What Is Wink Home Automation And How Does It Work?
Now more people want smart homes, the demand for a system that lets you control all the devices in one place increases – this is where Wink home automation comes in. It’s a simple, straightforward, and easy-to-understand technology that unites hundreds of products, managed through the Wink app. Learn how it can benefit your home by knowing what it is and how it works.
Wink Home Automation | Simple And Easy Tech
In this article:
- What is Wink Home Automation?
- How Different Is It From Other Smart Home Ecosystems?
- The Only Thing You Need
- Wink App Features
- The Wink Hub
What is Wink Home Automation?
It’s undeniable. Home automation is the future. It combines efficiency, autopilot, and control to reduce the burden of managing the household. There are different ways to create a smart home. It can be as simple or as compartmentalized as dealing with only lights or windows and door sensors. Or you can have as many of them talking with one another or at least controlled by a single platform or technology.
Wink, now owned by i.am+ (founded by musician Will.i.am), is both hardware and software whose primary purpose is to let you run your smart devices with an app using your mobile device or a relay.
It is one of those that take advantage of the concept called the Internet of things, which means devices and Wink products communicate (send and receive data) through the wireless protocols. Often, you need an Internet connection or mobile data to run them, but there are few exceptions to the rule. One of these is you can now manage your lights and switches that are connected to the Wink hub even when there’s no Internet provided your phone connects to the Wi-Fi network of your home.
How Different Is It From Other Smart Home Ecosystems?
The Wink home automation shares similarities with some common ecosystems in the market. It is like Apple because it works with compatible brands and products. However, Apple home products use a framework, not an app, called a HomeKit, to allow these objects to communicate with one another. It also doesn’t use a hub, unlike Wink. Wink products don’t work with Apple HomeKit for now.
Wink is quite like Amazon. In fact, the former is compatible with Amazon Echo, which is sensitive to voice commands, thanks to Alexa. In the process, you can control devices for Wink home automation without using your phone app or relay.
Another competitor is SmartThings, which is owned by Samsung. Both of them utilize hubs to serve as controllers, but SmartThings uses an open platform, which makes it more receptive and adaptable to innovation.
The Only Thing You Need
Wink is compatible with many products from big brands such as Philips, GE, Sylvania, Leviton, Ring, Nest, Chamberlain, Honeywell, Amazon (Alexa), and Google (Google Assistant). You can incorporate all these into the Wink home automation system using one platform: Wink app.
The Wink app is available in two places: a mobile device and the Wink relay ($69.99 on Amazon).
You can download the app for free here, if you’re using Android, or here for Apple users. It runs on iOS 8.0 and later versions, as well as Android 4.0 and later versions. It doesn’t support Windows phones but works on Apple Watch, Android Wear, and iPod Touch. In other words, you can control the devices on a tablet, mobile phone, or a wrist device.
The Wink relay, on the other hand, is a 4.3-inch touchscreen panel you install on the wall of your home. Upgrades to the relay, however, means it can do more than managing the devices on your home automation system. You can also hail an Uber or track your fitness by integrating Fitbit. It comes with a microphone and a speaker so you can set up several relays in your home and control them effortlessly.
Wink App Features
The Wink app offers flexibility in managing your devices by letting you control each or group them together. You can adjust or change the settings of every device within your Wink home automation system, or you can create the following
• Features: Wink can set your door locks, smart light bulbs, garage door opener, has a motion sensor, connects to wif-fi Bluetooth, and many other wonderfully convenient smart home features.
• Shortcuts: Activate as many devices as you like with only one swipe. You can use IFTTT for that. For more information, read this.
• Robots: Operate several devices based on triggers such as activity or location. You can set the lights to turn on in case the smoke alarm goes off.
• Schedules: Run multiple devices simultaneously at a particular time. For example, if you want to wake up to an airy room in the morning, you can sync the blinds to roll up and the lights in the living room and the outdoor patio to switch off thirty minutes after sunrise.
The Wink Hub
The Wink home automation system, as well as other ecosystems, depends on protocols. These are technologies that allow devices to communicate with one another and with the controller, which can be a hub, relay, or app.
One of the reasons why Wink can work in many smart home products is its compatibility with common wireless protocols. These include:
- ZigBee (usually found in products with long battery life)
- Wi-Fi (prevalent and common but also consumes a lot of power)
- Z-Wave (has a long radio-frequency range, 100 meters outside and 50 meters inside, so it’s ideal for smart devices far from the hub or relays like window and door sensors)
- Kidde (commonly used in smoke alarms)
- Lutron Clear Connect (often used in light integration)
- Bluetooth Low Energy (uses less power than conventional Bluetooth – learn more about the differences here)
- Thread-capable radio (for future support, which means it should be able to let the Wink app work on future products that will run on next-generation Internet protocol)
For these rules to work with Relay, though, you will need a hub. Now, this can get confusing for some because Wink Relay can also function as one. It can already work on devices that use ZigBee and Wi-Fi. But if your device requires Bluetooth LE, Lutron Clear Connect, or Z-Wave, you still have to buy the Wink Hub ($69) to run these devices on the relay. You will also need to get the matching smart light bulb to work with any smart light system, we recommend the Phillips Hue light bulb.
There’s also Wink Hub 2 ($98 on Amazon), which is sleeker and more compact in design. When it comes to functionality, it is more intuitive with its auto-discovery feature. Wink Hub 2 compatible devices should run on Bluetooth LE (enhanced), Z-Wave, Lutron Clear Connect, and Kidde. The biggest difference, though, is it’s ready to support Thread radio devices.
What makes Wink home automation system great? Its simplicity, ease of use, and connectivity make it an excellent introduction for anyone who wants to build a smart home now. Buy the devices, relay, and wink hub on Wink.coapplem, Amazon.com, and Home Depot (Canada and United States).
What do you think of Wink home automation and homekit devices? Is it something you’d like to try? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
