If anyone wants privacy while maintaing a smart home, then Home Assistant is the solution.
Its not adopted widely because it has a learning curve and it needs a bit (or a lot) poking around to make it work.
It also has a voice assistant that is not AI powered ( but it could be supplemented by a local LLM if you really want to).
A big rabit hole if anyone is interested to go to.
How AI broke the smart home in 2025
Submitted 2 weeks ago by return2ozma@lemmy.world to technology@lemmy.world
https://www.theverge.com/tech/845958/ai-smart-home-broken
Comments
mrsilkworm@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
grue@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
It’s not adopted widely because every single smart home device marketed to normies is infected with cloud bullshit. Go to Home Depot or whatever and look on the shelf: literally every single product will have “Works with Alexa,” “Works with Google Home,” and/or “Works with Apple HomeKit” badges stamped all over the package, but not a single one will mention a damn thing about Home Assistant even when the device actually is compatible. The closest you get is ones that mention “Matter” 'cause it’s at least supposed to be a standard, but it feels like it’s getting slow-walked harder than CableCard sometimes (and if you don’t remember how that worked out, the answer is “not well”).
I would almost call it a conspiracy against openness, but it’s really just the banal result of no rent-seeking leading to no excess profit to plow back into marketing… which is even worse.
JohnEdwa@sopuli.xyz 2 weeks ago
Few of them also could be open, but just don’t advertise it.
IKEA stuff was all ZigBee, now upgrading to add matter support, so you could mix and match them with Philips Hue, Agara, Nedis and quite a few others.But you are right, most are proprietary because they want to lock you to their ecosystems. Exactly like cordless power tools and their batteries.
ChaosMonkey@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
Tasmota can help getting rid of the cloud bullshit on most ESP based devices. Of course it requires some tinkering and is not accessible to all users.
AA5B@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Home Depot used to have a bunch of z-wave switches and outlets - was actually the entire reason I started with z-wave.
But it’s been a few years now that it’s mostly WiFi dreck depending on vendor portals. Home Depot is also the reason I mostly order online and have a lot of Zigbee stuff.
I wonder what Home Depot’s next step will be, presumably to drive me to Matter/Thread. Perhaps that they seem to be getting a decent selection of smart locks?
heatermcteets@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Once you get it setup, start looking for homeassistant compatible hardware instead. There is a lot. Even some big brands use protocols (zigbee, zwave, matter) that can connect to homeassistant without a need for their hub (granted you do have a HA hub) or cloud connection.
I try to stay away from WiFi if possible, but if home assistant compatible I’ll use it.
dass93@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
The only one i can think about is Aqara there have a home assistant stampel.
UnspecificGravity@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
Most people don’t find turning the lights off and on burdensome enough to justify a whole lot of effort to avoid.
AA5B@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
That’s usually because that’s all they know. With a bit of smarts, lights can do more than just toggle on/off when you go over to the switch. They may appreciate that if they knew.
My most automated light is my dining room/office
- I may walk over and use the switch - but I adjusted the dimming speed so I can walk out of the room as it’s dimming to off
- I may use Alexa/siri/nabu, and that’s the most convenient way to get exact dimming- I also set dimming speed faster
- on weekdays it also turns on at dusk, dims at 9pm and goes off at 9:30 to help me establish better sleeping habits and make the house look lived in when I’m away
- I’m considering ways to have it automatically turn on when I come home at night so I’m not entering a dark house
Do I need those? Of course not, but those are actions my house can take for me, to make things a little nicer
itisileclerk@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Quote: “This morning, I asked my Alexa-enabled Bosch coffee machine to make me a coffee. Instead of running my routine, it told me it couldn’t do that. Ever since I upgraded to Alexa Plus, Amazon’s generative-AI-powered voice assistant, it has failed to reliably run my coffee routine, coming up with a different excuse almost every time I ask.”
Why? Seriosly! The author spent XXX kWh energy running AI because is lazy to switch ON damn coffie machine?
KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
Pre-Alexa-Plus it wasn’t AI, it was simple pattern matching with very constrained commands.
They’ve replaced these very limited sets of commands with bullshit interpretation that tries to not only understand “like a human” but respond in a similar manner. Those same commands can now be interpreted in a number of ways, and you have no guarantee how it will be taken.
Kellenved@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Coffee machines are for the weak anyway, French press that shit and be smug about it!
mech@feddit.org 2 weeks ago
French press is just for people too stupid to operate a moka pot.
IronBird@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
i just approach life raw, straight water
pulsewidth@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
The real issue with smart home adoption has been proprietary formats all vying for dominance and fragmenting the market. I don’t think AI has changed much.
Matter (and Thread) are a huge change to the SmartHome landscape because they’re open protocols and have well-documented standards - and they’ve finally begun appearing in big manufacturer’s line-ups such as IKEA.
Once their availability spreads I suspect a lot more people will get into running their own local (eg HomeAssistant) smart home because they won’t have to do the ‘ok do I need z-wave or ZigBee or HomeKit or IFTTT or Hue or Tuya or… you know what, fuck this’. It’ll all be the same protocol and communications and config & debug will be much easier.
pipe01@programming.dev 2 weeks ago
squaresinger@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
When you know which xkcd it is before you click it…
pulsewidth@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
There’s an xkcd for everything, isn’t there.
Its not wrong, but the major attraction to Matter is it must allow devices to operate locally (not tying them to cloud services that die every internet outrage, or permanently when the service retires), and it’s an application-layer protocol. Meaning it can operate over WiFi, Ethernet, or Thread.
Many existing smart home hubs have been able to program support for Matter and simply send out an OTA update to add certified Matter support.
Frypant@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I suspect the average smart home is not based on home assistant, but on an ikea hub with their app, or similar.
If you are willing to selfhost a home assistant, then it is not a barrier to add various antennas to it.
So this step to standardization might help mixing different manufacturer products easier. We will see how standard their implementations will be. We had zigbee as shared standard in theory what only worked properly with the manufacturers hub.
pulsewidth@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
For sure. IKEA is a great place to start (or stay), as it’s a cheap ecosystem and their app/implementation doesnt require permanent internet access - functions fine during an internet outrage, and quite privacy-respecting.
HomeAssistant is not anywhere near as hard to set up as it used to be. If you have an old mini-PC retired from work sitting around there are HA images for PCs now, and it’s pretty simple to set up to use your IKEA hub (or whatever you have already), while adding a huge swath of optional features.
I agree it’s still not something your average Joe will set up, but the continual lowering of barriers will get more people into running a self-hosted local config is a great thing for privacy and expanding the hobby.
dass93@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
Most smart homers i have assisted run a ikea hub or similar like Hue and really just run it to be plug and play, after that they find out what happens when the network shut down and can’t access their home. Then they reach out to support people that can install Lan assist.
brygphilomena@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
It’s why I live so much commercial stuff and things like bacnet.
Everything basically is just basic I/O with either analog or digital signal wires. Well documented. But it typically requires lots of actual wires running back to a controller.
I hate how consumer stuff is all different connections in so many different ways and they don’t care if they deprecate a feature or something. What works today can be fucked up because they have unilateral control to change how their shit works in “updates.”
ikidd@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
If a home automation product isn’t self hosted, it can fuck right off
Valarie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
AI sucks but a smart home can be actually nice if set up well
I just want my smart home fully or semi fully airlocked on my lan
JohnEdwa@sopuli.xyz 2 weeks ago
HomeAssistant is the answer.
Or if you want a simple & cheap off the shelf solution, IKEA stuff has being online as an option, not a requirement.
amelia@feddit.org 2 weeks ago
Home Assistant! I got a cheap refurbished mini PC for 60 bucks and a zigbee stick for 12 or so, been running HA for a year now, it works very well and pairs perfectly with the IKEA zigbee stuff. I have it read the alarm from my phone and turn on radio on a wifi speaker and smart lights at that time. Kitchen light is now automatic with a little motion sensor and ESP I got from AliExpress for a few bucks. Everything is completely local, no internet access. It’s great!
Valarie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
Been planning on setting up a server for a while but haven’t had much of a chance recently
WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
airgapped
Valarie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
Yup, I just haven’t done enough PC stuff recently to remember shit because of work
fodor@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
I’m not anti technology, but it sounds like the author’s desire to use these fancy new toys made their life worse. Congratulations?
Like, if you wanna play music, click the tablet. If you wanna turn on the light, touch the button. It’s so amazingly efficient. Really, three seconds, works every time.
So yeah, you could use voice commands, but those are slower and (obviously, the article explains) highly error prone. In other words, it’s a worse solution than the traditional method.
Of course that’s not always true. Some people can’t walk easily, for example. And some use cases are complicated enough where a single button push doesn’t work. But most of us aren’t in these special situations.
So, you can buy the new toy, but don’t pretend you’re making life better. Be honest: you are either tinkering or bragging. And that’s OK, no worries either way.
Frypant@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
You missing theoint of the “real” smart home what would be an automated solution based on environment and not a fancy remote controller to your lights.
Human presence sensors combo with light sensors, and you never have to think about turning lights on or off, and leave the voice assistant for overrides. Temperature sensor aligned with your callendar and weather data make your home warm or cool before you arrive and save on your heating without adjusting.
NewNewAugustEast@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
Walk into a room and the lights are on, why? Just why?
Every room has a different need depending on what I am doing, so even that makes no sense.
If I had to set a timer to adjust when the house is at various temperature I could, but the savings is negligible, just let it be comfortable all the time. If anything the best addition to the house is solar power instead of trying to squeeze 20 euros a month out of some automation system.
IphtashuFitz@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I’m so glad my wife & I never got sucked into using things like Alexa.
tym@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Alexa+ is a lobotomized version of the original. Since the “upgrade”, a simple request for a wholesome sesame street clip results in playing the beezleblocks music video (which starts with a girl dead in a bathtub full of water holding a cinder block) - true story.
“Alexa, please find local pediatric therapists”
badgermurphy@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I just saw an ad for Alexa+ at a family member’s house and was a bit surprised initially. The last I had known about the personal home assistant market was that both Google and Amazon were growing bored with its lack of annually doubling revenue and were slow-walking their whole participation in it to the grave, slashing those departments and walking back forecasted products.
To the home automators like you and others, am I mistaken or has it seen a resurgence now that they realize they can take another crack at it with LLMs this time?
tym@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
The holy grail (for amazon at least) is to up-sell (“would you like me to order that for you?”) but that fell flat. My guess is behavior data is being sold to ad agencies instead.
northernlights@lemmy.today 2 weeks ago
Exact same with Google with Gemini. Think can’t flip switches, play podcasts…
mazzilius_marsti@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
A 100% fully automated smart home is a fucking bad idea. Might as well sign your death certificates. Our family had one such system (not Alexa) and it controlled the whole thing. Yes, we should have researched better but the sellers were really convincing. Anyway there was a malfunction and it trips multiple breakers in our house. Our rhought at the time was to get the fuck out and called the electricians. Guess what? The doors refuse to open properly, so we had to climb over…
If anyone really really really wants a smart home, please only assign the system for mundane tasks like music, lightings. Dont do it for security stuff like doors, cameras.
Or just dont install one, even better.
GreyEyedGhost@piefed.ca 2 weeks ago
Bad setup isn’t a reason why something is a bad idea. Whatever your opinions of cars are, talking about how bad they would be if everyone drove drunk doesn’t really prove your point.
In any security system, and this should also apply to home automation, one of the things you have to account for is failure. If you don’t have a graceful failure mode, you will have a bad time. And context matters. If my security system fails at home, defaulting to unlocked doors makes sense, especially if it’s due to an emergency like a fire. If the security system in a virology lab fails, you probably don’t want all the doors unlocked, and you may decide to have none of the doors unlocked, because the consequences of having the doors unlocked is greater than having them locked. Likewise, but of a much less serious nature, if your home automation fails, you should have some way of controlling the lights. If you don’t, again, it hasn’t failed gracefully.
leastaction@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
Or, you could just get up and flip the damn switch. And if you want it warmer turn up the thermostat. This is not hard.
KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
Cool, you gonna hang out in my greenhouse and wake me up when the temp drops below a certain point? What about alert me to an increasing trend of the sump pump running more often?
Home automation isn’t just “Alexa I’m lazy turn off the light switch I’m next to” and presenting it as such is simply disingenuous.
mech@feddit.org 2 weeks ago
You’re right, it’s impossible to grow plants without AI.
Drusas@fedia.io 2 weeks ago
It appears to just be aggressive ignorance.
phutatorius@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
We haven’t gone whole-hog into home automation, except for a heating and hot-water controller. In a part of the world with winter, that makes a big difference. The controller I use has a web-based but also offers a nice API. Another good thing about it is that it includes a way to know when we’re in or out of the house, based on mobile phone detection. So I wrote some scripts to manage the system in a nicer way than having a big bunch of static profiles. One of the reasons it works well is that none of it’s AI. Just some event detection and use of the output of one-time runs of optimization algorithms based on our utility provider’s pricing. It’s less flaky than I am about controlling the heating zones, so it’s cut my gas bill by another 10% over the 30% savings we got from installing the controller and running it on a timer with manual override.
Jakeroxs@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Check out home assistant sometime
dzsimbo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
AA5B@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Tesla, believe it or not, is doing the ai thing right.
- There’s always a control: you may not like touch screen in your car but it’s always there so you’re not forced to use voice assistant.
- The standard voice assistant still works the same as it ever did
- AI voice assistant is separate that you can choose to use or not. When it was new, it was not allowed to control anything but that is gradually being phased in as it works.
When the ai first came out all it could do is hold a conversation, and was amusingly snarky. Now it can set a destination, but is still limited compared to standard voice assistant
RamRabbit@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Call me old fashioned. But when I press the brew button on my coffee machine, it works every time. No internet or ‘smarts’ requried.
over_clox@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I don’t even need a timer for the microwave oven. I just rig that shit up where when you close the door, it cooks, and when you open it, well it stops cooking.
Don’t ask why, had to fix things for my mom. At least we didn’t have kids around the place…
SantasMagicalComfort@piefed.world 2 weeks ago
So you just leave it open when you’re not cooking?
Does it not have a light in it?
artyom@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
I use my coffee machine as an alarm. Like a really pleasant morning alarm for the whole house. It’s nice.
nikt@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
Coffee machine??? I hand-grind my coffee every morning in a mortar and pestle and then use my Rok to manually press the perfect espresso.
But I also let a self-hosted AI model control the lights and HVAC in my house, cause it does it way better than I ever could manually.
phutatorius@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
What? You don’t have people to do that for you??
ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net 2 weeks ago
I’m also old fashioned and it was always faster for me to reach to light switch than to unlock my phone, find the app and toggle it from there.
JohnEdwa@sopuli.xyz 2 weeks ago
Mumbling “Hey google, turn the lights off” from bed and the entire house going dark is pretty nice though.
Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 2 weeks ago
or even better yet get a non-electronic coffe maker, just the carafe or a french press.
gian@lemmy.grys.it 2 weeks ago
Yeah, me too. But home automation has its usercase: just think about an holiday home where you want to turn on the heating and the boiler the day before you arrive.
Sure, you can ask a local friend to do it for you but being able to do it remotely is nice.