That's definitely the sound approach. But there tends to eventually be a few gadgets here and there that have clear benefits. Not the whole voice-controlled whole house lighting effect things that might be the typical showcases, but for example controlling two aircon units with different manufacturers in one place instead of having to use either to remotes or two apps. Because the smart tech tends to creep into peoples home whether they want it or not these days. Maybe the aircon comes without a remote (the app is the remote).
Most obviously then use the manufcturer's default setup which is each manufacturer having their own "smart" apps for their gadgets. What's worse is that each of them tend to think that their apps and products should be at the center of the stack, so each manufacturer of window blinds, air cons or routers have their own (terrible) closed version of Home Assistant. But nothing properly integrates everything and you are left with one app to control your AC and another for some lighting and a third for your garage door.
So when I use Home Assistant it's really because I want to use less smart tech. I want very few smart features but I want to use just one app for the smart features I do need, and I want to avoid using an app at all if I can help it. So I don't want to dig up and use 10 apps for gadgets around my house. I have zero interest in voice controlling anything. For example I want the lights to switch off when I leave (arm the alarm). I want anything that would be an alarm (Fridge too warm, smoke detector beeping) to also go off in my pocket. That peace of mind stuff. That's easy with HA.
Most obviously then use the manufcturer's default setup which is each manufacturer having their own "smart" apps for their gadgets. What's worse is that each of them tend to think that their apps and products should be at the center of the stack, so each manufacturer of window blinds, air cons or routers have their own (terrible) closed version of Home Assistant. But nothing properly integrates everything and you are left with one app to control your AC and another for some lighting and a third for your garage door.
So when I use Home Assistant it's really because I want to use less smart tech. I want very few smart features but I want to use just one app for the smart features I do need, and I want to avoid using an app at all if I can help it. So I don't want to dig up and use 10 apps for gadgets around my house. I have zero interest in voice controlling anything. For example I want the lights to switch off when I leave (arm the alarm). I want anything that would be an alarm (Fridge too warm, smoke detector beeping) to also go off in my pocket. That peace of mind stuff. That's easy with HA.