Trying to automate a home can take patience and an eye for detail.

Jacob Atalla, vice president of sustainability initiatives at KB Home, views the “scenes” he can use inside Apple’s Home app to control the various smart home devices inside a model home in the company’s Promenade development on Communications Hill in San Jose. The company is now offering packages of smart home features that are designed to work with Apple iPhones and iPads for houses in that neighborhood and in a development in Fremont.

Debbie Reynolds’ life in pictures

Debbie Reynolds, the mother of Carrie Fisher, died Wednesday at the age of 84, a day after the death of her daughter . The legendary Hollywood actress is best known for her roles in the musical “Singin’ in the Rain” and “The Unsinkable Molly Brown,” which brought her an Oscar nomination.