Overcoming Smart Home Automation Challenges

The advent of IoT and smart home automation has significantly improved the living standards of millions of users worldwide. The increasing number of smart homes and connected devices have made lives simpler, easier, and more convenient for users. With the availability of a variety of connected devices, people can centrally manage a majority of their home appliances. For example, integrating smart home technology into home appliances enables users to control their room temperature, turn on/off lamps, and more at their fingertips. In addition, the mainstream use of virtual assistants like Alexa, Siri, and Google Home has enabled users to smartly control their devices through voice commands.    

The Internet of things (IoT) plays a critical role in smart home automation solutions. Being the key technology that drives the smart home industry, IoT connects a wide range of devices to the internet. In this blog post, we are going to explore the new possibilities of smart home automation with IoT.

Developments In Smart Home Industry

The smart home industry is growing tremendously as the global IoT userbase is increasing exponentially. According to Statistica, the global smart home market is expected to reach $40 billion by the end of this year. 

As of today, there is a wide variety of smart home devices ranging from video surveillance cameras, refrigerators, air conditioners, home security systems, smart locks, and more. However, there have been several challenges and bottlenecks in the path of smart home automation, resulting in a slow adoption rate worldwide. Let’s explore what these challenges are, and how we can overcome them through IoT-based home and office automation. 

Also read Understanding The Role of IoT in Home Automation. 

 

Challenges With Present-day Smart Home Systems

Smart home technology has been around for several years now. However, the adoption rate of this new-age technology has been surprisingly low, as compared to technologies like AI and machine learning. Below are the main factors responsible for the slow adoption rate of smart home devices.

Privacy Breach

A major setback of connected devices is the exploitation of user privacy. Since all IoT devices and smart home accessories are connected to the internet, the user data is freely available to marketing companies. Several companies claim to provide the utmost user privacy. However, upholding the claims is not always possible, especially when the devices are voice-controlled.

In May 2018, Amazon’s Alexa Echo device recorded a private conversation and shared it with someone without the user’s consent. This and many similar reasons refrain users from putting their trust in smart home automation.    

The Solution

Several smart home applications come with user privacy settings. These settings enable users to restrict app access to their personal information. It is, therefore advisable to use this feature to ensure that your personal information remains private. 

Lack of Security

While most people avail smart home automation solutions to strengthen their household security, most smart home devices may be vulnerable to cyber-attacks. A slight security vulnerability in home automation systems can put the entire network of devices at the risk of hacking. It may have serious outcomes as the hacker can easily gain access to a user’s personal information.  

Data breaches and hacking are common occurrences in smart home and IoT devices as they are connected to the internet all the time. According to a study by Hewlett Packard, about 70% of the connected IoT devices are prone to hacking. Similarly, the smart home users may also fall victim to thefts, data breaches, extortion, and end up losing control over their devices.

The Solution

The best way to overcome security challenges is to ensure that you are availing solutions from a trusted cloud service provider. It is essential to choose cloud services that provide maximum protection against hacking. At Oodles Technologies, we provide secure smart home app development services using prominent cloud platforms like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud.  

Multiple Device Complexities

Communication disruption is another common issue that arises with smart home automation, especially in the case of multiple IoT devices. When a user owns two different types of smart home devices, he needs to install multiple apps to control them. For example, let’s say a person owns both Alexa Echo Dot and Google Home. In that case, the controller for the Alexa app will not receive commands from Google Home and vice-versa. Therefore, every time the user wants to control a device, he needs to use a different app. It results in bad user experience.     

The Solution

The best solution to this problem is developing Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to establish seamless communications between multiple smart home devices. It enables developers to build a unified app that can be used to control two different types of smart home devices. 

You may also be interested in reading Creating A Smart Home Environment With IoT Devices.

 

Closing Thoughts

Another critical factor that is responsible for the slow adoption of smart home technology is the lack of public awareness. For example, a majority of Alexa users are not fully aware of the features and capabilities of this rapidly evolving virtual assistant. As a result, they use it to perform a limited number of tasks. The lack of awareness is also one of the main reasons why most users currently refrain from investing in smart home automation solutions. However, the ongoing trends indicate a substantial rise in the use cases of smart home devices. According to Statistica, the smart home market is expected to penetrate at least 54% of global households by the year 2023. Looking at these statistics, we can expect this technology to go mainstream in the coming years.

Why Choose Us For Home Automation App Development?

We are a software development company that provides end-to-end smart home application solutions to centrally manage a variety of home appliances. Our cross-platform IoT application development Services enable users to wirelessly control and centrally manage their home IoT devices. Our development team is experienced in using effective techniques and agile methodologies to build user-centric home automation apps for maximum interactivity.