Who would have thought that one day our Nokia bricks and Razor flip phones would evolve into a device that could control electrical outlets in our house with a touch of a button? Whether you are just looking to scare the crap out of your roommate or constantly forget to turn the lights off in the kitchen at night, these apps are a great way to manage your lighting systems.
The following 5 lighting control apps have been raved about to be the best of the best in the business.
1. Indigo Touch
With 4 ½ stars in the app store Indigo is number one with its easy to navigate interface, floor plan, and ability to connect with multiple hardware such as X10 and Insteon.
Although the software isn’t free the app is and can even control your sprinklers, garage door and thermostat! The only down side is its requirement to have set up on a Mac computer for you to connect.
Overall this is an award winning app that is a breeze to set up and can help you monitor your electric bill down to a Touch.
2. INSTEON Hub App
Insteon can be controlled as mentioned above by Indigo but they also make their own app.
Like most of these apps Insteon can not only control dimmer switches and plug in lamps but also your thermostat and can create a custom light schedule. One thing that this app offers that some don’t is the camera control option that lets you pan around the room for security away from home.
Another cool feature is its cloud service that lets you connect multiple smart phones and its ability to control over 100 electrical circuits, making it great for the whole family to use throughout the house.
3. X10
X10, another hardware product that came out with an app controls your Windows X10 Commander Desktop or X10 Thinkinghome devices (the hardware needed to be installed).
It can be connected to a PC or Mac which gives it the advantage over Indigo. It is $10.00 in the app store but most say it’s a well spent purchase.
With a customer forum that has a lot of interaction and troubleshooting help this is a user friendly product that can get your lighting control system up and running in no time.
4. MobiLinc
As featured in the version commercial, MobiLinc comes in many different versions. HD, Pro and Orchestrated for the serious buyer at a serious cost, and Lite and HS for a trial run.
It comes complete with a voice control, TouchNote to leave messages for its multiple profile interfaces, and weather updates. You must connect it to an Apple product and be using Insteon hardware.
Their motto “if you can turn on a switch, you can use MobiLinc” assures us that its simple navigation won’t lose those who are not as tech friendly.
5. Vivint
Vivint focuses more heavily on an app for remotely securing your alarm system but is also useful for lighting and electrical outlets.
With an award from J. D. Power and Associates, this app is making headlines in its energy management. It does however require you to install the Vivint Go Control Panel and includes a full home control package.
So as we move into the age of the Jetsons it’s probably a good idea to have apps on our phone that bring sophistication and ease to our life. (Unlike Candy Crush and Flappy Bird which we all know decreases our productivity by a 110%)
These awesome lighting apps are great to add a modern touch to your home, and will stun your family and friends with your tech savvy abilities.
Start out with a few switches to see how you like it; you will be hooked in no time!
Sources:
https://www.smarthome.com/iphone_apps.html
The Apple App Store (Reviews, product details)
This article was authored by Beckie Borchers. Becky is in school to become an electrical engineer in Orlando, FL at UCF. In her free time she enjoys blogging about various electrical related topics and has recently been contributing content to Supreme Electric.
