So far, adding devices to my SmartThings v2 hub and toggling individual devices on/off using the mobile app has been straightforward. However, the whole SmartApps integration is extremely counterintuitive to me, and this is coming from a DevOps engineer.
In this particular case, I have a string of lights plugged into a Leviton VRPD3-1LW. The mobile app can turn it on and off and dim it with no problem and the status updates accordingly in the app. I also have an extra OSRAM Lightify dimming switch. This device’s status also updates accordingly in the app when I press or hold the buttons. With the hardware configured and clearly working as expected, I’m making the assumption that getting these two devices to work together should be a no-brainer.
I installed the Smart Lighting SmartApp and tried setting up an automation but this is where it gets counterintuitive. If I choose “Switch” as the trigger, none of my OSRAM switches appear in the “Which switch?” list–all the items in the list are lights, which to me are different things than switches. I tried “Button” as the trigger and now I can select the dimmer switch, but the automation shows four available buttons and I have no idea what they correspond to on the dimmer. The device itself only has two buttons, which can be pressed or held. I’ve tried all four buttons in the list but none of them activate the lamp module. To add more confusion, the automation can do three explicit things: Turn On, Turn Off, and Turn On & Set Level, yet there is an additional “Toggle on & off” option further down the page. Why in two places?
I installed Adam Outler’s device handler for the dimmer:
This enables my dimmer switches to operate all my Lightify bulbs and flex strips but I can’t add the Leviton module as a device to be controlled because it doesn’t report an endpoint ID in its Data section.
I must be missing some crucial piece of information here because if the mobile app can interact perfectly well with these two devices, why can’t I make one control the other?