Ever thought of living in a house where you came back from work and unlocked your door with your smartphone? Once you get inside, the lights get turned on automatically and probably you get to hear your favorite playlist through your speakers!

You send out a voice command to control- your room temperature, lights, TV, home security cameras and speakers placed at your home. Once you reach your kitchen your morning coffee is already getting ready and weather report streaming through your speakers. There’s nothing left to worry about- a thief sneaking at your place or a stove left on! Your smartphone enables you to be omnipresent and take care of your comfort and home.

How dreamy is that?

Well, it’s not a dream anymore. The concept of a smart home is no more mere a concept. It is happening and continuously upgrading to serve more convenience to humans. The arrangement of a smart home is a complex amalgamation of technologies that help electronic gadgets and appliances to complete tasks – without human intervention.

Mobile apps are the bridge between humans and these smart gadgets. Apps, powered by the Internet of Things, is connecting appliances to access network giving humans the mess-free control.

What is The Scope for Business Owners?

Increasing popularity of smart home is evident from the stat provided below. The day is not far when the automated homes will become an integral part of the lifestyle. With people spending their entire day with their smartphones- they are likely to control their surrounding with that smartphone itself.

Source: http://www.city-data.com/blog/4725-smart-home-market-new-way-control-home/

So it is evident that businesses who are thinking to get into the smart home thing can reap out huge profits. But to get started, you’ll need a robust IoT home automation software solution that will give the control to your user- to get smart gadgets to control through the smartphone. The solution will have dedicated IoT enabled smart gadgets and mobile app for the user. There would be sensors in the electronic smart gadgets that can be controlled using an all in one mobile app. There can also be provision for specific apps.

Real World Impact Of Internet Of Things Mobile Applications In 2018 + INFOGRAPHIC

Like, for controlling lights at your home. You can develop a smart home app that is meant to control all the lights in your living space. Also, you can have a separate app to control the central heating system, which will also inform your geyser to warm up the water before your bath.

But, the major challenge of any home automation solution is finding out the features that the smart home automation app will need.

Let’s Find Out The Possibilities Of Home Automation Solution

Possibilities are endless with smart home automation app solution. I am trying to compile a list of things you can control with the solution. So the IoT home automation system would be responsible for :

• Room light control
• In-house temperature control
• CCTV, security management, and surveillance
• Electronic appliance control (kitchen, bathroom etc.)
• Control garage, gates, shutters and TV

So, let us explore all of these opportunities deeper.

1. In-house Temperature Control With Home Automation Solution

Who doesn’t like to live in a place where the temperature is comfortable with a clearer air to breathe?

Imagine you’re helping a homeowner enjoy this convenience. This is where smart home technology comes into play. With an updated home automation solution, you can have an app that is ready to integrate with the smart devices at home. The app will serve as controllers to help control air parameters like humidity, temperature, air pollutants etc. Plus you can also control the ventilation, windows and floor heating with your app, connected with the smart thing device.

See the opportunities there. Any startup or enterprise level company having the idea of a smart home app will get a huge space in the market. The idea of the smart home automation system is creating a smart home system that saves energy and cost. For this case, if a user is able to able to control the temperature specifically when he is present- he is gonna end up saving a lot more. And that aims towards a greener environment!

2. Home Automation Solution To Make Home Stay Secured

Security is one of the most important aspects of every homeowner, who is living with a family. People are installing CCTVs that streams live data right to the owner’s smartphone. The idea here is to connect the smart home automation solution with security control. The home automation solution will have the security system synced with the mobile phone to monitor activities in-house and outside. And by security, it means total security, which includes

• Getting protection from intruders
• Protection from any potential leaks
• Protection from an unwanted fire with a smoke detector
• Activating automatic fire extinguishing system and
• Protection against a fault in power supply

In case of any unusual situation, the home automation app will send a notification to the user. The video surveillance works in a similar way. In such a system, the recorded data is sent to the authorized user’s app from where he can access the video being anywhere on this planet.

You can see that opportunities are endless. The basic is to make sure everything is well connected and a majority of appliances and gadgets are controlled. Let’s find out what things you need to look for in a home automation solution.

3. Smart Lighting Control- A Step Towards Convenience

A smart home integrated with home automation system will allow the user to economically manage light resources. It can be home, large apartments or office space. You need to have a smart home automation app that connects to the various sensor enabled lighting systems. So if you already have a smart lighting system, you need a smart home automation solution that is programmed to turning lights on and off specified by your app.

Apart from that, the app you develop for your smart lights should also control the brightness and set a specified timer. You can ask your smart home app development team to sense implement a feature- that senses the presence of the owner and adjust lighting according to it.

One major addition that I want to make here is the option to access your home automation app through your smartwatch as well. As it adds up to the convenience of a user. Think about having a variation of the app that is apt for the smartwatch.

How to Identify A Workable Home Automation Solution For Your Business?

If you already have a business of smart gadgets or have a smart home app startup idea- you need a well-tailored solution that differentiates you from the mass. For that, you must give priority to every little thing. I am gonna talk about those right away.

Complete centralization:

When your user’s smartphone is already filled up with numerous apps, it’s not wise to bombard them with another set of 4 apps- to control their home. It is better to focus towards a home automation solution that has one app which lets the user control everything. This can also be a distinguishable factor for your business. Users will enjoy a single platform that will serve as an one-tap management.

Make sure the combinations are endless: 

Since there are a lot of tasks and automation to be managed in a smart home combination need to be endless. The home automation app you choose must allow multiple devices to connect with your app with various modes and options.

One controller for everything:

Well, that’s one of the most important requirements of a home automation app. The solution should provide an app that serves as one remote control to get all smart things’ control at your fingertips.

Taking care of the security:

Since the smart home automation solution will target the home and workspace security, the system needs to be secured at the same time. The app and the connectivity of the app with the system should be secured to avoid malware attack that may lead to the breaching of data. Ever thought what could happen if someone gets hands on the information about your whereabouts and takes advantage of it?

Taking care of user privacy:

It is unfortunate that technology breaches like data hijacking and the user’s private data are still prevalent. Any kind of network connection if not properly encrypted can be vulnerable to getting hacked. So, it’s important that the whatever measures you are taking to develop or outsource the home automation solution, make sure it is encrypted well.

It is now clear how to identify a robust smart home software solution. But what about the smart home app features? Do you have a feature list ready? Well, fret not. We’re going to discuss it right away.

Top Features To Create Google Home App

To make sure the solution you got is capable of making your home really smart, you need to have a specific set of features. The smart home app devised to ‘communicate’ with the smartthings in the house, should be capable of controlling your devices and notifying you at the right time. Let’s find those top features for a smart home automation app:

1. Remote Access To Connected Gadgets

There has to be a tracking system in the smart home app that works along with the gadget’s sensor. This should give the access to the user to use his app as a remote to control everything- that connected. Whether it’s switching on a lamp or lock your door after you leave

2. Push Notification Support

How will the user get notified about an emergency or coffee is ready? Nothing could be better than a push notification feature in the smart home app. Ask your developer to integrate push notification in your app to make sure the user gets notified, right on time.

3. Wide Configurations Settings

It is important to give the user an opportunity to customize configurations settings for personal convenience. You need to have one of a kind logics setting which you can test and implement for customer satisfaction.

4. Separate Personalized Tabs For Specific Devices

Since you are planning for an all in one smart home app, the app needs to have separate panels for managing each smart gadget. Along with that, it must ensure inter-device connectivity, if required.  

5. Energy Statistics For Light And Water Saving

The app also must calculate the usage of electricity and water and hence allow you to monitor everything. The statistics should have information like power usage and billing information.

6. Monitoring Battery For Devices

What’s a smart home without your smart devices telling you about their battery going down? The app must track the battery for batteried devices and notify the user beforehand.

7. Let The Autopilot Take Control

This app feature is nothing but preset rules to run the house in absence of the user. The user can create the tasks that he needs to do when he is absent. And monitor the tasks done from anywhere in the world.

8. App-specific Widgets for Favorite Options

At some point in time, the user will get habituated of using specific features which are their favorite. To stick them to the home page, there must be app specific widgets which can be accessed right away- without opening the app.

What’s Your Take?

You know now that smart homes are not just a futuristic venture. The presence of smart things and smart apps is evident in our house, little by little. Leading electronics giants like Samsung, Google and Amazon are already there in the market with their smart home ventures. But there is always a room for small and mid-sized players. Startups can have the most advanced home automation solution and enter the untouched market.

Developing smart home app software is definitely a complex job. You’ll need experienced developers to turn your idea into reality. Make sure you hire the right development team for your smart home needs. Have an idea to discuss? Reach out to us.