![]() And each type of click can be linked up to a routine. Because each Flic button has three functions, one click, double click and long click. I can hit the button.īut it's even cleverer than that. ![]() So if I'm not cooking, and if I don't fancy bellowing an order at Google, if I'm trying to surprise the wife with breakfast in bed, for example. And that means I can just bark an order at my Google display and it turns on.īy using a Flic button, I don't have to bark the order. And often when I'm cooking it's a fiddle to switch it on while I'm stirring a bolognese or something, so I connected it up to a smart switch. I have a stove light in my kitchen which I use all the time when I'm cooking. So I may be putting a few more on my own shopping list.Flic's ingenious buttons send a signal to the bulb to turn on, or off, or even change colour or dim. And I quite fancy the idea of turning all the various garden lights on with just one button. That said, I recently worked out I can start our coffee machine up without getting out of bed, with one touch of a Flic button. But three buttons, given they have three functions each, will probably be enough for one home. You could even go for a mega pack, which knocks on the door of £500. It really does simplify life.įlic sent me their three-button starter pack, which includes the compact Wi-Fi hub, and this set costs £161 (although there was a 10% discount when I last looked) and a single button costs around £30. But, honestly, once you've lived with the Flic system, and you've set up enough automations, you quickly get the point. I know there are people out there who will still be wondering why I can't just press the buttons these devices came with, or tell Google to do it, or just get up and flick switches. I could even use a button to start a robot lawnmower off on its routine, or a robot vacuum. If I hold the button down, I can turn my bedroom light on, again through a Switchbot. So it's all getting a bit complicated, I know, and it is complicated, believe me, better integration and compatibility will be a big bonus, but it hasn't stopped me using the buttons to control all kinds of things.įor example, I can tap a button on my bedside table to open my bedroom curtains with a Switchbot device, and if I double tap it I can look out of the window and watch my garden water feature spurt into life. Alexa and Google can actually run side by side, and by linking up switches, bulbs and so on to the Alexa app, installing the right skills, and then setting up routines, I've been able to assign tasks to the buttons fairly easily. One of the key integrations I've made use of to get my smart home running through the Flic buttons is an app called IFTT (If This Then That) and which allows you to include Flic into what it calls "applets" that link up a variety of smart home functions.Īnother way I've found to bypass Google's apathy for this superb gadget is by switching certain devices to Alexa. However, Flic tells me more are being added all the time and it's possible to get around this issue in the interim by adopting a few clever workarounds. A few other smart eco-systems are missing too. I can't, for example, get it to perform Google functions directly. There's a bit of a lack of compatibility with Flic at the moment. And especially if that one button press can perform a variety of functions.īut here's a caveat. ![]() It's actually far easier to tap a button. So I could set up a routine that turns on my stove light, turns on the radio and sets the extractor fan running, all in one go.Īre you getting it yet? I think the fundamental benefit of the Flic buttons is that sometimes asking Google to do something is hit-and-miss, or not possible because you're trying to be quiet. Flic's ingenious buttons send a signal to the bulb to turn on, or off, or even change colour or dim.
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