Published May 15, 2026, 12:45 PM EDT Adam has a degree in Engineering and has a life-long interest in technology. He has been writing for over a decade for various print and online publications, with a focus on consumer tech. He joined How-To Geek in 2024 while working at Pocket-lint . As well as being a long-term fan of Apple products, he also has a strong interest in smart home tech, running a Home Assistant server at home to automate all his smart home devices. He believes that the ideal smart home should work with minimal interaction from the user, with automations running as if by magic rather than requiring you to push buttons on a control panel. You can find more of his work on Muck Rack . Home Assistant is a digital solution in a digital world, but sometimes we all need a little analog in our lives. Not every project needs to involve cloud services, voice assistants, or expensive touchscreens. You can do a lot with some old-school methods, too.…