I have been through a fair amount of the various timer solutions, to be honest, the simplest most reliable thing I’ve found is the old rotary dial tap timer…
The reason I use the WiFi version is I can control it remote if I’m away from home.
In australia there is a brand called Holman which does WiFi enabled smart valves. Starting at battery powered valves you attach to the tap all the way up to full solenoid valves which need a controller. There is then the Holman app which hooks into your home automation suite.
Not sure if it’s available in the US, and any mains powered unit would be on a different voltage. But the battery powered ones seem OK. Just chews through a lot of batteries apparently.
I have the Holman WX 8 controller paired with a bunch of online solenoid valves. It is a decent setup although quite expensive and took a long time and lot of effort to set up (running lines to solenoids, setting up water lines, dripper hoses etc) . It makes a huge difference in irrigation tho. Absolutely zero effort to get water exactly where the plants need it. Id say I broke even on effort the first summer. Cost wise longer term.
In answer to your question about why - https://xkcd.com/1053/
There are a surprising number of people who don’t game, have a different perception of what gaming is, who have heard about this switch thing but don’t know what it does, who think consoles just plug into the TV etc etc