Automating based on time has been possible for decades with a simple timer that switches the power for the device. Still no computer necessary.
And at least my purifier thinks 100% of the time that the air is perfectly clean no matter what, so in auto mode it would never run anyway.
We are working on setting up Home Assistant to react to when we are home or not where I live. We do this based on mac adresses connected to wifi, and this is something that would not be possible without a computer in everything.
