SwitchBot Bot: Push switches remotely with a basic but handy device

You can push buttons with this all day long — as long as they are either rocker switches or push buttons

There are plenty of non-smart appliances out there that work perfectly well and have no need for a replacement. But what if you could make them smart for a relatively cheap price? One slightly unconventional way of achieving that is with the SwitchBot Bot, a device that looks fairly similar to an Apple power adapter. This is a fairly rudimentary device that has one sole function: to push a switch. Coffee maker? Check. Robot vacuum? Check. Light switch? Check. There are no wires to install, as the device runs on battery. You line the device up with the switch you want to control, connect it to the SwitchBot app via Bluetooth and you can push buttons all day long. As long as they are either rocker switches or push buttons. No touchscreen switches allowed.

https://eu.switch-bot.com/

Ciara O'Brien

Ciara O'Brien

Ciara O'Brien is an Irish Times business and technology journalist