Builders: Get to Know Control4 OS 3

Software update brings multiple new enhancements to help families use the popular home control system

There’s no denying that smart home devices are becoming increasingly common in our everyday lives. From Amazon Echo smart speakers to lighting control and more, people expect home automation technology in their houses. As a builder or designer, it’s up to you to meet their needs.

The heart of any home’s automation system is the control system. Because the home control system is so crucial, any changes or updates to the system are worth noting. Control 4, our preferred home control system brand, recently released their OS 3 update, which contains a slew of upgrades and tweaks to makes homeowners’ lives simpler. Here’s what you will find with Control4 OS 3 and the fresh benefits they offer to homeowners in Palm Beach and other areas of Florida.

SEE ALSO: How Integrators Help Builders Create Better Smart Homes

MORE CUSTOMIZATION

With OS 3, Control4 has made it easier than ever to customize the system to suit any customer’s needs. Families can now select distinct backgrounds in the Control4 app for every room in their house. They can upload their own photos, or they can choose from among Control4’s premade library of wallpapers. This extra bit of personalization makes it considerably simpler for residents to find and see which room they’re controlling through the app. If you’ve installed wall panels, your customers can take a picture of the wall around the panel and use it for the panel’s background. This way, the panel better blends in with existing décor.

A bigger change with OS 3 is the new Favorites system. Using Favorites, families can pick favorite rooms or activities – their home theater or sound system, for example – for easy access and then select those activities in seconds from app’s home screen. Favorites are also specific to individual devices, so residents can have certain actions or rooms set for their phones and make different selections on a remote, wall panel, etc.

FASTER, SIMPLER CONTROLS

The new Favorites system is just one example of OS 3 making control of smart home control easier. Families can makes anything they’ve picked as a Favorite from the main Rooms Screen. OS 3 also includes new gesture control software, allowing for faster, more fluid control over things like a cable or satellite TV guide.

At the broader level, there’s the new Sessions system. Using Sessions, anyone using the systems can see and control they TV or sound system throughout the home. They can adjust the volume systemwide or in specific rooms, add or remove rooms from different media Sessions, or turn different devices on or off. As just one example, someone could deactivate the home’s outdoor speakers but leave the other speakers playing.

OTHER QUALITY OF LIFE CHANGES

Control4 has said that OS 3 includes more than 1,000 new features and enhancements. Among those enhancements, OS 3 includes support for Master Quality Authenticated (MQA) music streaming, giving families the absolute highest audio quality. There are also new filtering options to make it easy to see the status of specific systems like lights, security system, and others at a glance.

 

There’s much more to Control4 OS 3, but this is a start. To learn more about these systems or get expert help on your next project, call us at (954) 650-3074, fill out our contact page, or click on the chat box in the corner of your browser.