Amazon Alexa version 2.2.23xxx - New Smart Home features

[Steve Q]

Amazon has introduced a new interface for Apple devices using iOS 12. The redesigned interfaces uses “Rooms” to make it easy to find devices. This is an excellent improvement to the Alexa iOS app. It works great for some of my smart devices (Lutron, Sonoff,iDevices) but it does not recognize any of my HS3 device rooms. I don’t know if this is problem with the HS Alexa skill or the Alexa App.

Is the “rooms” feature of this new app working properly with HS3 for anyone?

Steve Q

[Fellhahn]

Can you provide a screenshot of the Rooms feature? I'm running app version 2.2.231367 on Android and don't see "Rooms" mentioned in the smart home interface. I have "Groups", but those are statically created within the app.

[scorp508]

I don't see rooms in Alexa on iOS 12.0.1. I see the groups which are the same ones I created in Alexa a long time ago.


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[Steve Q]

Here is a screen shot of the “Rooms” page. It is accessed via the SmartHome icon at the bottom of the page (red circle)

[Steve Q]

The page says “Groups” but I think the default groups are rooms. My mistake. Nevertheless, none of my HS3 devices are showing.

[Fellhahn]

Yeah thats what appears on my app as well. They the are defined within Alexa only, they are not defined by HomeSeer nor meant to be (afaik).

The main purpose of groups from an Alexa point of view is to define contextual control. If you place a light in a group and place the echo/echo dot from that same room in the same group, then you can use commands like "lights on". Based on that echos knowledge of being in the group and what lights are in that group, it will turn on only the lights from that group. It will also turn on all lights in the group, even if they have vastly different names.

I have four echo dots scattered about my house and I have groups/lights configured for all of them. This way I walk into a room and just say "Computer, lights on" and the lights for just that room come on. Previously I would have had to issue two commands like "guest bedroom light on" followed by "guest bedroom lamp on".

Groups makes it a lot more natural and less clunky.

[Steve Q]

Yeah thats what appears on my app as well. They the are defined within Alexa only, they are not defined by HomeSeer nor meant to be (afaik).

The main purpose of groups from an Alexa point of view is to define contextual control. If you place a light in a group and place the echo/echo dot from that same room in the same group, then you can use commands like "lights on". Based on that echos knowledge of being in the group and what lights are in that group, it will turn on only the lights from that group. It will also turn on all lights in the group, even if they have vastly different names.

I have four echo dots scattered about my house and I have groups/lights configured for all of them. This way I walk into a room and just say "Computer, lights on" and the lights for just that room come on. Previously I would have had to issue two commands like "guest bedroom light on" followed by "guest bedroom lamp on".

Groups makes it a lot more natural and less clunky.

Do your HS3 devices show in these groups? Mine do not. If I double tap on the group, my HS3 devices are shown in the list and I can control some of them from that page. Maybe they are not supposed to show in the group box? Maybe it is only “all on” and “all off”.

[scorp508]

Do your HS3 devices show in these groups? Mine do not. If I double tap on the group, my HS3 devices are shown in the list and I can control some of them from that page. Maybe they are not supposed to show in the group box?

You have to manually add them to the appropriate Alexa group. Edit the group and select what HS devices should be in it. That is of course assuming Alexa is discovering your HS devices to begin with.


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[simplextech]

From what I can see this is a re-design of the "Smart Groups" that was already in place. Just using a new UI layout.

[Fellhahn]

No they don't appear in the groups automatically. As Scorp stated, I have to manually add the appropriate HomeSeer devices to the Alexa groups.

[Steve Q]

My “groups” page photo 1.

When I tap the “Dining Room” group I get photo 2.

When I tap the “Bar Lights” I can control them on and off.

When I choose edit, it shows photo 4. But I cannot change anything.

I dont see any way to add them to a “group”

[Steve Q]

My “sun room” group looks like photo 1 - there is an unlabeled button showing. When I press this button, the center lights come on.

When I tap anywhere else on the group bar, the devices page come up: photo 3.
Notice the off button on the first device and the all on/all off buttons at the top of the page.

When I tap the bar on the first device, I get photo 2

When I go to edit I get photo 4.
Notice the device is not a Homeseer device. It is a Lutron device and the device type is “Light”

[The Profit]

My “groups” page photo 1.

When I tap the “Dining Room” group I get photo 2.

When I tap the “Bar Lights” I can control them on and off.

When I choose edit, it shows photo 4. But I cannot change anything.

I dont see any way to add them to a “group”

Choose edit when you have “Dining Room” in the header. Your choosing edit once you are in the device rather than the room. You can then edit which devices are in that room.

These groups are used to turn on/off everything in that group. So you can say “ Alexa, turn off Dining Room”. I think everything in that group has to be either a On/off device or light dimmer device.

I use this to turn off/on all of our holiday lights, Halloween/Christmas.


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[The Profit]

My “sun room” group looks like photo 1 - there is an unlabeled button showing. When I press this button, the center lights come on.

When I tap anywhere else on the group bar, the devices page come up: photo 3.
Notice the off button on the first device and the all on/all off buttons at the top of the page.

When I tap the bar on the first device, I get photo 2

When I go to edit I get photo 4.
Notice the device is not a Homeseer device. It is a Lutron device and the device type is “Light”

Something that is different in yours, I don’t have any light bulb icons like you do in photo 1 (group page). I assume your Lutron lights must be linked to your Alexa account? When I control a homeseer Connected Light, I notice that the status of the light disappears after a second or two. Must be a difference in the way HS and Lutron have their Alexa integration setup.


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[scorp508]

I don’t have any light bulb icons like you do in photo 1 (group page).

Have you set the "Is Light" flag on the devices? You may need to do that and then rediscover the devices. Then Alexa will know they are lights and include them in "turn on the lights" style commands.




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