CREATE YOUR DREAM SMART HOME

Make your semi smarter, your bungalow brighter or your flat future-proof with Siri and the best smart home tech

- Carrie Marshall

When we get home, we just need to say the word and the lights go on, the heating turns on and Taylor Swift starts playing on our HomePods. If you didn't know about smart home tech and Apple's version of it, HomeKit, you might think our house was running on magic... But, while it looks like magic, smart home tech is more practical than that.

Smart home tech is more affordable and more user friendly than ever before. If you want a thermostat that can turn the heating on when you're heading home, smart lights that do different things at different times of day or a hose that waters your plants when you're away, today's smart homes can do all that and more. In this feature we'll show you what's available, and how you can add stuff to your humble abode. From high-tech home entertainment to smart home security, everything you need to know is right here.

If the tech here seems a bit much, or a bit expensive, don't worry; there are simpler options. If you don't want or need such home smarts you can get plenty of app-controlled options, so for example most wireless security cameras have an accompanying iPhone app, as do Bluetooth-controlled smart bulbs and lights.

What You'll need..... 

A HomeKit hub

From £99 >apple.com/uk > A hub handles the communication between your HomeKit accessories and your Home app, and Apple currently makes three products that you can use as a hub - the secondgeneration HomePod, the HomePod mini and the Apple TV 4K.

A smart home bridge

From £51> philips-hue.com > Some products, such as Hue smart bulbs, don't let you access all their best features unless you connect them via a bridge; this is a wireless hub that connects to your Wi-Fi router and adds Hue to your network.

A smart home bridge