In this wonderful technological age we are given the opportunity to do anything with our Smartphones and that also includes controlling our garage doors. It sounds like something right out science-fiction but with the right phone and apps you can connect your phone to your garage door opener and get it opening and closing. Clever huh?
The great thing about this method of controlling your garage door is that you don’t have to carry around another remote control that you are more likely to either lose or leave in your car overnight. We all have our Smartphones at arm’s length these days, and being able to carry out such control on your Android means less carriage and more efficiency.
How Does it Work?
It’s simple and cost effective and you don’t need to take an electronics course to be able to do it. All you need is an Android Smartphone or tablet, a Bluetooth receiever and the right app that will connect your phone to the garage door opener.
The clever part to this is that you can pair more than one phone as well, so if you have a large family that needs constant access in and out of the garage then up to 8 phones can be paired with the garage door opener, meaning your whole family can be given access if you choose to let them.
The installation takes about 2 minutes and with an app such as GarageMate you can pair it with big 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 are sold in local stores and online for a few bucks. This is powered by a plug adapter so you don’t need to worry about batteries running out of charge as it will be constantly powered by your main electricity. You then need to download a compatible app like the GarageMate Android app, and then pair this with the Bluetooth receiver.
Tip: Make sure that your Bluetooth is turned on that you are visible in order to connect the Android phone to the receiver without any issues.
Once you have paired the two devices you can then use your Android phone app to open and close the garage door by a simple tap of the screen. It’s as easy as that! Plus, the app is free to use so you don’t need to pay anything to get this system working apart from the Bluetooth receiver.
What are the Security Implications?
For the security conscious you may be thinking that anyone with the app and an Android phone can easily gain access to your garage but you would be wrong! The app and your phone can be password protected so no one else can gain access to your garage, and if you lose your phone because everything is password protected they still won’t be able to operate the garage door.
Now this is an important selling point for the Android app because the same can’t be said if you lose your garage remote, there are no security features that will stop anyone getting access to your garage so the Android way of controlling your garage happens to be the strongest when it comes to security.
The app will also keep a log of which users are opening and closing the door as well as the times that they operated it, so it great if you want to keep check on when the kids are coming home. You can also setup a vacation mode if you are planning to take a week or two out of town.
Got Access to More Than One Garage?
Perhaps you also have access to someone else’s garage and they have the same kind of setup as you? Well, the easy to use app will also allow you to add multiple garages to your phone so that you can control not only your households garage but you can also control a friends or a family members garage by just following the same setup procedure as you did with your own.
The only thing you will need is the password to each of these extra garages that you add to your app in order to successfully operate the garage doors, as without this you won’t be able to control any of them.
Extra Information
The Bluetooth receiver for the GarageMate app has to be purchased from them and at the moment it costs $49.95, but you do get the app for free. You also save money by using this method as you don’t need to replace batteries in a remote or run the risk of Wi-Fi security breaches from hackers.
