Nest

The Nest app brings Google Nest devices into one place: thermostats, cameras, the Nest Secure alarm system and Nest Protect smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Rather than an app per device, one screen covers the house. Temperature can be changed from anywhere, the alarm armed or disarmed remotely, and camera views checked while you are out. Alerts arrive on your phone or tablet when something happens, including if a Nest Protect detects smoke or carbon monoxide, which is the notification that genuinely matters when you are not at home. What distinguishes Nest is that it tries to remove the need to operate it. Sensors, algorithms and your phone's location work together so the system responds to your household without instructions: heating turns down and cameras turn on when everyone leaves, and things return to normal as you approach home. The learning thermostats build a schedule from what you actually do over the first weeks rather than requiring you to program one, which is how most programmable thermostats end up running the factory default for years. Small touches follow the same logic. Forgetting to set the alarm produces a Remind Me alert rather than an unprotected night, because the system noticed the omission when you did not.