When to Upgrade Your Smart Home System: Signs You’re Falling Behind

How to Experience the Ultimate in Smart Home Living

Smart home living elevates everyday activities, transforms moods, and reshapes families. It’s a technology that’s hard to fathom until you experience it.

From waking to shades slowly opening and soft classical music filling your home to entertaining friends and family amidst lighting that aligns with the sunset with the big game synchronized in brilliant 4K images on every TV, smart technology offers a lifestyle that’s easy, elegant, and fun. 

But what happens when the wear and tear of everyday smart home living begins to overload the platform that manages it all? What are the signs that suggest it's time to upgrade your system to ensure the best experience possible? 

Here, we’ll explore a few telltale yet subtle signs that suggest your smart home isn’t operating at full speed ahead and needs a little TLC. 

SEE ALSO: It’s Time to Upgrade Your Current Control4 System to Control4 X4

Slow to Rise

You know those mornings when rising from bed and making your way to the kitchen feels a little more challenging than usual? Your first stop is the coffee machine or the kettle. 

Your smart home is a little like that. It’s spent years transforming the lighting, adjusting the shades, and ensuring the climate was just right. Now, it’s a little tired. How can you tell?

When you ask the lighting to transform to cyan blue and indigo in the living room and your whole-home audio system to stream Coldplay, it’s a little sluggish. What once seemed almost instantaneous now transpires a bit at a time. That sluggishness is a sure sign your home automation platform is ready for an upgrade. 

Lack of Compatibility

There was a time when your home automation platform connected to almost every tech and entertainment device you knew and loved. You felt like you could control your whole home from anywhere. When leaving the office, you pressed an icon in the smart home app labeled “Relax.” 

When you arrived home, the landscape lights welcomed you. When you walked in the door, your relaxing playlist greeted you, right along with the ideal climate. The ice machine had made a little extra. The spa had heated to 102°F. And the music followed you as you made your way outside. 

Then, slowly, almost imperceptibly, something changed. The new outdoor landscape speakers you recently added didn’t seem quite in sync. The new elegant keypad with backlit buttons that was designed to control the lighting and shades didn’t work, the first in your smart home experience. 

What’s Happened? 

As new technologies emerge, older smart home systems don’t have the functionality to manage them. What was an ecosystem of interconnected devices is now a disjointed, hit-and-miss smart home. The good news is that you don’t need a whole new platform; your operating system simply needs an update. 

At Applause Custom Sight & Sound, we know the signs that suggest an update is imminent. We also know the devices that integrate seamlessly and the programming that ensures your smart home works as it should every time you press a button or state a voice command. 

Limited Automation Features

AI has transformed the smart home experience. Today’s automated homes learn. They come to know your preferences and patterns, preparing the ideal environment before you even ask. You wake to the perfect climate, lighting, and music, with natural light softly streaming into your home. When everyone leaves for the day, the doors lock, the shades lower, the lights dim, and the alarm arms.

If your smart home isn’t preparing itself for you in advance, you’re missing out on some of the greatest advancements of our time.

Outdated User Interfaces

User interfaces, the technology that enables you to manage your entire smart home, are advancing at a remarkable pace. Today’s touchscreens, remotes, and smartphone apps offer a seamless, intuitive user experience. 

Fragmented Security Tools

A smart home operating at peak efficiency creates an environment where all intelligent systems work seamlessly together. When a fragmented ecosystem occurs, several security vulnerabilities and outdated protocols may become evident. These include irregular updates, limited encryption, and less secure devices, all of which increase the risk of a compromised system. 

Modernizing Your Smart Home

At Applause Custom Sight & Sound, our technology experts evaluate and refresh outdated setups. With technological advancements and 2026 approaching, now is the perfect time to modernize and enhance your smart home system. 

For support or for a free consultation, please contact us at (913) 498-1183, use the live chat box below, or fill out our contact form.