speaker to accomplish the same task — at least, not without some tinkering.
How To: Unlock Your iPhone's Secret Apple TV Remote App for Home Screen, App Library, Siri, and More — No Control Center Needed
If you use the Apple TV Remote found in your iPhone's Control Center, there's a hidden surprise you'll like on iOS 16 and later — one that lets you use the remote without ever having to open Control Center.
News: Robots, Drones, Disney, Halo View & More — Here Are the New Gadgets & Alexa Skills Amazon Wants to Fill Your Home With
Amazon really wants to make itself at home in your home. Like, everywhere in your home, from your doorstep to your kitchen, your kids' rooms, and everywhere in between.
News: Facebook Makes Portal Portable, Upgrades Portal Plus, & Adds Microsoft Teams
With the arrival of Facebook Ray-Ban Stories smartglasses commanding the recent spotlight, the tech world acted like it forgot about Facebook's first foray in consumer hardware — the Portal line of video calling devices.
How To: Connect Your Nest Products to SmartThings & Trigger Automations with Your Cameras or Thermostats
Samsung and Google have done some amazing work together in the past, particularly with Android related projects. But after years of an inexplicable lack of interoperability, the primary smart home hardware divisions from both companies are finally on the same page — starting right now.
How To: Blank Squares Filling Up Control Center? Here's How to Remove Them or Fill Them Up on Your iPhone
Your iPhone's Control Center is your main hub for quick access to controls like brightness, volume, Wi-Fi, and Do Not Disturb, but if you're using iOS 14, there may be a bunch of screen real estate taken up by blank squares. If that wasted space is bothering you every time you just want to use your flashlight, there's a quick way to get rid of those empty tiles for good.