As the smart home revolution continues to rumble on, the ever-increasing array of connected devices and apps enables you to control almost everything under your roof just by tapping your smartphone screen.
Not only does that mean you can operate your smart home tech remotely, but it also allows your phone to act as one central hub for controlling everything from one place.
From smart thermostats and lightbulbs to connected ovens and even pillows, here are some of the best devices, apps and platforms around for controlling your entire house from smartphone…
Lock and unlock the front door
Smart locks are the new way to enter your home and eliminate the need for a key or key fob entirely. Most allow you to open the door with a code or straight from your smartphone. This means that you can open and close the lock to allow visitors in without having to be there yourself.
Keep the temperature right
Perhaps one of the most well-established smart home technologies is the smart thermostat, which enables you to adjust the heating remotely using your smartphone. The devices can even save you money by learning what temperature you like and when, so that it can control the heating more cost-efficiently.
Get the perfect lighting
If you’re bored of plain old lightbulbs and want a little more flexibility, you can now control the lights in any room with your phone. Connected light bulbs not only enable you to remotely switch the lights on and off, you can also dim them to your required level or change the colour to suit your mood. You can even set timers and wake-up lights.
Control your music
Smartphone speakers aren’t usually known for their power, but the Boombox speaker on the LG G7 ThinQ is re-writing the rulebook. Innovative speaker technology uses the space inside the phone’s chassis as a resonance chamber in order to beef up the sound. And when the phone is placed on a flat surface, the Boombox speakers sound even punchier.
Brew a coffee
Imagine you could brew your morning coffee from underneath your duvet. Now you can, thanks to connected devices like smart coffee machines. The app-controlled coffee makers enable you to make ground or filtered coffee remotely, allowing you to choose the strength and number of cups you need. You can even set an alarm to wake you up with the smell of freshly brewed coffee.
Make the dinner
Not everyone enjoys cooking, especially after a hard day’s work, but the good news is that your phone can help you out. LG’s new EasyClean oven connects to the internet via Wi-Fi, and can download recipe information so that it automatically preheats to the right temperature. If you’ve got an LG QuadWash dishwasher from the same range, the oven communicates with it to set the appropriate wash cycle after you’ve finished dinner (good news if you’ve cooked something sticky like a lasagne).
Clean the house
Most people hate doing the vacuuming, but these days, the robots are here to help us out with the housework. Most robot cleaners can be scheduled to carry out their cleaning magic using a smartphone app, which is particularly handy if you need to spruce up the place before you get home for last-minute guests.
Re-stock the fridge
Many ‘smart fridges’ have a camera inside the fridge, so families can keep track on stocks of food. Users can check if they need milk by ‘looking through’ the camera via an app on their smartphone while in the supermarket.
Turn on the shower
‘Smart showers’ can be controlled via an iPhone and Android app. Users can often fine-tune how the shower itself sprays them, ranging from an invigorating ‘waterfall’ down to a pulsing massage-style ‘spray’.
Feed your pets
Families with pets can also keep an eye on their four-legged friends from outside the home and even dish up food using new pet gadgets. These devices can serve up to four meals per day at chosen times and often have a speaker allowing users to talk to pets and tell them it’s time for dinner. Some include an HD camera that lets owners keep an eye on their pets too.
Help you sleep at night
Getting a good night’s sleep is important and there are scores of tracking gadgets to help you monitor your sleep, but some smart pillows go one step further. Controlled via your smartphone, he pillows provide sleep tracking data and can play music to lull you to sleep.
Keep the garden green
Not only can you use your smartphone to control your entire house, you can also use it to control the garden as well. Usually, a gadget sits on top of your garden tap and activates it in response to commands from the app. They normally work with devices ranging from sprinklers to irrigation systems are all controlled via Wi-Fi, so you stay in command even if you’re sunning yourself abroad.
Bring them all together
The only issue with having so much smart home tech is that you could find yourself endlessly scrolling through your smartphone to find each individual app. Therefore, it makes sense to find a solution to sync the control of the gadget in to one place. One option to try is linking them all to your Google Assistant app. You can then let the digital PA help you control all compatible devices from one place.
One smartphone in particular goes one step further. The LG G7 ThinQ allows you to easily access the Google Assistant simply by pressing the dedicated button (the first of its kind) on the side of the device.
Find your perfect smartphone co-pilot
In order to control your home via your smartphone, you’ll need a device that will act as your perfect co-pilot.
The LG G7 ThinQ’s Super Far Field Voice Recognition (SFFVR) technology, Google Assistant can recognise and respond to voice commands from up to 16 feet away, even when the TV volume is turned up or the vacuum cleaner is running.
The smartphone also boasts a huge 6.1-inch Solar Bright Display, which is easily readable, even in bright sunshine. What’s more, the handset boasts an AI-powered camera, Boombox speakers, a built-in search pilot and super-fast voice command. It’s available from O2 and Carphone Warehouse.