Are Garage Door Opener Apps Rendering Remotes Obsolete?
If you look at sci-fi movies from a half-century ago, they seem pretty quaint when compared to the reality of life here in the early 21st century. Sure, we don't have flying cars (which means we also don't have flying car accidents raining down on our homes), but in just about every other way contemporary reality has outstripped the imagination of even the most forward-thinking visionaries of days gone by. At the leading edge of the tech revolution is the smartphone. Its effects on both business and our personal lives have been profound. It's put travel agents out of business, is driving brick and mortar retail into the ground and is making a slew of other tech devices obsolete. Is the garage door remote one of those devices? Let's take a look.
The Smartphone App is Coming for Your Garage Door Remote
It's an amazing world we live in. Full of great challenges and incredible possibilities. A lot of things have changed in the past 10 years, and more change is on the way. From where we're standing one of the biggest questions is whether the smartphone app will make the garage door opener obsolete. Let's take a close look at the different reasons the app may win out.
It Easy and Makes a Lot of Sense
The surprising thing, and the thing the probably spells doom for the remote, is that hooking your phone up to the garage door opener is easy to do. All you need is a relatively new smartphone, a Bluetooth receiver, and the right app for your make and model of garage door opener. If you like, you can pair up multiple smartphones to your opener. And that's yet another reason why the remote seems like it's doomed. Everyone in the family can now have access to the garage door via their smart phone. Think about it. Now one will ever be locked out of the house as long as they have their phone with them. That's the kind of progress that makes a lot of sense.
You’ll Never Again Wonder if You Left the Door Open
Ever get to work or to the mall and get that nagging feeling you left the garage door open? Up to now, you might have had to call a neighbor and have them check on it for you. If they're home. Well, those days are over when your opener is hooked up to a smartphone app. Not only does the app allow you to bypass the remote and open the door. It allows you to check the status of the door no matter where you are on planet earth and, if necessary, close it. Imagine you're sitting on the Spanish Step in Rome and suddenly remember you left the door open on your Denver home. All you do is take out your smartphone, check the door status, and hit the close button. Try doing that with your current remote.
It’s a Lot Safer Than You Think
If there's one thing we hear all the time when it comes to app vs. opener, it's the argument that the app isn't as secure as the opener. This argument tends to revolve around the notion that if you misplace your smartphone, anyone can gain access to your home via the opener app. Well, there's a couple of problems with that argument. First, how is someone who finds your phone going to know where your house is? We polled the people in our office, and not a single one has their home address on their smartphone. Second, and even more important, is the fact that your smartphone is (or certainly should be) password protected. Third, the app itself can be password protected. So even if some super-genius hacker finds your phone and, after a couple of days of trying, is able to gain entry they'll still be faced with having to hack the app as well. Good luck with that. In addition, the app will keep a running log on who is using the door and when they're using it. You can also set up alerts that tell you when the door is being opened. So if an unauthorized entry occurs while you're away on business, you can notify the police.
Multiple Homes, One App
Lots of people have second homes, and until now they would have needed separate remotes to access the different homes. The garage door opener app puts an end to that inconvenient situation by bringing all your garage doors under the control of one smartphone. The same security protocols can be instituted for your vacation home that are in play on your primary residence. No one will be able to gain entry without you knowing. No one will be able to swipe your phone and gain access to either home. And when you roll up to the second residence, the same app that opens your home garage will open this garage door as well. That's what you call true modern-day convenience.
The Bottom Line
Millions of homeowners still rely on their trusty garage door opener remote. But like a lot of other things, the last days of the remote are fast approaching. There are just too many reasons to switch to the smartphone app. If you would like to transition your garage door opener from your remote to an app, talk to the pros at A Better Garage Door. We're leading the way to the future of the garage door.