Can I control devices with SmartThings that are added to Alexa?

I have quite a few smart home devices that my Amazon Alexa is able to integrate with, but are not available on SmartThings. Is it possible to create automations in SmartThings, that will tell Alexa to send a command to one of its devices?

The Alexa Routines don’t give me enough flexibility, like multiple ‘if’ conditions etc.

It depends on exactly what you are trying to do. If the last step is a Command that can be put into an echo routine, Then you can build all kinds of logic on the SmartThings side and end with the trigger for the echo routine. So you could have an automation to turn on a light when a motion sensor is triggered but only at certain times of day when another light is off and a specific person is home.

See the FAQ:

FAQ: Can I trigger an Echo Action without Speaking to It?

I would like to point out though…this is going to be a very slow way of controlling that device. It will likely result in a significant delay between the time motion is detected and the lights turn on. Just want to make sure that you are aware of that.

Also, this is one way…so any changes make to the device itself would not be reflected in ST. So, if this were a light switch, ST would have no way of knowing that the switch was on.

Yes, I ran into that with some NON-ST electrical outlets. I can use Alexa to control them. And I can also set up virtual switches and control them using webcore. But it gets cumbersome that way.

1 Like

Lots of people are using this method, I haven’t seen any particular complaints about slowness relative to any other Wi-Fi cloud to cloud integrations. It’s not going to be as fast as something that’s local, but not much is local with SmartThings. :sunglasses: People can always try it and see, it’s very easy to set up an automation this way.

The lack of two way updates is definitely something to be aware of. That’s not usually a problem for plugs and pocket sockets, but it’s certainly an issue with light switches that might be turned off at the wall. Thanks for the reminder.

You’re adding a whole other cloud into the mix. There’s no way it’s going to be as fast as a device connected to ST. But then again, nothing in ST is fast. That’s why I switched to Hubitat for almost everything.

1 Like

Thanks everyone! @JDRoberts I’ll try read that link now and try it out. @Ryan780, I’m not really that worries about it being slow, but I’ll keep an eye out for it.

2 Likes

Just wanted to make sure you were aware. For some situations it may not matter. If it would, there’s no need to go through all the trouble of setting it up. Because it is a little complicated.

1 Like

Hi there, so after some time I’m now playing around with this - but I see that this option only exists in US and UK right now. Does anyone have any suggestions for Canada (where I am)