Alexa Not Responding to Harmony Activities for Different Channels, etc

[JDRoberts]

I’m sure that’s frustrating! See if this thread helps any. It also includes discussion of channel selection activities.

Smartthings+Echo+Harmony Hub = Voice Controlled TV! (2016 version)

I haven’t seen this posted anywhere, so I thought I’d write up my experience. I wanted to control my TV, set top box, receiver, etc with my Echo and I’m a bit paranoid about IFTTT. I saw that the new Samsung Smartthings hub is compatible with both Echo and with the Logitech Harmony Hub. Long story short, Alexa can now turn on my TV, receiver, set to the right input, and change channels! I also have two Philips Hue Bloom lights behind my TV and they can be set to different colors depending on the channel. (Syfy and HGTV simply MUST have different colors… obviously :P) To do this, you set up “Activities” in the logitech harmony hub software. For example, if I want Alexa to be able to tune to HGTV, I create an HGTV activity in the harmony hub software. The activity will turn on the TV…

Also, just to be sure:

One) as you create new activities in Harmony, i’m not sure exactly how the virtual switches get created for them in the new Harmony/smartthings integration, but if you look in the other thread people there should know. But in any case, first check SmartThings to make sure that there is a virtual switch for each of the harmony activities that you want to control with Alexa.

2. once the switches exist, you have to authorize Alexa to see them. You can do that either through the Alexa smart app or through the Amazon app.

Three) once the switches exist and have been authorized, you then have to tell echo to discover new devices.

Once those three steps are done, when you open the Amazon app and you look under smart home, you should see each of the switches available. At that point, Alexa should be able to turn them on and off as Long as you didn’t accidentally use an echo reserved word.

One of the few user – unfriendly facts about echo is that they are continually adding new reserved words, and there is no list anywhere. You just realize you run into one because suddenly echo starts behaving differently. For example, when echo first came out I had to switch called “power” but eventually that became a reserved word so if I say power off, echo just tries to turn itself off.

See the following thread for discussion of naming quirks:

Echo Naming Quirks

Please add more as you find them. echo does not do well with device names that include numbers, like "kitchen 1." If you have a device with a name like this, and you don’t want to change it because you like having that name for your smartthings dashboard, then just put the device into an echo group of one and give it a group name that echo does like. Echo does not like the group name “everything.” Some possible alternatives include “house” or “all devices” Echo will always accept “turn on” or “switch on.” Iris has a list of 20 “basic” command formats for switches and thermostats that echo should always accept (although using a rigid command format sort of defeats the purpose of having echo’s natural language skills). But at least you could use these to test a particular prob…

One of the ways to get around a quirk is to put the device into a group using the Amazon app and give the group a name that echo will accept. This is the fastest way to try different names by trial and error. A group name doesn’t have to match anything in smartthings. The group is just for echo’s own use.

Once you get everything set up so it is working, the echo/harmony integration is really great. But I know it’s annoying if you run into any roadblocks why you’re trying to set it up. Again, if you ask in the other thread, people there should be able to help with the SmartThings official integration.

These days, to be honest, I’m mostly using the direct IFTTT echo/harmony method. It’s true you have to say “Alexa, trigger ESPN” or whatever, but it seems to avoid all of the reserved word issues.