2024 HomeTechHacker Year In Review

In 2024 we increased our content, released new courses, and stepped up our social media game to help you make the most of your home technology. Read on to see what changes you may have missed, our most popular and favorite articles, and what’s coming in 2025!

Changes at HomeTechHacker in 2024

With lots going on in my personal life, it felt like I didn’t make any major changes. In the past three years I’ve published multiple books, launched new sites like HomeTechHacker Academy and MarlonBuchanan.com, and redesigned this site. I didn’t do big things like that this year, but I was still plenty busy providing you with the content you want! Here are some of the highlights of the changes at HomeTechHacker in 2024:

• AI is a big topic in the tech community and it isn’t going away. It also is pervasive in the home technology and smart home world. To help keep everyone up to date, I launched two AI Courses this year:
  • AI Simplified: Essential Tools You Can Use Today — This free course will introduce you to the most innovative AI tools on the market.
  • Smart Home AI: Applications, Privacy, and Future Trends — This comprehensive course is designed for anyone interested in the potential of AI to revolutionize home living.
• My site content is primarily about quality. My goal is to publish 26 articles a year, in addition to my monthly article in Shoreline Area News. This year, in total, we’ve published about 50 articles, which I think is a record for us! And I hope you agree that the quality stayed the same or even improved.
• I’ve had an Instagram Threads account for sometime, but late this year I started using it a lot more. If you’ve left Twitter for Threads, be sure to follow me (@HomeTechHacker).
• We made technical improvements to my sites to make them faster and fix a few of the errors.
• We also made some enhancements to our email marketing templates, workflows, and subscription processes.

Editor’s Note: In case you missed it, you can also check out what we accomplished in 2023, which laid the foundation this and upcoming years

My five favorite articles of 2024

These are articles that I enjoyed writing or working on during the year for the reasons I describe below:

• The State of My Smart Home (2024) — I enjoy writing this article each year. I like taking inventory of the changes I’ve made to my home. I’m always trying to improve something.
• Ulanzi TC001: Custom LED Messages with Home Assistant — I have wanted an LED text display for years. I like this article because it shows you how you can do everything you want with a simple an inexpensive device.
• The Evolution Of My Home Assistant Setup — I started with Home Assistant six years ago and it is amazing how far Home Assistant has come, and how my use of it has grown and evolved over time. I loved looking back about how things progressed in this article.

The five most popular articles of 2024

• Shelly Mini Gen3 Reviews: How Do They Compare? — It’s no secret people come to my site for Shelly content, and I try to deliver!
• 7 Great Choices for OPNsense Hardware — I write about pfSense a lot, but I also get a lot of requests for OPNsense content.
• 10 DIY Shelly Relay Projects You Should Try — I’m glad people are interested in some of these projects. The Shelly relays can do so many different things!

Final thoughts and a sneak peek at what’s coming in 2025

Every year I aim to make positive improvements to my sites, tools, and services to help you. I have plenty of plans for 2025. Here are some highlights:

• I went all of 2024 without publishing a book. I’ve made good progress on my next book, and I think it will really help a lot you out. Look for it to be published in the summer of 2025!
• I plan to go to CES for the first time in 2025. Check out my experiences at CES 2025.
• I plan to publish at least one new course at HomeTechHacker Academy next year, and if I do more than one at least one of them will be free! I’d love to hear is there is a topic you’d like me to create a course for.
• I’ve heard from many of you that our Home Tech Advisor is useful. I’ll be sure to update it and expand it next year. What would you like to see me make an advisor for?
• I also plan to make more press appearances as an expert contributor to articles and appear on podcasts. Stay tuned and follow my press page.

What would you like to see from HomeTechHacker in 2025? Let me know in the comments or contact me via email or X (Twitter).

Thank you all so much for your kind comments and support. I read every email and Tweet that I receive! I really can’t do this without you, and I hope to keep going you the content you love!