• remote preheat for the oven (ready to pop the frozen pizza in right when I walk in the door)

Most ovens these days have a sort of time delay feature so you can set it to turn on X hours from now. Though I will admit it’s more convenient not to have to estimate what time you’re gonna be home at. Still, there are definitely alternatives to using an internet-connected over.

• cycle end notification for the washer (when I’m in the basement I can’t hear the sound to know when to move the clothes to the dryer)

I already know my washing machine takes almost exactly 30 minutes to finish after I turn on the water. I just set a timer on my phone for that amount of time.