What exactly is a smart home and can it be retrofitted?

Hello,

I am currently building a house and have come across the topic of Smarthome.

The topic of Smarthome is quite a science in itself, and I am now asking for help because I cannot make progress alone.

What can a proper Smart Home actually do?

I think I only need a very stripped-down Smart Home or simply remote control for my house.

What I want to have:

Roller shutter control with rule creation, e.g., always go 30 minutes after sunrise but not before 7 a.m.
Light control via smartphone or voice (Philips Hue lamps for Ambilight are installed in the living room)
Window sensor for the lift-and-slide door so that my roller shutter doesn’t lock me out
Video doorbell that notifies me on my phone when I am at home
Smart music system in the living and dining area for, e.g., internet radio

Maybe later also control of the underfloor heating

I definitely want to be able to create rules or scenarios. (e.g., cinema mode = lower roller shutters in the living room to x % and dim the lights in the living and dining area and activate Ambilight)

What I don’t need:
Motion sensors (because I have a dog, they would be triggered all the time anyway)

I think there is much more that I have not listed.
I actually don’t need an over-the-top intelligent house.
I just want a few nice quality of life improvements.

I wanted to find out first what a proper Smart Home can do to find out if I have forgotten any functions that could be interesting for me.

The things that make up a Home Smart you have basically already excluded yourself. Movement and presence play a very big role there. In general, sensors of all kinds are the most important. A "real" Smart Home ultimately lives through automation, which you do not want. Which is also okay. "Smart Home" is just not a defined term. Most people understand it as voice and app control. That's also how it is sold by the manufacturers, who then call it "Smart." But if you take the term literally, then "Smart" actually means "clever, wise, intelligent." Such a thing does not exist. An intelligent house has not existed to this day. At most, a house that is designed so smart (smart) that it creates the impression that it is intelligent. Precisely because it reacts through many sensors (especially many different ones) to certain situations in the desired way without the residents' intervention. That brings us back to automation. My tip, let go of the term "Smart Home," it only creates misunderstandings. Think about what you want and look for a system that can implement that. Smart or not.

I just want a few nice quality of life improvements

Yes, that's exactly it. You need a mature concept for something like that as well as the necessary hardware and software. Whoever wants one must also like the other. A bit of this here and a bit of that there leads to nothing and in the end it's a dumb home with a remote control. Then you might as well leave it be. If not, then you should consider exactly what you want and what you really need, and a big mistake from the start is to limit yourself to brands. For example, already planning for Philips Hue. The lamps are the last link.

Yes, exactly. For something like this, you need a mature concept and the necessary hardware and software. If you want one, you also have to like the other.

A little bit of this and a little bit of that leads to nothing and in the end is a dumb home with a remote control.

Then you might as well leave it be.

If not, then you should consider exactly what you want and what you really need, and a big mistake is to limit yourself to brands from the start. Like planning Philips Hue already now. The lamps are the last link.

Maybe he mentioned them because he already had them in use?! I could imagine that at least. Everything else that the OP listed is, in my opinion, easy to retrofit later if, for example, electric shutters are planned anyway, etc. For the doorbell it certainly makes sense to lay appropriate cables just in case. Otherwise, I think tarnari described it quite aptly.
You just have to know what you want and how and to what extent you want to implement it.
What one person calls smart is, for another, a modern timer :D

What one calls smart is for another a modern timer switch

Exactly. That's why I write it. If you want to have a smart home, then already deciding on proprietary systems is counterproductive. Thousands of others have done that before and ended up failing. If it really should become "smarter," why repeat the same mistakes over and over again? I don't like the term smart home at all; it suggests something modern and truly functional, but in reality, it's just Alexa and the like with a handful of dimmers and shutters with timers. :-(

I don't like the term Smart Home at all, it suggests something modern and really functional, but in reality it's just Alexa and co. with a handful of dimmers and roller shutters with timers. :-(

... which, however, satisfies 95% of users completely because a) the demands are not greater and b) the budget is allocated for more important things. More than a (nice) gimmick, smart home is not. No matter how simple or complex the installation is.