Need to know… Best smart-home apps

Download these today and take your house into the future

Elgato Eve

Elgato was one of the first brands to affiliate itself with HomeKit, and its products and software are always Apple-esque. The Eve kit keeps tabs on the weather, analyses your energy consumption to help you save money, and monitors the air quality in your home – and the data can be viewed on the slick and intuitive accompanying app. Free; iOS

Netatmo Welcome

The French IoT specialist has made some particularly smart devices, including cameras, weather stations and a thermostat – but the companion apps are even better. The app accompanying the Welcome camera makes it easy to see a timeline of events without the need for a subscription, and there’s a nifty app for the Apple Watch, too. Free; Android/iOS

Philips Hue

As the pioneer of smart lighting, Philips has had time to get its software right – and it shows. The Hue app is incredibly versatile, enabling you to do all kinds of things with these colour-changing LEDs, and surprisingly easy to control, too. Hue works nicely with the SmartThings, HomeKit and Nest platforms, and the app extends seamlessly onto a smartwatch. Free; Android/iOS

Samsung smartThings

The SmartThings app was recently given an overhaul to make it a smoother, more intuitive experience. The clean interface makes it easy to control every aspect of your home, from your security to your lighting, and you can also tweak your notifications, depending on how many interruptions you want while you’re at the pub. Free; Android/iOS