Smart Home For Mac

Single-board computers such as the Raspberry Pi, Arduino, PandaBoard and others can be adapted to perform a broad range of jobs, many of which we probably have not thought of yet. One application most of us have considered is home automation and the remote control of various household devices.

However, this can be difficult without a tool that provides an intuitive UI and streamlines the whole process. Smart Home is an OS X app designed for this specific purpose that offers a straightforward interface with fully customizable item labels.

As you would expect, you first need to own a device that can run a web server and trigger actions. Smart Home functions by sending HTTP GET commands when a button is pressed, causing your single-board computer to perform a previously programmed action.

The application offers support for MySQL, which is useful if you also use a smartphone or other device to control appliances. The status of various switches can be stored in a database, so that every device you use can display its current state.

Moreover, the app can send user-configurable Pushover and Pushbullet messages, so that you can receive status change alerts on your smartphone or tablet.

While Smart Home has a range of preset device names, you will probably wish to customize them. You can input personalized names for light switches, sliders, device controllers, alarms and so on.

The application also offers support for speech recognition, which can be accessed with a simple keyboard shortcut. The speech commands match the labels you have set for each controller.

Smart Home can import meter readings stored in a MySQL database, and you can enter the current electricity and gas costs to view live counters of usage and total price.

These values can be displayed in your menu bar, along with the current indoor and outdoor temperatures.

To conclude, Smart Home is a handy application that makes it possible to control the appliances in your home remotely, with the use of a single-board computer. It is fairly easy-to-use, as it simplifies the setup procedure as much as possible, but some technical knowledge is required to understand its functions.