What smart home automation would you miss immediately?

[Alan]

What’s the one automation you thought would be nice to have, but ended up being the one you’d miss immediately if it broke.

I’m not looking for the flashiest thing, more the one that quietly makes daily life smoother. Lights, climate, locks, reminders, presence, pet stuff, bedtime routines, morning routines, anything that saves brain space.

What makes it worth it for you, and what’s the setup behind it. Like what platform you use and what triggers it, so others can learn from it.

 

[Oldies2]

Garage door auto-close with presence detection, it is a small thing but I’d notice immediately if it stopped working.

 

[barfle]

I got a thermostat with a timer in the late 1970s. Not very smart, and the first two had significant issues, but that’s something I would certainly miss, especially since where I live now has that thing they call “winter.”

 

[Shorty]

For me it’d probably be motion-based lighting at night. Once you get used to lights quietly turning on where needed, going back to fumbling for switches feels ancient.