About that new very limited compatibility list

Devices & Integrations
1

There’s exactly one smart outlet on the new and supposedly improved compatibility list, and it happens to be created by you folks.

One reason I went with SmartThings is you basically promised a very open environment, supporting Z-Wave and Zigbee. Now we’re finding out that environment isn’t so open.

I need to get more outlets and frankly, the SmartThings outlet is too expensive. I am currently using a GE outdoor outlet that works with ST and thinking of buying another. Now, I’m thinking I need to go outside of ST to a wifi device, because I don’t know if I can count on support for “non-compatible” devices in the future.

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2

This was also strange:

That gives wink a list of Amazon-compatible devices that’s three times bigger than SmartThings. That can’t be right.

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3

That is strange.

At this time, I’m able to control my Nest thermostat and all my lights (cree and Hue), as well as all my outlets (SmartThings, GE, and other) with Alexa via ST.

Was that the golden era of ST and things are going to change?

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4

My biggest concern would be virtual switches. If virtual switches in SmartThings no longer work with echo, that kills the main Alexa advantage that SmartThings had over other home automation hubs.

5

Yeah… With the new Hue motion sensor and the increasing number of homekit devices, I am on the way out when it comes to smartThings. I find that much of what I do isn’t that “smart” and all I really need is a few macros and schedules to make my house appear to be smart.

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6

The whole point with Zigbee and Z-Wave is everything works with everything.

Adding proprietary stuff into this breaks it.

That’s like Tim Berners-Lee saying, “Here, there’s this great markup called HTML. Go forth and create the Web”, and then each browser company creating their own proprietary variation of it. Well, OK, let’s ignore that Google has tried some variation of that through time…but the analogy still holds.

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7

Check out the “Outlets” category. There are about 10 outlets listed on our Works With SmartThings site.

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8

Why aren’t they all on the SmartThings/Alexa compatibility list?

https://support.smartthings.com/hc/en-us/articles/207808076-Amazon-Alexa-SmartThings-FAQ#Certified

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9

The devices listed on that page are the devices that Amazon independently certified to work with their Alexa service.

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Can’t be just that: iHome works independently. Also Ecobee and Wemo.

https://www.amazon.com/iHome-iSP5-Wi-Fi-SmartPlug-Seamlessly/dp/B010ACFEI0

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11

To be more specific, these are the devices that Amazon specifically certified for the SmartThings skill/integration. We worked with their third party testing lab.

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12

Good point, didn’t think of virtual switches. I use these, too.

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13

Does that mean with some future update of Alexa, the things that work now won’t work in the future?

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14

No, there are no plans to limit compatibility to the devices that we/Amazon have certified for this integration. It was important to Amazon (and us) during the development of the integration that we could prove that some of the more popular devices work well.

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15

Thanks.

Interesting, the page I found only listed the ST outlet. Just checked and realized that was the UK version of the page.

OK, at least there’s a couple of other options. Just not as many as there used to be.

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16

I guess I’m missing something here…What changed? I don’t see any announcement, nothing on the blog, etc. Did the integration between Alex and ST change? I see what you guys are referring to, but I have no idea where it’s coming from? Or is that the point…compatibility changes that were silently made?

I see 14 outlets listed…what was it prior?

17

Not sure exactly what it was before, but there are some notable absences.

All of the SmartenIT devices are missing, which is unfortunate as they had the only relays certified for use near pool equipment.

Evolve is also missing altogether.

Belkin WeMo only has one device listed, the lightbulb. They used to have at least one pocket socket, and I thought more than that.

Unless I missed it, there are now no dual in wall relays on the list: there used to be at least three.

It’s hard to tell because the protocol isn’t listed until you’re down deep in the details, but I don’t think there are any zigbee locks listed now.

Again, they may be planning to add more devices in as they go, or I may just have missed something, but it definitely feels like a shorter list.

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@JDRoberts, is this not the GE receptacle you are speaking of?

Screen Shot 2016-09-30 at 4.17.09 PM.png1569×702 170 KB

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You’re right, I missed that one. I Fixed my post above.

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All of these devices will continue to work, and you may see some pop back up on our new Works With SmartThings list as we continue to work with our partners.

The WeMo integration is in our SmartThings Labs category which is not included on the WWST site.

All of the ZigBee locks are still on there. Here’s an example.

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