The best smart home devices are not only controlled by smart speakers and displays; all major smart home platforms, including Amazon (Alexa), Apple (HomeKit), and Google, offer smart 4K for TV streaming devices With a streaming box like the excellent Apple TV 4K or Fire Stick 4K Max, you can turn the biggest screen in your home into a place to watch TV, play AAA video games, and communicate with others

Each streamer comes with a controller, but can also use apps and voice commands These devices can turn a TV into a smart home dashboard, checking security feeds and controlling devices such as lights and smart thermostats Scroll down to see how to set up your preferred smart home platform

With the best Alexa devices, you can build a complete media setup without spending a fortune For starters, connect a FireTV stick (or Cube) to your TV and let it act as the brains This will bring the FireTV OS onto the screen, where you can watch shows, play the latest AAA games on Xbox Cloud Gaming, or check out your Alexa smart home device

Amazon's interface consists of alternating rows of shortcuts to apps and recommended content, with banner ads for promotional content at the top We like the affordability and ease of setup because you can easily integrate the TV into your routine and pair it with the Echo speaker group for sound; you can use Alexa voice control to operate the TV and get status on your smart home devices on the fly You can pull up the status of your smart home devices on the fly

We recommend installing the best Ring cameras in your home because this configuration allows for picture-in-picture pop-ups on TVs and Echo Show displays throughout the house When someone rings the Ring doorbell, a live image pops up in the corner of the TV

Apple's ecosystem is expensive, but it stands out with its sleek, clutter-free grid of interfaces and speedy performance; watching shows on Apple TV or playing exclusive titles on Apple Arcade are all Apple services that shine here While you can't side-load content through an Android-based interface like Amazon or Google's streamers, Apple's App Store does have good third-party support Apple's A15 chip outperforms other streaming device processors, opening apps quickly and loading 4K video with minimal buffering

The Apple TV 4K 128GB with Ethernet ($149) and HomePod (2nd generation) smart speaker have Thread wireless This addition allows them to function as smart home hubs and support the Universal Matter protocol; use the Apple Control Center to cross-brand HomeKit-enabled or Matter devices, such as lighting, smart locks, and smart thermostats It can detect and control them From here, routines can be automated to automatically initiate actions such as turning on lights or air conditioning when you enter a room The Apple TV's picture-in-picture feature also allows for easy access to live video from security cameras, which can be overlaid on top of the content

Those already in the Apple ecosystem can use AirPlay to stream photos and videos from an iPhone, iPad, or Mac to a TV or stream music to a smart speaker to pass along content Synchronize an Apple TV with two HomePods and you have a surround sound speaker system with heavy bass iPhone owners can point the iPhone's camera at the TV screen and the colors will automatically adjust for optimal viewing Meanwhile, the iPhone acts as a camera for FaceTime sessions on the TV, allowing you to talk with friends and family over a larger area with subtitles

Whether your smart TV has Google TV OS or you get a Chromecast, the search giant's interface is tailored to you Algorithms monitor what you're watching and spit out eerily accurate recommendations The most popular apps, shows, and movies appear in one carousel, with your own personalized recommendations just below This streamlines the decision-making process by eliminating the need to hop between apps to check popular programs and creating a universal watch list regardless of service

Google Assistant can be used to control playback, manage smart home devices, or simply ask questions such as today's weather stereo pairing of two Google Nest speakers from the "Devices" tab in the Google Home app You can create a stereo pairing of two Google Nest speakers The duo can be connected via Bluetooth to a Chromecast or Google TV to amplify the sound experience

Google's TV OS makes it easy to manage Google and Nest devices from the big screen and display Google Photos as a screen saver Apple's AirPlay is limited to iOS devices, but iPhones and Android devices can transfer content to the screen using the broader Chromecast standard; Google Nest and third-party surveillance cameras can be easily called up but the system does not currently have a picture-in-picture mode This multitasking feature allows the camera's image to be displayed on top of the content being viewed, and will be added in the next Android TV update