Smart home routines
A smart home routine is a small set of actions the house runs for you at a certain moment. That moment might be waking up, going to bed, or leaving the house. Good routines are easy to see and easy to undo. The wall switches keep working, and nobody gets surprised.
Pick one moment of the day below. Start with a single recipe, live with it for a week, and then add the next.
Morning routines
Ease into the day. Bring up light slowly and get gentle reminders, while people who are still asleep stay undisturbed.
Smart home morning routine and scenes
Start the day with lights only where you need them. A morning routine begins when you choose and leaves everyone still sleeping undisturbed.
Set up gradual wake-up lighting
Wake up gently with a sunrise effect. Slowly brighten a bedroom light before your set wake time so mornings feel easier than a jarring alarm.
Automate morning coffee safely
Wake up to coffee you know is ready. Set up the coffee maker the night before and get a clear morning result, with no guessing about whether it brewed.
Spoken school morning reminders
Keep school mornings on time. A kitchen speaker says when to brush teeth and put on shoes, then goes back to the music that was playing.
Automate blinds at sunrise and sunset
Open motorized blinds near sunrise and close them near sunset for privacy, with bedtime limits and the normal blind controls still working.
Bedtime and overnight automation
Wind the house down and keep it calm overnight. Check doors and the garage, and light the way to the bathroom without waking everyone.
Build a family-safe bedtime routine
Wind down the house at night with a gentle dimming step and a clear good-night action, while occupied rooms and safety alerts stay untouched.
Alert when a door is left unlocked
Go to bed knowing the doors are locked. See when an outside door is unlocked, get a bedtime lock check, and add auto-locking only with real feedback.
Garage door left open alarm and alerts
Get a phone alert when the garage door is left open too long, plus a bedtime check. A simple open-door alarm that alerts only; closing stays manual.
Bathroom night-light automation
Find the bathroom at night without a blinding light. Motion turns on a dim night light, and the wall switch still works if anything fails.
Manage wall tablets with home modes
Wake, dim, mute, and turn off wall-mounted dashboard tablets when the home mode changes, and let one tablet light the way to the bathroom at night.
Away routines
Leave without a checklist. Switch to Away once the house is empty, make it look lived in, and keep the temperature safe.
Away mode automation for security and energy
Leave without running through a checklist. Switch the home to Away once it is confirmed empty, then adjust lights, climate, and security for you.
Turn on away lights to look occupied
Make the house look lived in while you are away. Turn on a few well-chosen lights in a natural pattern, not every light at once.
Dog-bark intrusion deterrent
Make an empty house sound guarded. Play a barking dog through a speaker when motion is detected while you are away, as an extra layer of deterrence.
Safe thermostat auto-away
Save energy while the house is empty with a modest thermostat setback that still protects pets and pipes and respects manual holds.
Arriving home
Come home to a lit path and normal comfort settings.
Prepare the house when someone arrives
Come home to a lit path and normal comfort settings. Switch back to Home mode on arrival without treating phone location as proof of who it is.
Welcome arrivals with path lighting
Get a lit path from the driveway to the door after dark, while the lock and the lights you control by hand are left alone.
Play music when arriving home
Walk in to your favorite music. Start playback when you arrive home, using a presence signal you have tested, for the same welcome every time.
Guests and visitors
Keep the house simple for people who do not live there.
Guest-friendly smart home mode
Make the house easy for guests. Keep lights and switches simple, stop a false Away mode, and quiet only non-urgent personal automations.
Tips for routines that last
- Start each routine from something you can see, such as a button or a set time.
- Keep a manual way to do every step, like the wall switch.
- Treat a sensor that stops reporting as unknown, not as safe or empty.
- Make it easy to cancel or undo a routine when plans change.
Want the full list? Browse all daily routine recipes or search every automation recipe.