Though the tech world has seen a lot of changes over the years, browsers have pretty much stayed the same. The only shakeup we’ve seen in recent times is AI-powered browsing, with browsers like Comet, Opera Neon, and Dia, that merge AI assistance with your everyday browsing experience.
But, what if your browser could do more than just assist you online? What if it could actually interact with the world around you, especially the place you spend the most time in — your home? Well, this browser just became the first to do exactly that, and is aiming to turn your everyday browsing experience into a full-fledged smart home interaction.
Opera GX’s new smart home feature can connect your browser to your home
As announced via a press release, Opera just introduced a Smart Home feature that makes Opera GX the first browser to interact with your home and let your home interact with it.
What’s interesting is that Opera has designed the Smart Home integration to be a “two-way communication between Opera GX and other smart home devices.” Instead of just using the browser to control your devices, it works the other way around too — sensors and smart products can be used to control Opera GX’s behavior too. This means you can set up a variety of creative automations, like setting up your door sensor to trigger the Opera GX Panic button, that enables the browser to immediately hide your browsing session. Or, if you’re someone who can’t watch a movie or TV show without the perfect ambiance, you can have the browser automatically dim the lights, pause background music, and close window shades as soon as you hit play.
Those are just two examples Opera mentioned, but the possibilities don’t end there and are quite literally endless. Since the extension is open source, you can experiment with your own automations, customize how your browser interacts with your home, and share your creations with the wider Opera GX community.
The Smart Home feature is an open-source solution that uses a MQTT API and browser extensions to connect with smart home hubs like Home Assistant, Homebridge, and Node-RED. Now, that sounds…complex and complicated to set up, doesn’t it? But don’t let that intimidate you. Opera says the entire solution is designed for ease of use and doesn’t require any complex technical knowledge. Setting it up is straightforward for anyone with a smart home network, so you can start automating your browser and room without needing to be a tech expert. To do so, you need to head to the Early Bird settings in Opera GX, enable MQTT support, and then fill in the details required. Once connected, you can install the Opera GX Smart Home Extension, and for Home Assistant users, the browser will be automatically detected as a new device on your network.
