Mac Home Automation

Apple and Automation

Apple and has not only revolutionized the way people talk on their phones, read books and use computers, but they are having a major impact on on the home automation world as well. Their unique and classy designs combined with the their extremely stable platforms and OS as well as their use of Apps have opened up the Mac and Apple to the world of automation.

Apple’s Contribution to Home Automation

1)  The iPhone / iPad

The iPhone and the iPad have taken the home automation industry by storm and put it on it’s ear. That is because the most important device in any home automation system is arguably the Control Interface used operate the system – basically – it’s the remote. No matter how clunky or slick the hardware and installation is, the user interacts with the interface (remote, touchscreen, on-wall keypad, etc) – and as such, that is their view of the system. If the interface is smooth, slick and functional – their satisfaction with the system is positive, if not, it’s negative.

Most home automation manufacturers have control interfaces to interact with their systems. They are typically very expensive and require lots of slick programming to get them to work. And several of them don’t even work that well. The iPhone and iPad changed all that in the blink of an eye. The came out with a reliable platform with high resolution graphics and smooth operation. Many of the manufacturers came out with apps that work on the the iPhone/iPad and heavily advertized the fact in hopes of selling more systems. Now everyone has a “tablet” – consumer and manufacturer.

2)  Apps

Apple’s second contribution to the home automation world is the App store. They created a platform and an operating system designed to let anyone with an idea create an application for the world to use. Home Automation Manufacturers and developers quickly coded Apps that worked seamlessly with their systems “out of the box”.  They were standardized and everyone knew how to use them. If there were glitches, they were fixed at the manufacturer’s level – and EVERYONE benefited. Before Apple entered the game, many of the home automation systems were controlled by one integrated “application”. They would control the Lights, HVAC, Audio/Video, Security, etc. With Apps, the lighting manufacturer has an app, the HVAC manufacturer has an app, the security manufacturer has an app – and so on. So now the user has to jump between apps to control the different parts of their home. But that does not seem to be an issue. Apps have been “flying off the shelf”.

3)  Savant Systems LLC

This company has built a platform based on Apple’s infrastructure. It is tightly integrated with Apple’s Software and hardware Platform. It requires very little programming, is easily configured and has feature-rich functionality. So if you want a system that is Apple-centric from end to end, Savant is your choice!