Great outdoor tech

Whether you want to enhance the look of your garden or create an outdoor room, check out these gadgets

Written by David Crookes

Create an outdoor living room atmosphere with controllable lighting and more.

Image credit: Nanoleaf

Spring is upon us once again which means it’s time to swap the luxury of your sofa for the comfort of outdoor seating. With an iPad and some great reading apps, an iPhone paired with active-noise cancelling AirPods 4 or a MacBook playing your favourite movie, you can sit back and relax with a cool refreshing drink while soaking up the rays long into the evening.

But you don’t need to stop there. By investing in some smart kit, you can transform a garden into a stunning space that requires less effort to maintain and offers a host of entertainment options. You can light it up, enjoy delicious food, watch great shows on a large screen or get a party going with some thumping tunes. Armed with an iPhone or iPad, you can control everything via individual apps, the Apple Home app or Siri too, creating the perfect vibe for any occasion.

Over the next six pages, we’re going to explore some of the options available to you. We’ll be looking at the best devices to consider and we’ll be explaining how they work with Apple tech. The aim is to produce an outdoor space that will provide maximum enjoyment while ensuring you, friends and family have plenty of time to enjoy it.

A bit of mood lighting can totally transform your outdoor spaces.

LIGHTING & SECURITY

Light up and lock down for luxury and safety

Smart garden lights can serve a multitude of purposes. They’ll let you use your outdoor space after dusk, allow you to create the right ambiance for a desired mood, or enable the highlighting of key features such as a particularly beautiful plant or statue.

Lights can also double as security and safety devices by illuminating paths and removing dark corners where would-be intruders may lurk. And if you opt for smart lighting, you can put yourself in total control.

There are many types of smart lights on the market, from spots and LED strips to table lamps and pendants. You can have lights on the wall, on the ground or strung in trees and you can use bespoke iPhone and iPad apps, Apple Home or Siri to control exactly how they’ll shine. In most cases, you can determine their brightness and colour, sometimes on an individual basis, and you may be able to use scenes created by professional light designers.

You may also have the option to make lights flash and dance, and you might find you can sync the lights with any audio or video you’re playing. Indeed, with the right set of lights, you’ll have the power to cultivate any atmosphere for your garden. Whether you simply want to relax, show off the best bits of your space or have a full-on party, you’ll only need to alter a few settings to see results in mere seconds.