It's that time of year again when you have to give free candy away or face the consequences. My kids love Halloween, and it's one of the rare times when they are actively encouraging me to do smart home projects, as long as they're spooky. Here are three projects to try this weekend, if you dare.

I'm not a huge fan of smart home dashboards; I want my smart home to work as automatically as possible. However, when I had an idea for building a retro game version of my house that I could use to control my smart home, I knew I had to make it happen.

The Raspberry Pi is a fun little computer, but I have a habit of collecting accessories that turn out to be more useful than the device they were designed for. Some of them stay connected to the Pi, while others find their way onto my desk and become part of my regular setup. The official Raspberry Pi USB 3 Hub is one such accessory.

Motion sensors are popular smart home devices. They're relatively cheap and simple to set up, but often people only use them for basic automations such as turning on the lights when you walk into a room. With the right automations, there's a lot more you can do using motion sensors.

Overpriced home appliances with lackluster smarts are a pet peeve of mine. I’d never upgrade a perfectly functioning fridge or dishwasher just to get access to half-baked smart features, and I’d choose value or performance over features I don’t need, or that might backfire on me down the line.

When smart speakers first burst onto the scene, it felt like this would be the way we would all be controlling our smart homes in the future. That future never really became a reality, as smart speakers haven't really improved much over the years. It's reached the point now where your old phone or a DIY smart speaker can do a better job.

My smart home has a lot of complicated automations, many of which have their own quirks. When guests visit, they just want to be able to do simple things like turning on the lights, watching TV, or turning up the heating. I decided to turn an old Android phone into a dedicated guest remote that's simple enough for anyone to use.

The number of features packed into Home Assistant is insane. The problem is that there are so many features that it can be easy to overlook some of the best ones. I slept on some of Home Assistant's features for far too long; here are some more of the best features that I wish I'd started using much sooner.

Gemini is Google’s big bet on AI that has made its way into the company’s search, mobile, and smart home offerings. The only issue is that Google doesn’t seem to have gotten the memo that new technologies are supposed to improve the user experience, not make it worse.