Choosing Between Smart Home Systems: SmartThings vs Google vs Alexa vs Apple
When you first begin home automation, you’ll quickly discover that the more your smart devices can work and operate together, the more they can do. Yes, it’s fantastic that your smart lights can switch on and lock themselves at dusk, but it’s even better to tell a voice assistant “Good night” so that the alarm system sounds, the lights turn out, the shades close, and the door locks lock. You’ll need a smart home assistant for this.
A smart home platform is a software framework that, typically via a smartphone or tablet app, manages and controls numerous devices from various manufacturers. A hub, smart speaker, or smart display are examples of hardware found in the majority of smart home assistants (more on hubs in a bit). Naturally, you already have a smart home platform in your hands if you own a smartphone, but for the fun stuff, you’ll want to add a hub or smart speaker.
Let’s look at the different smart home systems in detail.