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I so badly want an old school flippy light switch that physically flips when toggled by the smart home.

IMO that would be the first smart home product strictly superior to its analog counterpart.

A pressable button that toggles the light state achieves the same thing without the need for a motor.

Yeah this. Shelly relays can work that way.

But they don't physically show their state, don't persist across power outages, and are much less satisfying to operate.

I usually look at the lights instead of the switch to determine if the lights are on.

I haven't experienced many outages recently, but I'm fine with lights off until I turn them back on as a default. Its also possible to just have the lights revert back to their previous state as an automation in HA, although it seems like a waste of time to program instead of turning lights back on as you need them.

fingerbot. yes, a real thing

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