"My Alexa, Google Home, and Apple Home apps were awash with dead devices, duplicates, and automations that simply didn't work. My Hue Bridge, trying desperately to tie it all together, was creaking at the seams. And the more advanced platforms I hadn't quite committed to, such as Homey and SmartThings, were fighting each other for bandwidth on an already congested network."
"A lot of people reading this probably walked the same path I did, of adding devices to Alexa early on because it was easy, then losing control as the smart home boom outpaced the platform that was meant to keep everything in sync. This meant I ended up running a network of prosumer-grade smart home products on an operating system that, let's face it, was designed to add dishwasher tablets to a shopping list and remind the kids to brush their teeth."
The smart home accumulated dead devices, duplicates, and broken automations across Alexa, Google Home, and Apple Home apps, creating complexity rather than convenience. Hubs like the Hue Bridge struggled to coordinate mixed platforms while Homey and SmartThings conflicted on a congested network. Alexa was used beyond its design, managing prosumer-grade devices despite being optimized for shopping lists and simple tasks. Amazon added Zigbee, Matter controller, and Thread Border Router support, improving flexibility but not resolving latency and scale challenges. A full reboot prioritized consolidation, removal of redundant gear, and selecting appropriate controllers to reduce reliance on Alexa and restore reliable automation.
Read at WIRED
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