When you connect the hue bridge to SmartThings through the official ST/Hue integration, the hue bridge will tell SmartThings about the individual bulbs and when you have a SmartThings routine or smart app set up to control a bulb, that request will go to the bridge which will send it to the bulb.
Similarly, when echo finds the Hue bridge, it is the hue bridge that will pass the echo request to the individual bulbs.
When echo connects to SmartThings, the process is a little different. SmartThings will only tell echo about those devices which you have individually authorized echo to see. If you donât authorize it, echo wonât see it as a smartthings-controlled device. So Echo is only seeing a subset of all your SmartThings devices, each one individually authorized by you.
So everything will work fine.
Echo knows about Phillips bulbs attached to the bridge because the bridge told echo about them automatically.
SmartThings knows about Phillips bulbs attached to the bridge because the bridge told SmartThings about them automatically.
Echo knows about other things attached to SmartThings like Z wave switches or Zigbee pocket sockets because you individually authorized SmartThings to tell echo about those specific devices.
A routine in SmartThings can control a hue bulb because it is asking the bridge to do so.
An echo request can control a hue bulb because it is asking the bridge to do so.
An echo request can control a Z wave switch because it is asking SmartThings to do so.
I am having issues getting scenes to work via Hue and also have duplicate devices and wondered if that was the reason. So for me to correct this will I have to forget the Hue devices and then find them again after doing the above?
If I followed your guidance correctly, I did find one loss of functionality in having the Hue bulbs connected only to the Hue Hub. Voice control of bulb color (âAlexa, set end table light to redâ) does not work.
With the duplicate entries restored, I find the Hue bulb connected to the ST Hub supports voice control of bulb color, but the duplicate entry connected to the Hue Hub does not.
I do hope to avoid duplicate entries, since duplicate names prevents Alexa voice control of individual bulbs. My crude workaround is different duplicate names, one of which allows voice control of color.
I suspect the voice color control may have been introduced after your post.
Thank you. That gives me color-only control but no white and white-tuning control of the Hue bulbs. With the duplicate SmartThings entries for the Hue bulbs I can use a voice command to set the color to white, but not on the entries connected to to Hue Hub directly.
I wonder if I should âforgetâ all the Hue-Hub-connected device-entries in the Alexa app. As long as I use the ST-Hub-connected entries in all the room definitions this may work.
You can experiment and see whatever combination you like best.
It is supposed to give you color temperature tuning also, though, as long as they are âambianceâ bulbs (Hue âwhite ambianceâ or Hue âcolor and white ambiance.â)
I just tested it on one of my bulbs and it recognized both âcool whiteâ and âwarm whiteâ successfully.
I installed the White and color ambiance Starter kit with 3 A19 bulbs, and added one White and color ambiance R30 downlight. I have not installed the strip lights yet, but bought White and color ambiance Lightstrip Plus.
I will try the specific voice commands you noted before I decide which duplicate device entry to delete. The question of which to keep is getting less important as the functionality difference shrinks.
Thanks again for your insights!
Update: âCool whiteâ works just as you said on the Hue-Hub connected entry. It is odd that âwhiteâ wonât work, but that is quite minor. It may be a coin flip as to which entry to delete, or I may have much to learn :-).
