The Rise of the Smart Home Dashboard: Apple, Google, and Beyond
The Return of the Wall Panel
For years, KNX homeowners have used wall-mounted touchscreens to control their homes. Now, the broader smart home industry is catching up. Apple's rumoured home hub with a display, Google's Nest Hub, and Amazon's Echo Show are all vying to become the central control point for your smart home.
But for KNX homeowners, the best dashboard might already be in your pocket — or mounted on your wall.
iPad as the Ultimate KNX Dashboard
Many Thinka users mount an iPad on the wall as a dedicated home control panel. With the Apple Home app, you get a beautiful, responsive interface that shows all your KNX devices organised by room. Combined with iOS's Guided Access mode, the iPad becomes a dedicated smart home controller that the whole family can use.
The advantages of this approach:
- Always up to date — The Home app automatically reflects any changes to your KNX configuration through Thinka
- Multi-user — Family members can control the home from their own iPhones, while the wall-mounted iPad serves as a shared control point
- Scenes at a glance — Your favourite scenes (Good Morning, Movie Time, Good Night) are just one tap away
- Camera feeds — View your HomeKit Secure Video cameras directly on the dashboard
What Is Next?
As Apple continues to invest in the smart home space, we expect to see even more powerful dashboard capabilities. The combination of KNX's professional-grade automation with Apple's consumer-friendly interface — bridged by Thinka — creates the best of both worlds.
