Use your Android phone to control your garage door

In this amazing technological era, we have the chance to do anything with our smartphones, including controlling our garage doors. It may sound like something out of science fiction, but with the right phone and apps, you can connect your phone to your garage door opener and manage its opening and closing. Clever, right?

The great thing about this method of controlling your garage door is that you don’t have to carry around another remote control, which you are likely to lose or leave in your car overnight. We all have our smartphones within reach these days, and being able to control your garage door from your Android means less hassle and more efficiency.

How Does it Work?

It’s simple and cost-effective, and you don’t need to take an electronics course to do it. All you need is an Android smartphone or tablet, a Bluetooth receiver, and the right app to connect your phone to the garage door opener.

The clever part is that you can pair more than one phone, so if you have a large family that needs constant access to the garage, up to 8 phones can be paired with the garage door opener, allowing your entire family access if you choose to grant it.

The installation takes about 2 minutes, and with an app like GarageMate, you can pair it with major brand garage door openers such as LiftMaster, Chamberlain, Genie, and Craftsman, as well as other lesser-known brands.

You start by connecting a Bluetooth receiver to the garage door opener, which can be purchased at local stores and online for a few dollars. This is powered by a plug adapter, so you don’t need to worry about batteries running out, as it will be continuously powered by your main electricity. You then need to download a compatible app like the GarageMate Android app and pair it with the Bluetooth receiver.

Tip: Ensure that your Bluetooth is turned on and that you are visible to connect the Android phone to the receiver without any issues.

Once you have paired the two devices, you can use your Android phone app to open and close the garage door with a simple tap on the screen. It’s that easy! Plus, the app is free to use, so you don’t need to pay anything to get this system working, aside from the Bluetooth receiver.

What are the Security Implications?

For the security-conscious, you might think that anyone with the app and an Android phone can easily access your garage, but that’s not the case! The app and your phone can be password protected, so no one else can access your garage. If you lose your phone, everything is password protected, so they still won’t be able to operate the garage door.

This is an important selling point for the Android app because the same cannot be said if you lose your garage remote; there are no security features to prevent unauthorized access to your garage. Therefore, the Android method of controlling your garage is the most secure.

The app will also keep a log of which users are opening and closing the door, as well as the times they operated it, which is great if you want to monitor when the kids come home. You can also set up a vacation mode if you plan to be out of town for a week or two.

Got Access to More Than One Garage?

Perhaps you also have access to someone else’s garage, and they have the same setup as you? The easy-to-use app will allow you to add multiple garages to your phone, so you can control not only your household garage but also a friend’s or family member’s garage by following the same setup procedure as you did with your own.

The only thing you will need is the password for each of these additional garages that you add to your app in order to operate the garage doors successfully; without this, you won’t be able to control any of them.

Extra Information

The Bluetooth receiver for the GarageMate app must be purchased from them, and it currently costs $49.95, but you do get the app for free. You also save money using this method, as you don’t need to replace batteries in a remote or risk Wi-Fi security breaches from hackers.