1. Tired of Being Interrupted by Sales Calls on your iPhone?
In the settings of your iPhone is an option to Silence Unknown Callers, which is very helpful in getting rid of unwanted spam and scam calls. This will make it so that your contacts—and, conveniently, people that you’ve recently called—can call you as normal, but that unknown numbers get sent straight to voicemail. If you’re good about checking your voicemail then you’ll be able to easily screen every call you get, and not be disturbed by unwanted calls.
For iPhone: Go to Settings > Phone > Silence Unknown Callers
For Android: Tap the phone icon usually found at the bottom of your home screen. Then at the top right corner of the screen, tap the three dots, then settings, then Blocked numbers. Then enable “block calls from unidentified callers” by tapping the toggle switch on the right.
2. Smart Outlets for Smart Control of Everything
If you’ve got some non-Alexa- or non-Google-connected lights that you need more convenient access to, then Wyze Plugs are a great way to retrofit them with the latest way of controlling your home infrastructure. We’ve written about using Alexa routines before, but maybe you just want to ditch switches altogether and use an app to turn on something like a flood light in the driveway.
3. A Smart Lock for your Door
Similarly, Wyze offers a door lock that is integrated into your smart home technology. You can easily imagine needing to remotely unlock the door for a trusted family member or friend, and this lock lets you do it from anywhere in the world. It’s a great safety-minded solution instead of hiding a key (which is pretty unsafe) or using a combination lock box (which needs you to send a secret code to open).
4. Manage your Water Usage with a Smart Sprinkler Controller
A part of your home infrastructure that probably needs a “smart” update is your sprinkler controller. It used to be that a sprinkler controller with a timer was top of the line, but those days are long gone. The Wyze Sprinkler Controller is smart enough to read the weather report and adapt the amount of watering that needs to be done based on the precipitation that you’ve recently received.
5. Make a Master Dimmer for your Whole House
WIth Feit Electric’s Smart Dimmer, you can place dimmers wherever you would like for any of your smart-connected lights. That means that you can use the dimmer switch to control up to 20 lights at a time, and since the dimmer is software-defined, those 20 lights don’t have to be on the same circuit or near each other. If you wanted to, you could have a dimmer next to the door to lower all of the lights in your house as you leave.
6. Smart Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detectors
X-Sense’s combination smoke and carbon monoxide detectors help alert you of a problem throughout the house simultaneously. These detectors are interconnected through radios instead of WiFi, so they can keep protecting you in the event of a power outage. To find out which sensor triggered the alarm (that is, where the fire is), you grab the remote and push the Test button, which silences all but the one alarm that triggered it.
7. Declutter your Alexa
If you like having an Alexa device with a screen (like the Echo Show) for its functionality, but don’t care for all of the information that is on the home screen by default, you can customize what you see. Do this by going to Settings, and Home Content. Here, you can turn on or off certain elements of the home screen. It’s important to note that Alexa will follow your lead, though… the more you interact with a particular app in the home content, the more it will be shown on the device.
-Written by Derek Jeppsen on Behalf of Sean Goss and Crown Computers Team