Smart home outdoor blinds are motorised blinds connected to a hub, so they can be operated by phone or voice and run automatically on a schedule. Zipscreen® outdoor blinds run on the Automate® platform, controlled through the Automate Pulse PRO hub with Apple HomeKit, Amazon Alexa, Google Home and Matter.
Controlling a blind from a phone is a novelty that wears off in a fortnight. What does not wear off is the blind that lowers itself at four o'clock every summer afternoon, before the western sun turns the alfresco into somewhere nobody wants to sit. The Automate® app schedules by clock time and by sunrise and sunset, so the blinds respond to the sun rather than to somebody remembering.
Automate® makes motors with built-in rechargeable lithium-ion batteries as well as hardwired ones, and Zero Li-ion motors that retrofit to existing hardware. That matters on a retrofit, where running 240 V out to an existing alfresco can cost more than the blind.
Three ways, and the right one usually depends on how hard it is to get power to the opening. The Li-Ion FT motor has its battery built in and charges over USB-C or from a small solar panel — no cable at all. The DC FT motor takes removable, rechargeable battery packs, so a flat battery is a two-minute swap rather than a service call. The FT15 is hardwired for continuous power, which is what you want on a new build where the cable can go in before the render.
Push ONE drives a single blind. Push 5 and Push 15 handle five or fifteen, which covers most houses. Push Pro runs indoor and outdoor blinds together and has timers built into the remote, so you can automate without a hub at all.
The Automate Pulse PRO puts the blinds on your Wi-Fi and into the Automate Shades app. That is what unlocks routines and sunrise/sunset schedules — the blinds start following the sun rather than following whoever remembers.
With the hub in place the blinds answer to Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple Home. Most households end up using all three inputs in different rooms: voice in the kitchen, a handset by the back door, and schedules doing the rest.
Automated does not mean weather-sensing. The Automate range schedules by time and by sun position, not by a wind or rain sensor, so a blind will not retract itself in a squall. If a blind is left down and the weather turns, somebody still has to raise it — from the app, from anywhere. Worth saying plainly, because people assume otherwise and are disappointed later.
Yes. Zipscreen® outdoor blinds run on the Automate® motorisation platform, which connects to a smart home through the Automate Pulse PRO hub. The hub supports Apple HomeKit via Siri, Amazon Alexa, Google Home and Matter.
The Automate Pulse PRO is the hub that connects Automate® motors to a home network and to the Automate Shades app. Pulse PRO adds Matter compatibility and longer radio range, and is the current model in the Pulse range.
Yes, on a schedule. The Automate® app sets blinds by clock time and by sunrise and sunset, which it works out from your time zone and location, so blinds lower as the western sun comes round and raise again in the evening without anyone touching a remote.
Not always. Automate® offers battery-powered motors with built-in lithium-ion batteries alongside hardwired options, which avoids running cable to openings where power is difficult to reach.
The Automate Shades app controls blinds remotely over the internet, so blinds can be checked and operated while away from the property.
Automate® also makes the Push series of remotes — Push ONE for a single blind or group, Push 5 and Push 15 for multiple rooms, and Push Pro for whole-home control with timers. A hub is not required to operate blinds by remote.
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