If you have different brands of smart technology in your home, cross-platform compatibility can be a frustrating problem. But with a smart home bridge you can overcome many of these obstacles. So, what is a smart home bridge and do you need one? MUO VIDEO OF THE DAY SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT How do Smart Home Bridges work? Logo Credit: Apple Inc./Wikimedia Commons As the name suggests, smart home bridges act as a bridge between one platform and another. For example, if you use both Alexa and Apple HomeKit devices in your home, you won't be able to pair them natively because Apple HomeKit can't connect to Alexa through the app. But with a bridge, these two platforms can communicate with each other, turning your smart home into a seamless machine. Think of this as a translator. One smart device speaks French, the other speaks Spanish, so one cannot understand the other. But with the help of a bridge, this barrier can be overcome, allowing the two to communicate. Now your incompatible speaker can connect to your hub, or your smart lock can connect to your smart assistant. Some smart home bridges emulate smart cross-communication platforms. For example, Homebridge emulates the Apple HomeKit API so HomeKit devices can work with other smart home technology, such as Echo speakers or Nest hubs. Be careful not to confuse smart bridges with smart home hubs. While smart hubs allow different devices to participate in automated tasks triggered by a central system, bridges allow different smart home platforms to work together. It is also worth noting that smart home bridges are also known as devices that connect a smart device to a Wi-Fi network. For example, a bridge can provide a connection between your smart doorbell and your WiFi network. But we will focus here on bridges that enable cross-platform communication. Types of Smart Home Bridges Smart Home Bridges are not all the same. There are two main types of smart home bridges: software-based and hardware-based. Some popular software smart home bridges are Homebridge, IFTTT and Scrypted. These all work a little differently and require different levels of technical skills, but they are all completely free to use. If you're fairly familiar with JavaScript, you can probably install Homebridge on your computer, as long as your operating system is compatible. However, the Homebridge software must always be running in order to work, which means you will need to keep your computer running 24 hours a day. Likewise, Scrypted also requires constant operation. IFTTT, on the other hand, requires no coding and can be used by tech newbies. You can use IFTTT via the smartphone app, which is available for Android and iOS. Download: IFTTT for Android | iOS (free, premium version available) When it comes to hardware-based smart home bridges, HOOBs are the most popular option. HOOBs (Homebridge Out Of the Box) look like small Wi-Fi routers. This small device eliminates the need for complex coding because it runs Homebridge directly. HOOBs supports more than 3,000 plugins for all kinds of smart home features and integrations, giving you a huge choice among a long list of smart devices. You can also flash the HOOBs image on a Raspberry Pi computer, which means you don't need to buy a device. You can download this image for free, but you can also donate a small amount to HOOBs as a gesture of goodwill. However, flashing an image on a Raspberry Pi requires a higher level of technical knowledge. You Can Benefit from a Smart Home Bridge If you have several types of smart devices in your smart home and are struggling with compatibility issues, you can benefit from the additional functionality that a Smart Home Bridge provides. Whether you're a tech novice or an expert, there's a smart home bridge for you.