Stories

Valerie at CES 2024

CES 2024: Smart Home Insights

In 2024, CES seems to be back to where it was in 2019. This year we could feel the energy and excitement on the show floor and in the city. Happy hours and after......
Valerie and Mark AppMyHome at CES 2024

CES 2024: Our Top 20 Favorite Home Tech

Every year we visit CES it’s the same. People ask us what we saw, we say, oh not much. Nothing that exciting. Then we make our list of products and we have to debate......
2023 Holiday Gift Guide Graphic

Time to Shop: Our 2023 Smart Home Holiday Gift Guide

Welcome to our tenth smart home holiday gift guide! We’ve been sharing our favorite home technology gift ideas every year since 2014. We used to wait until Black Friday, but it now seems shopping......
Valerie Mark and Brandon

Smart Home Tour: Behind the Scenes at AppMyHome

Our friend and fellow creator Brandon Doyle came through California on his Tesla road trip and stopped to take a tour of our smart home. We had a great time showing him around and......
FoodMarble AIRE 2 Device

FoodMarble AIRE 2 Review: Now Measuring Methane

Almost everyone has experienced digestive issues in their life. Bloating, constipation, diarrhea, gas – it’s not fun to talk about but most of us can relate. For some folks, occasionally discomfort and inconvenience can......
View from Bonnieux house

A Week in Provence

We spent a relaxing week in Provence, from our home base in the hilltop town of Bonnieux...
View near Alba

Tasting Wine and Truffles in Alba, Italy

From Bologna, we traveled to the northwest of Italy, to Piedmont. On our last trip to Italy in 2018, our friends Pete and Kari joined us in Siena, then they traveled up to Piedmont......

Bologna: Europe’s Oldest College Town

I’ve always enjoyed visiting college towns – from Ann Arbor to Madison, to Cambridge, both Massachusetts and the UK. In 2021 we visited Coimbra, the home of Europe’s second oldest university, so this time,......
Scooter in Siena

Two Weeks in Siena

We traveled to Italy and Provence in the fall of 2022 and it was great to get back to more normal traveling – no pandemic restrictions, no masks required – but the crowds were......
Peloton Guide with Valerie working out

Peloton Guide Review: Best Features, Benefits and Tips

I’ve been a Peloton member since March 2021. I didn’t buy my Bike Plus during the original peloton pandemic frenzy in 2020, but I ordered it during our second California COVID shut down in......
CES 2023 Smart Home Insights CES Sign

CES 2023: Smart Home Insights

It’s been a few weeks since our annual trip to Las Vegas for CES 2023 and we’ve had some time to reflect on our experience.  It’s still the best place for us to see......

CES 2023: Our Top 20 Home Tech Products

This year’s CES had more than 3200 exhibitors and 115,000 attendees, far from the record but still nearly three times as many people as last year. Parties and shaking hands were back. The last......
2022 Holiday Gift Guide Graphic

2022 Smart Home Holiday Gift Guide

When we first started doing our smart home holiday gift guide in 2014, the shopping season started after Thanksgiving, with Black Friday. This year, it feels like it started before Halloween, and we’re late......

Coimbra and Fatima

The next day, we said goodbye to Olga and Fernando and headed south to Coimbra, just a short ride on the fast train from Porto.  Coimbra appealed to me for a couple of reasons.......
Porto View from Vila Gaia

Porto and the Douro Valley

After our long week cycling in Alentejo, our taxi came to the farmhouse to take us to the train for the next leg of our trip, up to Porto, Portugal’s second city and the......
Valerie at Evora Wall

Exploring Alentejo with Portugal’s Best Cycling

After our first few days in Lisbon, we headed out for the centerpiece of our trip, our bike tour with Portugal’s Best Cycling. We followed Claudia’s advice and took the bus from Lisbon to......
Miradora Sao Pedro de Alcantara Lisbon View

Two visits to Lisbon

We began and ended our Portuguese journey with Lisbon. We started with a few nights to get acclimated and see some sights. Since we wanted to make sure we had enough time to get......
Sunset over the Douro River Porto

20 Days in Portugal

I’ve been dreaming about traveling to Portugal for years. I bought my first Lonely Planet guide right after I left my job in 2018. We visited Italy first, then circumstances kept us from going......
Peloton Upstairs with Weights

My Peloton Bike Plus Tips and Tricks

While I love the Peloton bike, the instructors and the content, I have not always found it easy to navigate. It took me some time to get to know the features and figure out......
Mark and Valerie CES 2022 Venetian

CES 2022: Top 20 Home Tech Products

We were so happy to return to Las Vegas this year to see what’s new in home technology at the Consumer Electronics Show.  Affiliate Disclosure: This page contains links that may earn us a......
Mark and Valerie CES 2022 Blue Banner

CES 2022: Smart Home Insights

We made it to Las Vegas for our first in-person Consumer Electronics Show since 2020. We’ve been attending CES pretty regularly since 2015, and it remains the best place to see all the latest......

2021 Smart Home Holiday Gift Guide

Welcome to our eighth annual smart home holiday gift guide. We started recommending smart home gifts to our readers back in 2014, when Siri was restricted to phones and tablets and Alexa was a......

DIY Home Security: Moving Inside

Our series on DIY home security systems we’ve tested in our own home. Depending on your comfort level in your home and with technology, protecting the perimeter with a video doorbell, a smart lock,......

DIY Home Security: Protect the Perimeter

Our series on DIY home security systems we’ve tested in our own home Now that you’ve learned a bit more about DIY smart home security in parts one and two of our series, let’s......
man looking at DIY home security app

Is Full DIY Home Security for you?

Our series on DIY home security systems we’ve tested in our own home Part 2: Protecting what’s Important We started our DIY smart home journey by adding technology for convenience before we started thinking......
Home Security on Laptop

DIY Home Security Insights

Our series on DIY home security systems we’ve tested in our own home. Part 1: Introduction Security is very personal, it can have a lot to do with your upbringing, where you live, and......

Best Alexa devices for every room: Our 2021 guide

We got our first Amazon Echo in late 2015. By that time, we’d already been buying smart devices and blogging about them for a few years, but everything we used was controlled by an......
soil moisture meter in vineyard

Temperature sensors and soil moisture meters – at home and at a family-owned winery

We test the Zynect temperature sensor and soil moisture meter at home and with a family-owned winery. As technology geeks, we’ve always been fascinated with sensors and actionable data. We bought some of the......
Flume Smart Water Monitor Water Leak Detector Installation

Smart Water Leak Detector: Flume Water Monitor

Water leak detection is an industry with millions of dollars at stake. Water damage is one of the top claims on homeowners insurance, and it’s usually not from natural disasters; it’s from preventable things......
Door slightly open

Redfin: Ways to Fortify your Home without an Alarm

Redfin featured AppMyHome on their blog featuring tips about home security: read the article...
Brilliant smart home control with hand

Brilliant Smart Home Control: Our Review

When we first started our DIY automation journey back in 2013, we started replacing a lot of things in our home with Wi-Fi gadgets with companion smartphone apps.  Affiliate Disclosure: This page contains links......
two video doorbells

Living in a Test House

We have two different video doorbells installed right next to each other near our front door. When delivery people come to the door and see two different doorbells, they generally ignore them and knock......
CES 2021 Anchor Desk

CES 2021: Smart Home Insights

We’ve been heading to Las Vegas for CES for years to see the latest smart home technology. Every year we make our list, pack our bags and fly down, usually on Sunday or Monday,......

CES 2021: Top Home Tech Products

It’s hard to imagine that at this time last year, we had just returned from a week in Las Vegas at the Consumer Electronics Show. It turned out to be one of our last......
Desert Heart Winery View

New Zealand Wineries: best regions to visit for Pinot Noir

We visited many New Zealand wineries during our 30 day trip. We discuss our favorite regions and experiences. I used to love beer and didn’t have much use for wine. After living in Portland,......
Holiday Gift Guide Banner

2020 Smart Home Holiday Gift Guide

Welcome to our 2020 smart home holiday gift guide, our seventh annual edition. AppMyHome has been recommending technology gifts for everyone on your list since 2014 and we’re excited to once again compile our......
Katana Safety Wallet on Phone

Peace of Mind with the KATANA Safety Wallet

Have you ever been in an uncomfortable situation and wish someone could watch over you for a few minutes until you reach your destination? Maybe you’re in a rideshare and feel uncomfortable, you’re having......
New Zealand Five Dollar Note

How to Find Penguins in New Zealand

When we first started planning our trip to New Zealand, I wasn’t thinking about seeing penguins. I knew there were some little blue penguins in Australia, but I always assumed if I wanted to......
Nexx Smart Alarm with phone

Nexx Smart Alarm – control your alarm from anywhere

Our home came pre-wired with a security system when we bought it, but we never connected it with a home security company. Mark had a security system in a previous home, but I hadn’t,......
CEDIA Expo Virtual

CEDIA Expo Virtual – DIY Smart Home

Watching YouTube and reading blogs are great for learning about current smart home technology, but to find out what’s coming next, there’s nothing better than a tradeshow to see the tech in person and......
Three Days in Auckland Waiheke Island Vineyard View

Three Days in Auckland

We end our New Zealand journey with three nights in Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city. From Rotorua, we continued our journey north to spend our last three days in Auckland. But on the way,......

Wyze: almost a complete smart home ecosystem

We started our journey with smart cameras outdoors with our first generation Skybell video doorbell. Since then, we tried the Sengled Snap outdoor camera that screws into a light outlet on the side of......
Rotorua New Zealand Wai O Tapo Steaming Pool

Rotorua, New Zealand – More than a Smelly Tourist Trap

We spent three nights in Rotorua, home of amazing geothermal attractions and Māori meeting grounds. From Martinborough we continued our journey into the North Island and the town of Napier. Napier had a deadly......
C by GE Smart Home Lighting

C by GE: the Evolution of Smart Home Lighting

With C by GE, GE Lighting, a Savant Company, is creating a new smart home ecosystem for the everyday consumer. Update September 15, 2021: C by GE products and their companion app are now......
Wellington New Zealand View from Tram

Three days in Wellington, New Zealand

We spent three days in Wellington, New Zealand's capital city and tacked on a perfect wine weekend in Martinborough...
Filtrete 1900 Smart Air Filter

Filtrete Smart Air Filter Review

We have plenty of smart home tech that does amazing things – turn our lights on when we enter a room, remind us if we left a window open, let us open and close......
Abel Tasman beach with kayakers

Abel Tasman National Park

After our TranzAlpine train journey, we picked up a rental car in Greymouth and drove up the Northwest coast of the South Island towards Nelson and the famous Abel Tasman National Park.   Affiliate Disclosure:......
Konnected Packaging

Konnected Alarm Panel Review

When we bought our new home more than 10 years ago, it came pre-wired with window and door sensors throughout. For years, home security companies have partnered with builders to put these in as......
Christchurch New Zealand Cardboard Cathedral

Christchurch, New Zealand

Our New Zealand journey continues north from Oamaru to Christchurch, the largest city on New Zealand’s South Island. After Oamaru, we continued our journey north to Christchurch, the largest city in South Island. By......
Spying Security Camera

Spying Security Camera

I woke up at 3 a.m. and the security camera was on in the bedroom. I could see its bright green light staring at me across the room.  How did the camera come on?......
Yellow-eyed Penguin at Penguin Place

New Zealand Penguins and Steampunk

New Zealand penguins were one of our primary reasons for visiting. We saw plenty during our stops in Dunedin and Oamaru...
Freshly box at door

Freshly Meal Service Review – Dinner on the table in 5 minutes

Fully-cooked, nutritious meals delivered to our door? Yes, please! We try the Freshly meal service. If you’ve been reading AppMyHome over the years, you know that we love meal kits, and we’ve tried almost......
Otago Central Rail Trail through Tunnel

Otago Central Rail Trail

We love cycling and have put many miles on our road bikes here in Northern California. When we started planning our trip to New Zealand, we knew we wanted to do some bike touring......
home internet service

Take control of your home internet service

We believe that a strong, secure home network is the foundation for any smart home. When did you get your home Internet service installed? When you moved in? How long ago was that? Have......
New Zealand Milford Sound Bay

New Zealand: Milford Sound and Beyond

From Melbourne we were able to fly directly to Queenstown, in the South Island of New Zealand, to start our New Zealand adventure with Milford Sound. Affiliate Disclosure: AppMyHome.com is a participant in the......
Armstrong Water Circulator

How to Have Hot Water in the Morning

We automate our hot water circulator with a smart plug and Alexa. We’ve all been there in the morning, standing outside the shower waiting for the water to warm up. Depending how far your......
Sydney Bridge at Night

Our 10-day Australia Itinerary

Our Australia itinerary included Sydney, Jervis Bay, Canberra and Melbourne, 10 days by car and plane. We began our 10-day Australia itinerary with a direct flight from San Francisco to Sydney. We’ve both taken......
SmartThings 1.0 Box

Our Journey with SmartThings

Update December 13, 2021: Samsung no longer builds the SmartThings Hub, but the app is still up to date and working well. Aeotec now sells the current version of the SmartThings Hub. Over the......
Australia and New Zealand Map

Our 40-day Australia and New Zealand Tour

We share our experiences and what we learned during our Australia and New Zealand Tour, to help you plan your own getaway down under. In the fall of 2017, we did an epic 40-day......
MyQ with screens

Smart Garage Door Opener – Chamberlain MyQ

The Chamberlain MyQ smart garage door opener was one of the first products we reviewed and it remains one of our favorite smart home devices.  Keeping you sane Everyone with a garage can relate.......
FoodMarble with Strawberries

Get Smarter about Digestion: FoodMarble AIRE Review

About ten years ago we gave up eating beef. We aren’t vegetarians – we still eat pork, lamb, chicken and turkey, but we stopped eating beef to try to have a healthier diet. Instead......

Meal delivery services: the ultimate guide to smart cooking

We summarize our four favorite meal delivery services, for easy shopping, planning and eating at home. If you’re stuck at home and looking for more interesting dinner options, now is a great time to......
Hyundai Santa Fe in Driveway

2020 Hyundai Santa Fe Smart Tech

In 2016 we got a new car to replace our old Ford Escape Hybrid. The car was getting tired and needed to be replaced, especially the electronics. The navigation system would sometimes reset itself......
CES 2020 Logo

Best CES 2020 Smart Home Tech

Every year we head to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas to search for the best new smart home tech. After miles of walking around the show and two after-hours special events, we......
CES 2020 Insights Graphic-1

CES 2020: Smart Home Insights

2020 marked our fourth consecutive year at CES in Las Vegas. Year after year, it is still the best place to see what is new in the technology world and we found plenty of......
smart home summit 2019 graphic

Insights from the 2019 Smart Home Summit

We recently had the opportunity to attend the Smart Home Summit, an intimate gathering of smart home leaders in San Francisco. Through two days of great presentations and networking, it was hard for us......
Smart Home Holiday Gift Guide

2019 Smart Home Holiday Gift Guide

Welcome to our 2019 smart home holiday gift guide, our sixth edition. AppMyHome has been recommending technology gifts for everyone on your list since 2014. We are excited to share another set of ideas......

The Empty Booth

Bringing a smart home device into your life to help you is not just a time and money investment, it’s an emotional investment. Think about the emotional attachment people feel for a car or......
smart modular outlets from Swidget

Smart Modular Outlets from Swidget

We are excited about making our whole home a platform with smart modular outlets from Swidget...
Power Lines with Blue Sky

What happens when your smart home loses power?

Recently we were one of about 738,000 California households that lost power for a couple of days in Pacific Gas & Electric’s shutdown. We aren’t sure how many smart homes lost power. While we did......
Wink Hub 2 Lifestyle Photo

Time to shut down our Wink Hub

After more than five years, it’s finally time to shut down our Wink Hub, one of our first smart home platforms. We’ve been loyal Wink users for years and have stayed with them throughout......
CEDIA Expo Denver 2019 Inside

CEDIA Expo 2019 DIY Smart Home

We explore DIY Smart Home products and services at the CEDIA Expo, the premier event for home technology professionals. Throughout this story we link to our YouTube channel for videos directly from the show.......
Trifecta box with meals portrait

Smart Meal Delivery from Trifecta Nutrition

Meal planning has always been a challenge for us, which is why we love home meal kits. Cooking is ok, but figuring out what to eat, which day and how much can be exhausting,......
Castel Sant'Angelo at night in Rome

Rome: at home in Italy’s Capital

Last fall we made our fourth trip together to Rome. It’s nice to come back to a city that we know so well, yet we always find something new to discover. We always feel at......
Amazon Echo with books

Alexa in the House

Over the last couple of weeks we’ve seen so many people who used an App called FaceApp to upload their photos and see what they will look like when they are older. We saw......
Siena View from Balcony with Food

Siena, home of the Palio

Siena, the home of the Palio, has held a special place in our hearts since Mark lived there in the fall of 2014. It’s a magical walled city in Tuscany, about an hour from......
6 Features for Your Indoor Camera

Six Key Indoor Camera Features

When we talk to our friends about smart home technology, everyone wants to discuss smart cameras. Which indoor camera features are most important? Which cameras are the best and most reliable? How much do......
Wine Tasting in Tuscany Bellaria

Wine Tasting in Tuscany (via Siena)

If you’ve ever tasted wine in Napa or other wineries in the US, you might think you are ready for wine tasting in Tuscany. But Italian vineyards operate a bit differently than what you......
Blue Apron Seared Salmon & Garlic-Scallion Rice

SmartPoints with Blue Apron Weight Watchers Approved Meals

We have tried and reviewed many different kinds of home meal kits over the years, but we always seem to come back to Blue Apron. We’ve been Blue Apron customers since January 2015 and......
amazon echo show and echo show 5

Amazon Echo Show Envy

About a month ago we visited our brother and sister-in-law back east in Connecticut. Joe and Michele are certainly tech-savvy – they have up to date iPhones, a smart TV and both of their......
Lucca scene from wall

Lucca: wrapped in a wall of culture

We love Tuscany and everything about it, the landscape, the food, the wine. Recently we got a chance to visit Lucca, a medieval walled city west of Florence which several friends have recommended as......
view from ebikein

Three Days in Cinque Terre (via Genoa)

We love Italy and we love the outdoors so we have been looking forward to visiting the Cinque Terre, the famous Italian “five towns” on the Mediterranean. We tried to go a few years......
Milan city scene

Milan: Easy Travel and the Last Supper

We have both traveled to Milan for business, together and separately. Milan is in the north and the largest business center in Italy, the heart of the country’s banking and fashion industry. The metro......
Rome Market Food Tour

Smart Apps and Travel Tips for Italy in the Fall

Last fall we traveled to Italy to see a few new places and revisit two of our favorites. We share our insights to help you plan for your next trip...
sun basket unboxed

Organic Smart Home Cooking with Sunbasket

We share our experience with Sunbasket organic meal kits. While we love to cook, we don’t love planning meals. Without a plan, we generally default to easy recipes that are not good for us......
joule home sous vide egg bites cooking

Joule Home Sous Vide: Cook like a TV Chef

After admiring a lot of television chefs, we can now cook sous vide at home with the Joule by ChefSteps. Watching cooking shows taught me that so much restaurant cooking comes from classic French......
Guardian Leak prevention Kit

Preventing water damage with Guardian

We installed the Guardian Leak Prevention System Plus and feel safer knowing we can automatically shut off our home’s water to prevent water damage. Water Leak: False Alarm We use our garbage disposal a......
second generation Lowe's Iris Hub

Lowe’s Iris Shuts Down

We have used the Lowe’s Iris smart home hub on and off since 2014. We share our thoughts on the end of the Iris service. Yesterday Lowe’s notified us that Iris is closing their......
Our favorite CES smart home gadgets graphic

Our 29 Favorite CES 2019 Smart Home Gadgets

We highlight our favorite CES smart home gadgets we are looking forward to exploring in 2019. Every year after we attend CES, everyone wants to know – what was the best thing you saw......
Interlogix smart home artist

State of the Smart Home 2019 – Observations from CES

We share our view on the smart home market after our visit to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. After an exciting (and exhausting!) week of walking all over Las Vegas, chatting with......
RealityAdapter Amazon Echo Dot

Wire-Free Smart Lighting from ThirdReality

We review ThirdReality’s wire-free smart lighting products: the RealitySwitch, RealityLight and RealityAdapter smart home lighting products. A few years ago we made the decision to install Z-Wave smart outlets and switches throughout our house,......
myTouchSmart In-Wall Wi-Fi Smart Outlet and Switch

Smart Wi-Fi Controls from myTouchSmart

We review four Wi-Fi smart home products built by Jasco – myTouchSmart indoor and outdoor smart plugs and the in-wall smart switches and outlets. At AppMyHome, we have been using GE smart switches and......
christmas decorations

2018 Smart Home Holiday Gift Guide

Welcome to our fifth annual smart home holiday gift guide. Since we made our first shopping recommendations in 2014 we have watched the smart home market grow and become more and more mainstream. These......
Maximus camera floodlight unboxed

A Smarter Light for Our Yard: the Maximus Camera Floodlight

We upgraded our side yard security with the Maximus Camera Floodlight and Kuna Artificial Intelligence. Like many homeowners, we have an entry gate as part of the fence on the side of our house,......
obsidian smart lock unboxed

Sleek and Stylish Smart Lock – the Kwikset Obsidian

We upgraded our smart home recently with a sleek and stylish keyless smart lock from Kwikset – the Obsidian. When we first starting looking at different smart locks for our home, we were convinced......
Martha & Marley Spoon Meal Kit Unboxed

Smart Home Cooking with Martha & Marley Spoon

Here at AppMyHome we love technology and we love to eat. For the last several years we have been using online meal kits to make our dinner time more convenient and fun. A few......
San Diego Convention Center

Smart Home at CEDIA Expo 2018

Last week AppMyHome attended the CEDIA Expo in San Diego, the annual gathering of professionals in the $14 billion home technology industry. This event has traditionally been targeted at high-end audio/visual providers but as......
Sleeptracker smart bed unboxed

Making our bed smart with Sleeptracker

Like most data geeks, we have been experimenting with tracking our sleep for years as part of our quest to be more healthy. Recently we heard about the Beautyrest Sleeptracker and decided to try......
Nexx Garage with parts

Smart Entry with Nexx Garage

We have been using the Chamberlain MyQ garage door opener for years and it was one of the very first products we reviewed. Our friend and AppMyHome follower Laura Hollis wanted a smart garage too, but......
B-Hyve smart hose faucet timers

Filling our fountains with the B-hyve hose faucet timer

When we first moved into our home and landscaped our garden, we included two fountains, one on the front porch and one outside our back window. Our development uses recycled water for landscaping, so......
iHome iAVS16 bedside speaker

Alarm Clock with Alexa inside – the iHome iAVS16

When we got our very first Amazon Echo we weren’t sure exactly what to do with it. We had been looking for a speaker system to let us play music in our bedroom so......
smart home couch

Smart Meditation with Headspace Alexa Skill

Regular meditation doesn’t require any technology, but it can relieve stress, unleash creativity, and help you cope with all kinds of issues from addiction to cancer. But it doesn’t work at all if you......
smart vitamix and perfect blend scale

Our Smart Vitamix

As aspiring home chefs and fans of Top Chef and other cooking shows, we have been coveting a Vitamix for years. We have seen them demonstrated at Costco and other kitchen stores with someone......
Kevo Convert unboxed

Make an Old Lock Smart – Kevo Convert Review

We have been using Kevo Touch-to-Open Smart Locks, together with the Kevo Plus, for several years now and have been generally pleased with the performance. Kevo contacted us recently to see if we would be......
BedJet Product Photo

Smart Sleep Temperature with BedJet

Temperature can be one of the biggest challenges to falling and staying asleep. In the summer we kick off the covers and in the winter we hog them. Other than our Nest Thermostat, we......
Mother Installed

Our Mother has gone offline

It looks like another IoT product has outlived its useful life – today we discovered that our Sen.se Mother has gone offline. For the last few years, we have been using the Mother, a......

GE Smart Motion Sensor and Touch Sensing Smart Dimmer

Since our recent story about GE smart switches and outlets, built by Jasco, we have received two more of their new products to test – the new Z-Wave Plus Smart Motion Sensor and the......
Jasco Z-Wave Family

GE Smart Switches built by Jasco

When you think about starting to automate your home, you may ask yourself, smart light bulbs or smart switches? While the market has evolved significantly since we began our journey at AppMyHome, one of......
Maximus Lighting

Attractive Smart Home Security from Maximus Lighting

We have been experimenting with different security cameras over the years, both inside and outside and at our mom’s house. The cameras all have had pros and cons but for the most part work......
petcube bitess teddy

Connect to your Pet with Petcube Bites

Here at AppMyHome we are always intrigued with novel ways to monitor our home and solve problems with technology. Plus, like most people, we think dogs and cats are cute. So we were really......

Smart Home Security with Konnected

Update July 22, 2020: This is our review of the original Konnected Alarm Panel that launched on Kickstarter. Read our review of the Konnected Alarm Panel v2.  After we began our journey to automate our......
holiday gift guide

2017 Smart Home Holiday Gift Guide

Welcome to our fourth annual smart home holiday gift guide. As we reflect on the past year, it feels like the smart home market has continued to evolve with mostly incremental innovations from the......

Smart Comfort with Haiku Fans

Update July 16, 2019 – Big Ass Fans has discontinued the separate Haiku Home branding but still sells the Haiku and entry-level Haiku L Series fans through their Big Ass Fans Home residential line of......
smart home cooking blue apron

Smart Home Cooking Challenge: Blue Apron

Update April 18, 2020: We did this meal kit comparison in 2017. Read our latest summary of meal delivery services. For several years, we have been enjoying cooking at home more often thanks to......

SkyBell HD – Smart Doorbell

Update April 17, 2020: We retired our Skybell after using three generations of the product. While the Skybell HD is still available through some third-party sellers on Amazon, it appears the best way to......

Smart Home Cooking with Terra’s Kitchen

Update April 17, 2020: Terra’s Kitchen filed for bankruptcy in September 2019. Check out our latest meal kit comparison. Our latest experiment with smart home packaged cooking kits is Terra’s Kitchen. When we saw the......
meals packaged inside

Smart Home Cooking with Home Chef

Update April 17, 2020: We reviewed Home Chef in 2015. Read our most recent meal service comparison. We continue our review of some of the the latest home delivery meal-kit services with Home Chef.......
cujo out of box

Smart Home Security with the Cujo Smart Firewall

Update April 17, 2020: Cujo AI discontinued the CUJO AI smart firewall at the end of 2017. If you are using smart home devices, we recommend you consider securing your home network, either through......

MySmartBlinds adds window automation

Update April 16, 2020: MySmartBlinds is now Tilt by SmarterHome, with an expanded line of smart home products. We are still using our MySmartBlinds retrofit kit, and it was one of the only products......
Wink Hub 2

Smart Home Control with the Wink Hub 2

Update April 16, 2020: We no longer use our Wink Hub 2. Read why here. We purchased our first Wink smart home Hub in 2014, from Home Depot, not too long after it first......

CES 2017 Smart Home Wrap-Up

Every year thousands of visitors converge on Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show, the annual exhibition for new technology products.  2017 marked the show’s 50th year and AppMyHome joined about 175,000 others to......
smart home couch

State of our Smart Home 2017

As we head into 2017, after more than three years on our journey to automate our home, it’s a good time to reflect about how far we have come and how the products have......

Solar-powered Smart Camera – the Ring Stick Up Cam

Around the same time we installed our mom’s Ring Pro doorbell, we decided we wanted to try out Ring’s portable, mountable security camera, the Ring Stick Up cam. As we have discussed before, we......

2016 Smart Home Holiday Gift Guide

Welcome to our third annual smart home holiday gift guide. As we get ready to start our fourth year of AppMyHome, it is really interesting to reflect how far we have come in home......

Smart Doorbell for Mom – the Ring Pro

If you have been following our blog from the beginning you probably already know we have a SkyBell smart doorbell. We bought the first version and eagerly awaited its arrival from Amazon. Roughly a year......

Our Smart Car – 2017 Ford Escape

For years, we have been looking at new cars without finding anything that compelled us to upgrade. These days it feels like most new cars are pretty decent, especially once you get to a......

Sengled Snap – Smart Home Security Lighting

We have been big fans of the Sengled smart home lighting product line and the way they have incorporated smart technologies into their LED lights. We reviewed the Sengled Pulse speakers here a while......

Adding security with a smart camera

Security cameras have been in use for years, long before the DIY smart home revolution. While there have been a lot of great smart cameras on the market, in general we have hesitated to......

Making our car smart with Automatic

Update: May 7, 2020: Automatic has announced that they will be shutting down their app and service on May 28, 2020. Read their FAQ. We have seen the Automatic Classic Car Adapter and considered......

Smart Home 2015 Holiday Wish List

Now that we have recommended holiday gifts, it’s time to think about our own smart home holiday wish list. If Smart Home Santa is planning a trip to AppMyHome, here are some gifts we’d love......

2015 Smart Home Holiday Gift Guide

Welcome to our second annual smart home holiday gift guide. 2015 has been a big year for DIY home automation, with a lot of changes since last holiday season. You can see it immediately......
Echo with Apps

Smart Home with Amazon Echo

The first time we heard about the Amazon Echo was about this time last year when a colleague shared this video. Even after watching the more serious version, we were a bit puzzled. What......
Kwikset Kevo Box

Kevo Plus – Smart Lock adds Internet

Update April 17, 2020: We still have one Kevo lock in service, but now also use the sleek and stylish Kwikset Obsidian. We have been using our Kwikset Kevo since early 2014. It was......
Blue Apron inside box

Smart Home Cooking with Blue Apron

Update April 17, 2020: This was our first review of Blue Apron on our site. See our 2020 Meal Kit Update for the very latest on Blue Apron as well as the other services......

Smart Home Cooking with Plated

Update April 17, 2020: As of November 26, 2019, Plated no longer ships meal kits. If you’d like to try a meal delivery service, check out our 2020 Meal Service Review. Our next adventure......
Zipabox

Local Smart Home Control with Zipato

Update April 16, 2020: we no longer use our Zipabox smart home hub. Zipato continues to expand their product line and we visit them every year at CEDIA and CES. Over the last couple......
Living Room Final

Roomie Remote – Smart Entertainment

Update April 16, 2020: We are no longer using the Roomie Remote Service. It is still available but pricing may have changed since we published this original story. Our home entertainment system was one......

Connecting IR devices to our Smart Home

While we are in the 21st century, some companies like Samsung still do not know how to turn their televisions on via internet protocol (IP) and still stick to the old ways of using......

Smart Home Cooking with Hello Fresh

Update April 17, 2020: We reviewed Hello Fresh in 2015. Read our latest meal service recommendations. Hello Fresh is next up in our comparison of boxed, ready to prepare meals. We received a coupon......
Din - we prep you cook

Smart Home Cooking with Din

Update April 17, 2020: Din shut down their service in 2016. Read our latest meal service recommendations. Here at AppMyHome, one of the most challenging questions we ask ourselves every day is “what’s for......

Summer Smart Thermostat Fail

This week our temperatures soared up to the 100s, and at some point, the fan on the outside air conditioner unit failed.  As the temperature kept rising outside it got more and more miserable......

Smart Home Safety with Nest Protect

This post originally appeared on Powers Automation – Smart Home Gurus. We are mostly DIY here at AppMyHome, but check out Powers if you are interested in help installing your Nests and other smart home products. ......

A Mother for our Smart Home

As of July 2018 our Mother is now out of service. She served us well over the years and we will miss her. You may still see some for sale in various channels, but they won’t......
Wink Hub

Wink Hub Goes Down

Update April 17, 2020: We no longer use our Wink Hub. Read why. Yesterday Wink had a major meltdown and ours was one of the many hubs impacted. There has been a lot of......

Smart Home Sound with Sengled Pulse

The Sengled Pulse light bulbs, smart LED bulbs that double as a Bluetooth speaker, were one of the hottest devices at CES this year and when Sengled had a discount offer in time for Valentine’s......

Smart Irrigation with Rachio

We have been in the market for a smart irrigation solution for our yard and garden for some time. We are in a gated community that provides our front yard maintenance and when we planned......
Utilitech Water Leak Detector

Detecting Water Leaks with Iris

Update April 17, 2020: Lowe’s Iris closed their service but you can still use a Z-Wave water leak detector with any other smart home hub. We are using the Guardian to detect leaks and......

CES 2015 Smart Home Wrap-up

The Consumer Electronics Show is the place for companies from all over the world to show their latest products and ideas with the hope of capturing the imagination of the press and the industry......

Which Smart Home Platform is Right for You?

Update April 17, 2020: Lowe’s Iris and Staples Connect are no longer in service, and we stopped using Wink. We are still using SmartThings (now at version 3.0). When we first started our experiments......

2014 Smart Home Holiday Gift Guide

  Home automation is hotter than ever this holiday season. If you are looking to surprise that special someone in your life with the latest technology to make her home smarter, AppMyHome is here to......

Cutting the Cable

With all the talk this week about Aereo and the Supreme Court decision, it seems like a good time to talk about our experiences cutting the Cable. We started experimenting with video streaming and......

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