It's really easy to use. You assign it your smart plug and it's power consumption sensor (that's the only requirement). Then you can define thresholds when the automation should trigger and actions that should take place in these events. I send a notification to my phone when the program has finished so I know exactly when I need to go and collect my laundry.

They're talking about the spiking

OP, note that this starting current spike is much more of an issue with older/more industrial washing models. When your drum spins up, does it make a simultaneous cachunk and deep humming noise, or does it make an irritating high-pitched mosquito whine? If it’s the mosquito whine your drum motor is driven by an inverter that really smooths out the starting current.

240v power makes this better, because it means the starting current is exponentially lower for the same torque. It’s mostly a American/Japanese problem.

My third reality plug is also fine 2 years in.

It's probably consumption power changes below X threshold for some amount of time

So I did a quick and dirty "when amperage goes over 2 amps and then falls below 2 amps for more than 10 minutes send me a notification" and it's pretty idiot proof.

Idk if you need estimated time to complete, but you can get pretty far with a very light weight automation.

If I were to improve it, I would time the cycle for the wash and add a helper so that I don't get 'washer is done" when I paused it for a shower or something, but that could be a rabbit hole.

idle wattage is measured as 0.0

That's odd. I have multiple Third Reality smart plugs and they measure at least a couple of watts of standby power for everything that has a power button.