Tuya Smart is a universal Internet of Things platform that authorizes products for brands, customers, OEMs, and retail chains.
Tuya Smart does not make smart home products but provides a platform for other smart home manufacturers.
So, it supports the background connection of the Tuya Smart device to the cloud and provides tools for service providers to create their smart home app comfortably.
Tuya Smart, the world’s leading AI + IoT platform, announced platform data for 2020 that shows the massive growth of the global IoT ecosystem, which continues to provide new opportunities for developers and partner brands worldwide.
At the end of October 2020, the Tuya IoT development platform served more than 230,000 developers globally, an increase of 28% from last year.
The IoT platform intelligently activated over 200,000 products in almost 1,000 categories, 122% more than last year.
Service providers can easily register their smart home devices on the Tuya platform and activate them for Tuya Smart Life, Tuya Smart, or white stickers in the same app.
Since this process is relatively straightforward, small smart home appliance manufacturers should choose Tuya and focus primarily on product development rather than building a cloud and part application to manage the device.
Tuya Smart Company
Tuya Smart was founded by several former Alibaba employees in 2014.
They already have a global presence in China, India, Japan, the United States, Germany, and India.
Their IoT 4A platform supports devices regardless of product, protocol, region, or vendor.
This vision has been a great success as Tuya currently has more than 180,000 customers in more than 195 countries and offers more than 90,000 “Powered by Tuya” products, covering 500 different types of products.
This makes Tuya Smart the market leader in the smart home industry, including lighting, home appliances, entertainment, and security solutions.
Advantages of Tuya Smart
- All Tuya Smart compatible devices work from the Tuya app.
- You can access the devices from anywhere in the world.
- It works over WiFi, and most devices don’t need a gateway.
- As more service providers join Tuya, more devices are available. These appliances cover a wide range of products, including home and kitchen appliances.
- It mingles well with your smart home system.
- Integration with third-party programs, such as Google Home and Amazon Alexa.
- Support touch and start and automation.
- It’s free for the consumer.
Disadvantages of Tuya Smart
- You need an account, and your data is stored in the cloud.
- Reading sensors on a Tuya Smart network can be slow compared to a local Zigbee sensor.
- For some gadgets, you still need a gateway (Zigbee).
- It does not work with other proprietary smart home systems such as Philips Hue of different devices; pairing a new device is not always easy.
- As of May 2020, Tuya has stopped supporting the IFTTT platform.
Your First Steps on the Tuya Platform
Getting started with Tuya Smart is pretty straightforward. In most cases, you don’t need a device bridge or hub; you only need a Tuya-enabled device, a Tuya app, and a wireless internet connection.
It would be best to have an extra knot to combine Tuya Smart with a Zigbee device.
So, if you visit the Zigbee and Tuya Smart websites, you can look at our newly revised Alfawise Z1 smart home protection kit. This kit includes a Zigbee gateway and is compatible with Tuya Smart.
First, you need to find a device compatible with the Tuya network. Aliexpress is the biggest buying platform for Tuya products.
Since many vendors develop Tuya-compatible devices, you will likely find one at your local store. Just make sure the package has the “Tuya Compatible” logo.
Tuya has two apps: the Smart Life app (iOS, Android) and the Tuya Smart app (iOS, Android).
As we said before, the best place to start is the Smart Life app. This app is IFTTT compatible, while the Tuya Smart app is not.
You can also select a branded version of the Smart Life app, but this is a copy of the official Tuya apps and will work the same.
So, you can download the Tuya Smart or Smart Life app, register, and log in. Then, you can connect the device to the Tuya network.
First, put the application in discovery mode by selecting the type of device you want to add.
It would be best to put the gadget into pairing mode. In most cases, you should refer to the manual to learn how to set up the device this way.
Hold down the pairing key for a few seconds in the simplest scenario. For some lights, you need to quickly turn them off and back on a few times before you start blinking and go into pairing mode.
The application will recognize the device and add it to the device list. You can then manage and control the device and add automation.
Features of Tuya Smart
- Remote control of devices from anywhere
- Control and add multiple devices at once with one app
- Voice control via Google Home and Amazon Echo
- Intelligent multi-device interoperability. Devices turn on / off automatically based on temperature, location, and time.
- Easily share devices with your family members
- Receive real-time alerts to ensure safety.
- Connect the Tuya Smart app to your devices easily and quickly
Conclusion
It’s great that small businesses can make their products smart this way.
This means consumers don’t have to pay for app development, and manufacturers will be faster in launching intelligent products that communicate through a standard protocol.
This will be useful for further integration into home automation platforms in the long run, as all Tuya Smart-supported devices can be managed similarly.
Also, many companies and customers involved make the application stable and well-designed.
It’s a nice feature that your account can be used on services like Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and Home Assistant.
There are also some drawbacks: the cloud service requires an internet connection, and the app stores your device and account data in the cloud.
Some people don’t care, but they still have to be considered.
