I’m not sure I see an advantage to all these smart appliances and devices

I agree with this completely. Manufacturers are becoming lazy. They want to make devices you have to control with a smartphone app so that they don't have to build a remote. I'm scared that this scenario may someday become reality.

It’s not just that, but that app collects all sorts of data off your phone that they can turn around and sell.
New cars are the worst.