Apple Smart Home Tour 2024 - Simple Yet Powerful!

Today, I'll be showing you a full tour of my entire smart home that works with Apple Home. Everything from smart lighting, to mini HomePods, to even using contact sensors outside. And I'll show you how everything is designed to be simple for anybody to use, including my one-year-old daughter Mary Jane, yet powerful enough to really change mine and my family's life through automations and using Siri shortcuts. And I've recently added something that you've never seen before. Let's first start out here in the kitchen. All my lights are from Philips Hue. I have these color bulbs as my main dining lights for the table and above the sink. These overhead lights are recessed down lights that provide nice accent lighting that looks great and blends in nicely. To add to the nice aesthetic in the kitchen, I have a white HomePod mini here that's mounted on this beautifully designed 3D printed shelf. The HomePod mini sits perfectly on top and the shelf keeps the HomePod off the counter and from getting wet or knocked off while I'm cooking. The power cable is tucked away nicely in the cable compartment and gives the HomePod a nice clean and minimalist look. These are designed and made by Derek from Prince Byer Designs. My wife and I use this HomePod mini to play music, set timers, and control our lights. But sometimes Siri is slow to respond so an even faster way that I can control our lights is by using this small button down here under my kitchen counter. A single press turns on my lights and a double press turns them off. It's the Aqara wireless mini switch and it's just stuck under my counter here with the included adhesive so I can move this and stick it to wherever I want it to. Which is good because I actually don't think I'll be using this switch here anymore. Since I've switched to mainly Philips Hue lights, I've been using this switch here, the Lutron Aurora dimmer switch, and I've found it to be a bit more useful for me. Not only can I control the power of all my lights in the kitchen and in the living room from here by just pressing the button, but I can also control the brightness by simply rotating the switch. Unfortunately, the Lutron Aurora dimmer switch can only be used to control Philips Hue lights and does not work with Apple Home so it's not able to control any devices or run any scenes that you have set up in the Apple Home app. It's an easy and simple way for anybody to use to control the lights in our home. This includes guests, my wife, and even my daughter who I've been teaching how to use this button as well, which has been so much fun. What's also been fun is watching her crawling around the house. That is, until she discovered the dog treats in our pantry and my box of Splenda and likes to take them all out and put them everywhere. So I've put an Aqara contact sensor on our pantry door and if it's been open for over three minutes, I'll get an alert to close the pantry door back. Speaking of alerts, I just got a new smart washer and dryer that alerts me when they're done cleaning our clothes. Although it does not work in Apple Home so I'm not able to use it in any kind of automations, what I did automate was this light here in our laundry room. I put an Aqara contact sensor on the door and by using an Aqara smart switch on the light, I can automate it that when the door is open, the light turns on and when the door is closed, the light turns off. After doing the laundry, my wife and I often like to relax by watching TV in the living room. We have an Apple TV connected to a 58 inch Insignia Fire TV and I use a shortcut on my phone's lock screen to control the Apple TV. In fact, I have a lot of shortcuts to control my smart home from here like run scenes and view in cameras. But to turn on the Apple TV, I use this watch TV shortcut that turns on our Apple TV, asks me what app to open, then opens the app and turns on a light strip on the back of the TV and turns it to blue at a dim brightness and then asks me if I want to open up the remote to control the Apple TV. My wife and I are binge watching The Amazing Race and when we're not watching TV, the Apple TV shows the screensaver of family photos from a family album we have set up in the photos app. That changes photos every few seconds with different transitions and it's easily one of my favorite features of the Apple TV. This is a great way to reflect on past memories and just puts us in a really good mood. And as a new parent, it gets me a little emotional just looking at my baby girl and just seeing how much she has grown over the last year and all the memories that we have and it makes me incredibly happy to be her dad. This reminds me of the time when I taught her how to use the Apple TV remote to open YouTube and watch her daddy. Wait just a minute, are you hitting that subscribe button? Yes daddy, you make great videos, everyone don't forget to subscribe to my daddy. Hey she said it, not me, but hey if you guys are enjoying this video, then make sure to hit that subscribe button for more smart home videos like this. Alright why don't you go play with your toys before it's time for your nap. Now while she's playing, sometimes I'll play some kids music on a HomePod mini here. Wait a minute, where is the HomePod? Do you see it? It's actually behind my lamp here, on another wall shelf from Prince by Designs in black that almost matches the color of a gray HomePod mini and it gives me room to plug in my lamp here. I used to have the HomePod mini on this end table here, but Mary Jane was able to reach over and started playing with the HomePod, so I had to move it behind the table. Speaking of playing, she's crawling around like crazy now and I can keep an eye on her using the Eufy Indoor Cam from either my Apple TVs in different rooms or on my phone in the Today View. In fact, it's how I view most of my cameras quickly. Next to my TV here, I have an Ecobee 3 light thermostat. Behind my TV is my small networking area that houses my internet, router, and all my hubs and bridges. This is really the brains of my smart home. So here I have my router, which is a Euro 6 Plus connected to an 8-port TP-Link network switch to send signal to all my hubs and bridges. Now when you're looking at all these bridges and all these wires, you may be thinking, wow, this is complicated and confusing. And it certainly can be. However, it's actually easier to manage than you think, thanks to a free network scanning app called Fing, who is the sponsor of today's video. Fing allows you to see all the devices connected to a home or business network, either through ethernet or through wireless, and offers many ways that you can manage all the devices on your network. It's available on iOS, Android, Windows, and Mac. And the desktop version is a bit more powerful, allowing you to see the MAC address of any device on the network. This has been great for me because it really allows me to identify all the bridges and the hubs on my network. Fing is free to use, but the starter and premium subscriptions offer more monitoring and controlling of not only your network, but also the devices on the network, like blocking and pausing a device from accessing the internet, finding hidden cameras on your network, and access to advanced security checks and more. Fing offers different plans to suit your network needs, and it's a tool that I personally use in my smart home toolkit to manage all the devices in my smart home. I'll leave a link to check out Fing down in the description below, and a huge thank you to Fing for sponsoring today's video. Next, let's look inside my daughter's room, which is a smart nursery. When the door is opened, the light in here automatically turns on at full brightness during the day, and when the door is closed, the light automatically turns off. I'm using an Aqara contact sensor on the door and a Lutron dimmer smart switch to control the lights. Now, while she's playing with her toys in her bedroom here, I can keep an eye on her with the UV pan and tilt camera, which also doubles as her baby monitor during the night while she's sleeping, which, Mary Jane, it's time for your afternoon nap, so let's go to sleep. Then, I'll use an Aqara mini switch here and double press it to run a nap time scene that turns off the lights and plays white noise on a HomePod mini she has in her room. We'll get her up in a little while, and then we'll go outside and I'll show you some things I have set up out there. Some stuff I actually need her help to show you, but for now, I'll let her sleep. So that's her bedroom. Now let's head into the master bedroom, where things get a little bit more interesting. For lighting inside the bedroom, I'm using the Lutron dimmer smart switch. This way, I can make my lights smart without having to replace my light fixture. For temperature control, I have a fan powered by a Neris Wi-Fi smart plug. Next to that is a UV pan and tilt camera that we use to watch our dogs while we're away. Now many of you have asked me, Adam, why do you have a camera in your bedroom? Aren't you concerned about privacy? And I certainly am. So whenever I need privacy, I'll just turn the camera around or even unplug it entirely. Another idea is to put the camera on a smart plug and have the plug automatically turn on only when you're away, and then have it automatically turn off when you're at home. There are some cameras that can hide the lens, which is really cool, but Eufy has worked very well for us. We like to watch TV in here as well, and this TV works with Apple Home. So I can control the input and the volume from my phone, ask Siri to switch inputs, and use it in automations, which I've been using with another OnVis light strip behind the TV to have the light strip turn on when the TV is on and turn off when the TV turns off. And behind this TV, I have an Apple TV that I use for streaming movies and watching shows. I have the Apple TV remote inside this case to protect it from drops, and the grip on the back makes it much easier to hold. In this faceplate, I have a Lutron Pico remote that is just sitting inside the faceplate, and this controls our bedroom light. But I don't use this often at all. But what I do use often is a HomePod mini on my nightstand here to control our lights in our bedroom with our voice and playing white noise at night to help us sleep. Next to the HomePod is an Aqara wireless mini switch. A single press runs a good night scene that turns off most of the devices in the house. A double press runs a sexy time scene that sets the bedroom for special time. My wife has a mini switch on her nightstand as well to run a good night scene and also to control our light strip above our bed frame in case she needs to get up in the middle of the night. And this light strip is the Aqara T1 light strip. I have the controller mounted on the side of the bed using command strips. When we're ready for bed, I just press the power button to turn off the light strip. Now I like using Aqara here versus any other brand like Onvis because the Aqara light strip acts as a Zigbee repeater. So it helps extend the Zigbee range from my Aqara M2 hub that's in another room to other Aqara devices I have in my house, which is especially useful for some Aqara devices I use outside, which we'll be looking at later on. Now here in the master bathroom, I have a few more Aqara devices. I have a contact sensor on the door that when the door is open, it turns on an Aqara smart switch in the closet and this overhead light. This light is by Fiat and although it does not work with Apple Home, it does work with Homebridge and I had it working in Apple Home for a while, but I later found out that this plugin was a subscription based and I did not want to have to pay for this and I cannot remember how much it cost, but I did not want to have to keep paying to have this one device stay in the Apple Home app, but I still wanted my door to automatically control my lights. So since Aqara and Fiat work with Amazon's smart home platform, a free alternative was to create an Amazon routine to have the door control the lights during the day. What also controls my lights in here is this Aqara motion sensor. If the door is already opened, say like if it was left open, then when motion is detected, then it turns on the overhead and the closet light and it turns off the lights when no motion has been detected for 5 minutes, whether the door is opened or closed. I also have another HomePod mini here that my wife and I use for asking the weather, setting timers, and for playing kids music when we give our daughter a bath. I have it mounted on another 3D printed shelf from Prince by Designs to keep the HomePod off the counter and from getting wet. I like using a white HomePod mini here with a color matching shelf to really have the HomePod blend into the bathroom. It looks just so sleek. I'm using this shelf in portrait mode, but Derek also makes a version in landscape if you have landscape outlets, as well as in different colors to match the color of your bathroom. Speaking of different colors, let's head right into my office or in my studio that is full of colors. I can turn all the lights on in my studio by just opening the door that has an Aqara contact sensor on it and triggers an office on scene. This turns on my main light, which is controlled using a Lutron dimmer smart switch. For creating this main look and for some B-roll that you see in my videos, I'm using a lamp with a Philips Hue smart bulb inside, a box light that is controlled using a Marist smart plug, a light under the desk, which is used for ambient lighting, and this is actually a Nova Stella smart outdoor light that does not work with Apple Home, so I just put a Marist smart plug on it to control the power. I used to use it outside, hence the wood, but I only use it inside now and I kept the wood on it because it allows me to adjust the light angle. This light behind me is also a Nova Stella smart outdoor light that's set up the same way with a Marist smart plug, and these bar lights on my shelf here are just $10 lights from Walmart and I use external batteries to power them, and I can control the power and the brightness using this really cheap remote. Most of this setup can be quickly enabled by telling Siri on my HomePod mini that's here on my desk, record video, and it will set the scene, and then I just have to plug in the bar lights. I also have a euro access point to extend the wifi coverage to this room that also has an ethernet port for hardwiring devices on the back. Another thing I really like doing is exercising, so I got a standing desk with a walking treadmill underneath. I will sometimes do some work like video editing or creating a script while walking on the treadmill. This is a good way to keep myself moving while I'm working. Then I have a 24 inch Insignia Fire TV that works with Apple Home. This TV works great in Apple Home actually, and I have an Apple TV also connected to it. Now I'll use this TV to play ambient videos to help me focus while I'm working, or I'll just use it to watch YouTube videos. A few other devices I have in here are a fan for the room on a Marist smart plug, a Google Home mini, and an Echo Dot as my Matic controllers for testing devices in the Google Home and in the Amazon Smart Home ecosystem, and a Gobi floor lamp too for extra lighting in the room. Now this lamp supports matter and has different color zones for creating your own color designs. It's pretty cool. Now after working for a while and taking care of some business, there's some other business I need to take care of in the bathroom, and there's something special I have to show you in there. Let me introduce you to the PooPod. It's just a HomePod mini that I have here in the bathroom that I named PooPod. But I find PooPod to be hilarious. I saw a thread on Reddit with different names for a HomePod in a bathroom, and I saw somebody say PooPod, so huge credit to them. Yes, I am a child at heart, but hey, it's a small thing, does it really make you laugh? There's other names like WashPod or I Pooed, that last one is pretty funny. And I'll use this HomePod to play music, set timers while I'm in the shower, and of course I have the HomePod mounted on another wall shelf to keep wires off the counter. This time I have a black HomePod on a white shelf, and I really like this white and black ying yang color combination for the bathroom. Oh, would you look at that, it looks like Mary Jane is waking up from her nap. So let's get her up and I'll show you the smart devices that I have set up outside. One device I've recently added is this smart switch by 3rd Reality that controls my outdoor lights. It's an affordable way to make anything smart that is controlled by a toggle or rocker switch without having to replace the light fixture itself or the wall switch, and physically toggles the switch on and off. It's incredible, but the motor inside does make a very small sound whenever it's physically turning the switch on or off. But thankfully the sound is not really noticeable from far away. Now this smart switch connects to the 3rd Reality bridge over Zigbee, so it has fast response times, and it supports Matter over Wi-Fi. Another device I use to control my outdoor lights is the Aqara wireless mini-switch. To keep it safe from outdoor elements, I have it inside this outdoor waterproof enclosure that's also from Print Spire Designs. So it can work in all weather conditions, and it can be used for things like a doorbell, running scenes outside, or maybe putting it in a shed too. The enclosure has UV resistance, and inside is a rubber sheet to allow for full functionality of the button while keeping water out. Near my front door, I have yet another Aqara wireless mini-switch. This one runs an I'm out scene that turns everything off as we're leaving the house. It's simple enough that anybody can use including my wife and daughter, and it's powerful enough to turn everything off in the home. Another device she can control is my smart lock, which is the Aqara U100 smart lock. She can lock the door by using the swipe to lock feature. It supports Apple Home key, so I can unlock the door from my watch while carrying Mary Jan inside. It not only works with Apple Home, but it also has many unlocking methods that make it easy for any guest or family member to unlock the door. It supports passcodes, which is how my wife and family members unlock the door. Next, I have this protected by Apple Home sticker, which Rob sent me from his Etsy shop, and I'll leave links to these stickers down in the description below. For my cameras, I'm using the Eufy Doorbell Dual as my doorbell, and I really like that it has two cameras. One on top for viewing people specifically, and one on the bottom to specifically focus on the doorstep where all my packages end up. It does not work with Apple Home, but it can with HomeBridge, and I made a tutorial video on how to do that. For my main cameras, I'm using more cameras by Eufy, the EufyCam 2Cs. They work with Apple Home and HomeKit Secure Video, though I don't use HomeKit Secure Video with these cameras. I just use the base to record video clips to preserve the battery life. Coming into my backyard, I have an Aqara contact sensor on my back gate that I use to make sure my back gate is closed before letting my dogs out to use the bathroom. And I also use a Siri shortcut to automatically alert me the status of the back gate every morning to know if it's okay to let the dogs out to use the bathroom or not. If the back gate is open for over five minutes, I'll receive an alert as a reminder to go close the back or to see what's going on. The contact sensor is inside this 3D printed weatherproof enclosure, which is also by Derek from Prince By Designs. I also use another Aqara contact sensor outside in my shed that's inside another enclosure as well, and I can get an alert if the shed is open or closed. The sensor has been exposed to extreme heat, cold, rain, wind, and snow, and it surprisingly held up great. I've been using both contact sensors for about a year now outside, and they work well and battery life is still surprisingly good. Derek from Prince By Designs also makes weatherproof enclosures for other brands of contact sensors as well, like ones from Eve and Tuo, and in different colors. So that's my current smart home setup, but it's always changing. I'd love to hear what devices that you guys really like using in your smart home and what kind of automation that you guys use down in the comment section down below. Thank you so much for watching this video, and I'll see you all in the next one.