IKEA Home Smart gets physical buttons for multiple commands at once

IKEA will release Shortcut Buttons in February. These are physical buttons to which users can link multiple functions via the Home Smart app, such as turning off both the lighting and the Symfonisk speakers. The buttons will cost 7 dollars in the US.

The Shortcut Buttons are square buttons where users can insert pictures with icons to indicate the function. IKEA will itself supply pictures with icons, such as with a bed or a lamp on it, but users can also draw these themselves.

A push of a button activates a scene, a series of commands for smart home applications. For example, in the Home Smart app, according to The Verge, users can indicate that a single push of a button should close blinds, turn off the music and dim the lighting. For example, buttons can also be linked to Spotify playlists at a certain volume.

Users can lay the buttons down or mount them on the wall. They are intended as an alternative to control with the app or smart speaker and give, for example, guests in a house or children without a smartphone the opportunity to operate devices. In addition, IKEA sees the buttons as a way to involve people without technical knowledge more in smart home control.

IKEA is also working on facilitating the pairing of devices through the Trådfri connection hub, but details on this will not be disclosed until a later stage.

Image courtesy of The Verge