5 Killer Quora Answers on Smart Homes

I’ve spent the last few weeks really getting into Quora for the Smart Home space, I actually really do enjoy it. You can follow me on Quora here.

But, there’s some repeat questions I see over and over again which I believe I can answer here for you. So, if you have any further questions, please do let me know in the comments, message me on Quora or tweet @Smarthomebit

Do I have to purchase all smart items for my Alexa to control them? Or will a smart plug in and smart light bulbs work?

You don’t necessarily need a specific Smart Device to control them, you can often use your phone for example to set up rules and control these.

Typically, a Smart Assistant / Smart Hub can be used to control these. But once set up, you don’t need to worry about it.

You can plug in “dumb” items into these devices to turn them “smart”.

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How do I get Amazon devices, Echo, Echo Dot, Echo Spot, and Echo Show to work in South Africa? The Alexa app (Android) can’t download in SA.

Thankfully, as you’re on Android you can install what is known as an APK. This means you can install ‘unlicensed’ apps without going through the app store but also download the genuine app without going through the app store.

1. Open your android’s browsers
2. Go to this link
3. Download the app using the green button (Watch out for adverts)
4. Now install the APK via your downloads section
5. You should now have the app as required.

I am curious, does this work when using mobile data? or is it across the whole of SA?

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Can Amazon Echo play Spotify?

Yes, the Amazon Echo is able to play Spotify, as of a recent update, it also now plays YouTube Music and Google Play Music.

You will require an active Wi-Fi connection for this.

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Are IKEA smart home devices good?

The TradFri bulbs are fantastic from Ikea, I do highly recommend them if you’re using a Google Home Assistant.

Other devices are okay, but they’re pretty cheap and lackluster. To confirm, you will need another hub, so it works well if you’re using Philips Hue as of the moment.

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Does the Amazon Echo have a kill switch?

This is a rather vague question. If you mean for the infrastructure, that’s likely a no on the basis of having one you can control.

Yes, Amazon will have one, much like companies which can push products to no longer work via software patches.

If you mean in your household? Just unplug it. Once unplugged it has no power to do anything 😉

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Conclusion

These are just some of the questions I’ve answered on Quora, definitely do check out my profile on there and give me some upvotes 😉

Learning about Smart Home Tech via Quora is fine for an entry level point, but I definitely suggest reading over more blogs. Like mine, or check out my best Smart Home Blogs.