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Warning: Voice command fails have me questioning my whole smart home strategy

I've been using voice commands to control my lights and thermostat for a while now, but lately, it's been a nightmare. Just yesterday, I asked to turn off the living room lights, and instead, it started playing heavy metal music at full volume, lmao. On one hand, when it works, voice control is hands-free and super convenient, especially when I'm covered in dust from work. On the other hand, relying on apps or physical switches never fails, but it feels like a step back from the 'smart' dream. I'm torn between dumping the voice assistant entirely or tweaking settings until it behaves. What do you all think? Have you folks found a sweet spot, or is it just a flawed system? I'd love to hear how you handle this in your setups.
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patt13
patt136d ago
Totally get that frustration, I've had my own share of weird commands triggering the wrong thing. I found it helps to keep voice for just a few super simple tasks you use all the time, like turning off all the lights at night. For anything specific or important, I still use the app or a switch as a backup. It stops being magical when you're yelling the same command three times, right? How many times did you have to tweak your setup before it got semi-reliable?
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harperthomas
Screamed into the void twice. I set a routine for "bedtime" to dim the living room lights, and my smart speaker heard "red time" and turned everything blood red. Another time, asking for kitchen lights at 20% somehow triggered my robot vacuum to start. I probably spent a whole weekend just renaming every single device and light group to the most basic words possible. It finally clicked when I stopped trying to be clever and just called the bedroom lamp "bed lamp".
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maryb34
maryb343d ago
Ever notice how we overcomplicate tech just like we overthink life stuff? @harperthomas renaming everything to basic words is smart, but it's funny we even have to do that. Makes me wonder if the "smart" dream is just us adding extra steps to things that used to be simple.
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