Om, I remember the 2014 conference! Like you I've played with Smart Devices for years. In Berkeley I built a "smart home" and for the most part it worked well. However, handing it over to the next person was traumatic - for both me and them. You realise what a gap there is... even if it's only a few apps. I also learned a lot. Example I had two different light systems - getting them all synced and working with Siri and with Alexa became more difficult as the system expanded. There are real benefits however in having each bulb switched and dimmable and colour changing whether white or with colour. When I came to the UK I had many recommendations to go with a Lutron system for the house rebuild. Many 00000's and you need an outside expert to program and no colour. A no brainer to skip and keep switches simple.. Today I'm running 4 Hue Hubs in the house (180 lights) however, Hue app isn't really designed well for this. (putting multiple hubs into one home in the latest hue app is a disaster). That complicates things with the voice assistants. And we've used more hue buttons etc to make it easier for visitors, it's the general automations that it sets up that are most useful along with various motion sensors. The house shifts easily with time of day etc. Frankly I wouldn't be happy living without them. I've abandoned using other providers sensors, and disappointed that Hubitat doesn't work well enough to really tie in with my Heating/AC door or motion sensors etc systems effectively. So, there remain many more apps (and very bad ones in some cases) than anyone wants to deal with. In our main living areas we just use voice. It works well 98% of the time. I do think that light and heating controls are the two applications that have the most impact in day to day use. As a note all house systems are tied to opaque house ID's. I really don't care too much who's trying to do what with the data. A good portion of it isn't human controlled anyways. I also keep them separated for a reason. It takes time to figure smart lights out when in quantity - there's no suggestions for room naming etc.... and even things like how these systems pass names need to be learned. My advice for lights would be --- just stick to Hue --- After you get to 50 lights you probably have enough experience to add another hub etc. However, the majority will want a turnkey operation. Eg one with AI or something that can both name them or figure out what you wan to change and when. There's no AI in lights yet. "tell me how you would like the lights?", Oh dimmer in this corner? No... in the opposite.... Like this then? I'm sure we're still some time away from when they know just what to do....
Om, I remember the 2014 conference! Like you I've played with Smart Devices for years. In Berkeley I built a "smart home" and for the most part it worked well. However, handing it over to the next person was traumatic - for both me and them. You realise what a gap there is... even if it's only a few apps. I also learned a lot. Example I had two different light systems - getting them all synced and working with Siri and with Alexa became more difficult as the system expanded. There are real benefits however in having each bulb switched and dimmable and colour changing whether white or with colour. When I came to the UK I had many recommendations to go with a Lutron system for the house rebuild. Many 00000's and you need an outside expert to program and no colour. A no brainer to skip and keep switches simple.. Today I'm running 4 Hue Hubs in the house (180 lights) however, Hue app isn't really designed well for this. (putting multiple hubs into one home in the latest hue app is a disaster). That complicates things with the voice assistants. And we've used more hue buttons etc to make it easier for visitors, it's the general automations that it sets up that are most useful along with various motion sensors. The house shifts easily with time of day etc. Frankly I wouldn't be happy living without them. I've abandoned using other providers sensors, and disappointed that Hubitat doesn't work well enough to really tie in with my Heating/AC door or motion sensors etc systems effectively. So, there remain many more apps (and very bad ones in some cases) than anyone wants to deal with. In our main living areas we just use voice. It works well 98% of the time. I do think that light and heating controls are the two applications that have the most impact in day to day use. As a note all house systems are tied to opaque house ID's. I really don't care too much who's trying to do what with the data. A good portion of it isn't human controlled anyways. I also keep them separated for a reason. It takes time to figure smart lights out when in quantity - there's no suggestions for room naming etc.... and even things like how these systems pass names need to be learned. My advice for lights would be --- just stick to Hue --- After you get to 50 lights you probably have enough experience to add another hub etc. However, the majority will want a turnkey operation. Eg one with AI or something that can both name them or figure out what you wan to change and when. There's no AI in lights yet. "tell me how you would like the lights?", Oh dimmer in this corner? No... in the opposite.... Like this then? I'm sure we're still some time away from when they know just what to do....