Illustration by Adrián Astorgano
For many of us, the path to the smart home starts with a simple problem. You lock yourself out of the house one too many times, so you buy a smart lock. You want to change the temperature without getting out of bed, so you get a smart thermostat. You always forget to turn the porch lights off, so you buy a smart switch that automates them. For most people, that’s as far as it goes and as far as it needs to go.
But other people see a temperature sensor and a smart plug, or a light switch and a smart bulb on different circuits, plus a platform that lets them talk to each other, and think, “Ah, I could go wild with this. Why shouldn’t the lights come on automatically when I walk into a room? Why can’t my bed be perfectly…