TECH BYTE: Apps That Pair With Your Tech Products

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) — If you got a cool tech gift over the holidays, you might need a smartphone to be able to use it.

If your new device has to be paired with a smartphone, make sure you’re downloading the right app.

“A lot of times if you’re using or getting a Google device, whether that is a Google Nest, they have lots of different devices out there that we have Google or Gmail set up so that’s going to be extremely important,” said Laurie Starcher, AT&T. “Same thing with Apple devices. If you’re getting a brand new Apple TV, an iPad, you want to make sure that you have that Apple ID set up, along with its password.”

So which products have to be paired with a smartphone in the first place?

“Amazon has a whole line of products that we’re seeing that are continuing to come out,” she said. “The Echo – you will have to have an Amazon account for that, so if you’re getting it for a neighbor, a family member, that maybe is not going to be on your account. Just know that you’re going to have to spend that time helping them get that set up because they will have to have an Amazon account. Same thing with Google – whether it’s their Nest, they have a lot of home assistance. They even have light bulbs that are out now that Google has which is really amazing, but you will have to have that Gmail set up.”

But Starcher says the good news is a lot of those products work together.

“Once you set it up for one, if you do decide to continue with that ecosystem – whether it’s Google, Amazon, Apple, it will all kind of flow together.”

There are also some apps out there that work with multiple tech products from different brands – like SmartThings.

“You don’t necessarily want to download three or four different apps for all the different Wi-Fi connected devices that you have in your home,” Starcher said. “SmartThings is a really great app that you can download that will allow you to connect to all of those different devices. It can help you with turning your lights off, connecting to your oven now that you can preheat which is so cool. Even refrigerators, they now have it to where you can even see what’s inside of your refrigerators through apps. SmartThings is one of those apps that you can kind of do everything through.”

Starcher also recommends the Wemo app, where you can control your lights, appliances, or a whole room from anywhere in the world.

“It’s a free app that really helps kind of make your home smart, even if you have an older home, you can still make it into that smart home.”

If you still need help setting everything up, contact customer service – either for the brand of your product, or where you bought it.