While waiting for the integration of the Arlo Q into ST I have setup a trigger in IFTTT to arm/disarm. Basically both cameras are set to arm when my door locks and disarm when my door unlocks. The door lock is set to lock/unlock as part of the Good Night/Good Morning and Goodbye/I’m Back automations. The automations work flawlessly. The problem is my cameras aren’t falling in line with the setup commands. Sometimes only one camera gets a trigger from IFTTT or sometimes 2 of the same triggers are going to the same camera and so on. There isn’t a repeatable pattern to report on but they never seem to both work at the same time properly. I’m not sure if its the cameras, IFTTT or ST causing the problems. I feel like ST is probably not the problem here but figured I’d throw it out to the community to see if anyone has experienced this and knows how to fix or troubleshoot the issue.
Any thoughts or advise would be greatly appreciated.
Stumbled upon your post looking for a way to accomplish something similar.
For me, the solution was to create a virtual switch or virtual dimmer device that you could use in an IFTTT applet. Then, create a routine that turns on or off that virtual switch (when leaving, when locking doors, etc).
I have a routine configured that turns on the virtual switch when I arrive home, and then IFTTT sets the mode of my Arlo cameras to disarmed. I have another routine that turns off the virtual switch when I leave, then IFTTT sets the Arlo mode to Armed. This was worked without a hiccup for a few days now. Below is the IFTTT applet:
I actually found an easy solution that works flawlessly but I never posted it here since nobody responed. I’m using the app Stringify. When my “Goodbye” automation in ST is triggered by me leaving it locks my garage door. I have a flow in Stringify to arm both my cameras. I have the opposite flow set for when the “I’m Home” automation is triggered. Been working like a charm for a couple weeks. I’m liking Stringify more than IFTTT these days. The reaction time is faster (at least for me) and you can have multiple actions set in one flow instead of piggybacking multiple IFTTT comands. Its also kept me out of the virtual switch world. Not that I couldn’t do all that stuff, I just dont want to if I dont need to. I like to keep it as simple as possible. Thanks again for the input. Take care!
That’s great to hear because now I’m having the same initial problems you were-- 1 or 2 devices getting changed sometimes. So I’m definitely going to give your method a try. And absolutely the simpler more elegant solution is always better!
Soooo… Stringify is pretty awesome! Time will tell how well it works for me, but I’m very impressed with the app.
I still had to use my virtual switch because I don’t have any locks or anything. I simply added that virtual switch to my automations turn it off when leaving and turn it on when coming home. So basically the same thing you did. It seems to work much better. Thanks!
I’m thinking of getting either Arlo Q or Nest Cam. As I’ve read, Nest can’t be integrated with SmartThings and is it true? I really need the integration but if Nest doesn’t support it, I’ll have to go for the Arlo Q.
Enjoy!