How to create a Smart Home with Android
Let your Android run the place.
How good would it be to have smart devices at home so you could turn on the heating and lights at appropriate times before arrival?
Well, you can upgrade each appliance to be smart devices on the Internet of Things, but that could get expensive. Surely your trusty Android device can take control of these not-so-smart appliances?
A quick eBay search found a huge range of devices that can create an interface between your Wi-Fi router and appliances using old-tech infrared remote controls – just search for “WiFi IR remote control hub”.
The majority of these devices claimed the same specs, and that they control just about anything from anywhere, so I ordered the cheapest locally stocked unit. It was a tiny device that simply required USB power to be operational, but the minimal instructions were clear enough: Download the Tuya or Smart Life app (virtually identical) onto your device from the Google Play Store, fire it up, and connect to your remote control hub.
Of course, it’s rarely that simple, and neither of our test smartphones could detect, let alone connect to, the new Wi-Fi remote control hub. Fortunately a message eventually popped up saying check that your Wi-Fi is using 2.4GHz, and logging in to my router established that it was defaulting to 5GHz. A quick change of setting and all was well – the IR hub appeared under the name “Smart IR”.
It seems that you need to pay more than $17 to get dual band Wi-Fi in your remote control hub!
From there on it was just a matter of exploring the extensive options in the Smart Life app. This well-developed app is free with no ads, so it’s a fair bet that the data it gathers on your appliances and devices is worth something to someone, but I couldn’t see any immediate security concerns. Mind you, the Privacy Policy is lengthy and could contain any number of traps.
Choose a location for your hub or hubs
The basic function of your IR remote control hub is to manage appliances and devices that are normally controlled with a handheld remote control. And like handheld remotes, the IR hub generally needs to be in the same room as whatever it is controlling, because infrared is line-of-sight.
But the IR hub is managed by an app on your smartphone or tablet and is connected to that via your broadband router, so while it is stuck in that room, you can manage it from anywhere that you can connect to the internet.
It is like a universal remote controller that works from anywhere in the world.
Add your devices
With the IR hub connected to USB power and discretely sitting on a bookshelf in the lounge room, it was time to add the devices in that room. The Smart Life app includes a huge database of device types and brands, which makes it easy.
I started by choosing TV as the device type, followed by selecting the brand. Up pops a screen with a power button to try. Tapping it didn’t switch the TV on, so I tapped “another one” and tried again. The TV came on, and the next screens checked that the other controls were also working. So the app had guessed the correct IR commands for that TV on its second attempt - impressive.
Next came audio, which is a Logitech z906 gaming system being used as TV surround sound. Same process: select Audio then Logitech, and once again the second
IR protocol guess worked perfectly. Touch screen control was intuitive, and my smartphone was already replacing multiple remotes!
Air conditioning and heating
Controlling entertainment devices is all very well, but control over the internet is not really that useful. It’s things like air conditioning and heating that it would be great to switch on, say half an hour before you arrive home.
First challenge was the old Fujitsu air conditioner - definitely not a smart device. No problem, select Add, Air Conditioner and Fujitsu. It took a few more guesses, but for all practical purposes the old air conditioner is now a smart device that can be controlled over the internet.
Ok, the air conditioner is efficient at heating and cooling, but doesn’t create much ambiance. On the wall below it is an LED slow combustion fire – a complete fake that nonetheless does create a great flickering fire ambience, and it has an IR remote control..
Your Android can learn
But many gadgets with remote controls are not mainstream brands – including my fake fire, a Blu-ray player from Kogan, an unbranded air purifier, a no-name light panel with remote control, and more. As long as you have the original IR remote handy you can program the app via your IR hub. Just choose “DIY” from the device type list and follow the instructions.
Add more smart gadgets
So far we’ve looked at managing old-tech IR remote controls from your smartphone or tablet, but you can also add Wi-Fi enabled devices such as smart switches and control them from within the same app. This extends your control to a vast range of smart devices, as well as basics like switching almost any electrical device on or off remotely.
Take it to the next level
Once your devices are linked and proven you can also go much further by automating the commands that you send to them, and this automation can be triggered by time, date, location and much more.
Explore and enjoy, but be careful what you switch on when you are not there to confirm that it is safe and operating correctly.
Now, if only the coffee machine had a remote control...