Automation through Home App Suddenly stopped working

We had configured Home lights to go on and off to suit our life schedule. It was working for lat 2 years, but it stopped working all of a sudden recently. Information obtainable from the web is at best confusing. A similar problem happened last year and I called Tech Support, but the person was not knowledgeable about the app or automation or how it all integrated (or not) with the HomePod mini. This is disappointing, especially if Apple brands itself as the consumer products tech company.

Nothing was working. The Controller App we bought from App Store wasn't helpful either. There was no customer service phone number. We had to use different software to configure lights. Having the Home App then would be redundant, especially if it started working all of a sudden. Discarding the App is a real pain. This is the most unreliable app that Apple ever created.