So It's been a while but the smarthome never sleeps (unfortunately I do) and after the purchase of Smartthings 2 hub I have also purchased a Withings Smart Body Analyzer WS-50.

So yes it is a smart thing mainly focused on quantified self but so far I have been much more interested in some of its secondary features: my first CO2 sensor.

First night and placed in our bedroom it showed the levels get progressively worse over the night. A 30 minute opening of the door in the morning restored healthy levels. But now the task to better ventilate during the night.

More on its primary task if it succedes in helping me reduce body fat.

So every smart device now has an app for it now, but just how smart is it in your own living room to turn the lights on to do the following:

Find phone or tablet, unlock screen, maybe a pin code.. find app (let's face it we all have too many), hopefully auto login, select room or group or scene. And Light's are finally on! - Oh as long as someone hasn't turned the existing switch off! It's a major problem that so far no one mainstream has really managed to fix yet

The old way of course was flicking the switch, granted then you probably wouldn't be able to change the colours, dim it, and you probably would have had to get off the sofa to do it.

So what are the solutions to the multiple app scenarios, what can unify and simplify?
1. Have a lighting system that can have both an app and a switch installed. Most of them are wired though so not everyone is going to be able to do that in their home (I did with my Philips Dynalite system) Hue does have a switch now but you still need the electrician to more than likely take away the old switch. Or maybe Switchmate if you live in the US!
2. A smart remote like Logitech Harmony, Nuimo, Neeo
3. Some kind of permanent Home hub screen Wink, Oomihome, Sentri, Nuimo, Lucis, Smartthings - Smarttiles 
4. Voice control - Amazon Echo , Homey, or Siri through homekit (Some sort of app exists here too with these)
5. Buttons like flip, bt.tn, misfit may even be able to do the trick

Or you could go to solutions like Crestron, Control4 etc. but then you have lock in, not able to make changes yourself, and it can easily cost you the price of a small car. On the face of it there are a lot of options, but is there a one size fits all approach to the smart home or will I end up drowning in the XL size T-shirt?

Over the coming weeks I will delve into a few more of these points in detail and how they relate to my own home