EchoSistant - The Week In Review

It’s been quiet around the forums lately, but things are still moving forward. Those of you that have followed ES since the beginning, are used to almost daily updates to the app, but times change, and apps grow up…

We assure you, version 5 is in the works!

This past week has been exciting in the voice automated world. Amazon making a long awaited announcement that just wasn’t quite there yet… Google Home challenging Alexa to the one-up game. Who’s the winner going to be?

We are!

The ES team has been doing a lot of brainstorming this past week to decide the next direction we want to take EchoSistant into. We have come to that conclusion!

Sorry, no sneak peak this week! A lot has already been put into the app, but we’re waiting for a big release. We have decided that larger updates are more beneficial to you than many small updates.

Ok, ok, one sneak peak… What are the kids…?
That’s all you get!

We have an active public poll out right now so that you can guide us in the directions you want to see the app go… Things are looking great so far!
Here’s the poll… Go vote.

This week we’ve taken on a new member to the team.
We’d like to welcome @WB70 to the EchoSistant team! He brings a lot of valuable skill to the team and is already making a huge impact. Welcome Mark!

Stay tuned and keep an eye out for upcoming changes to your favorite “Home Assistant App”… There’s some exciting things coming your way!

5 Likes

This post reserved. I’ll be posting videos and other things here.

@bamarayne That’s because you’ve been quiet on the forums!! :sunglasses:

2 Likes

Leave it to me to spoil it! The power of scheduling is about to be unleashed… The Robust is about to be free and Alexa is about to tell you when your next doctor appointment is!!!

1 Like

Happy Friday everyone! Another week has gone by and there are some great things happening with Echosistant and the team.

We have some major changes coming to you in the very near future. For those of you already using EchoSistant, you’re going to find a much more robust and improved product. We have sped up the execution of the app, and greatly increased stability and reliability. This is on top of a product that has already proven to be highly reliable, efficient and accurate.
For those that haven’t installed EchoSistant yet, we have made some major advances in the install process. Look for those changes to be reflected in the wiki very soon. We’ve cut the install time and difficulty by quite a bit, and the new instructions are going to be more streamlined and intuitive, making it much more simplistic and a lot less time spent.

EchoSistant was designed around user ease. We want you to talk to your home, not spend time in the mobile app. This is why you will find very little configuration in that app, it’s already programmed in for you. We have designed the system to listen to you, and to know exactly what you want and are asking for. There is no reason that you should have to conform to your smart home, it should conform to you.

That is what EchoSistant does!

This week I would like to focus on control and interacting with your home. While EchoSistant provides outstanding control over your home, highly enhancing the native Alexa service, it can do so much more.

One question that is repeated almost daily is, "how do I control just the room my echo is in? ".

With EchoSistant that is easy. You simply create a messaging and control profile. Select the devices that are physically in that room, name the profile, and you are done.

For example, your bedroom…
You have two bedside lamps, a corner lamp, a ceiling fan, and some mood lighting. Name your profile “Bedroom”. Select your devices. Also, create custom groups…
Bed Lights would contain your bedside lamps.
Mood lights would contain the mood lights.

With this configuration you have total control of your bedroom by saying something along these lines…

Alexa, turn on the lights in the bedroom. - this turns on all of the lights.
Alexa, it’s too dark in the bedroom. - this will brighten the room by raising the dimmer level.
Alexa, the slow down the fan in the bedroom. - this reduces the ceiling fan by one setting.
Alexa, tell the bedroom, time to wake up and come outside. - this message plays on your bedroom speakers.

You can also used the conversational options embedded in EchoSistant. Your interaction would go something like this.

Alexa, it is too bright in the bedroom.

  • ok, I’m adjusting the lights in the bedroom, anything else?
    Turn on the mood lighting
  • ok, turning on the mood lighting, anything else?
    Change the color to warm white.
  • ok, changing the color to warm white, anything else?
    Turn down the fan
  • ok, setting the ceiling fan to medium, anything else?
    No thank you
  • it has been my pleasure, goodbye

EchoSistant gives you the power over your home. It allows you to speak the way you speak, and it let’s your family speak the way they speak. Strict phrasing is at a minimum allowing you the freedom to be you.

Coming soon…

Do you need to keep track of things that must occur daily? Are you always asking someone when the dog was fed? Do you have trouble remembering if you took your medicine this morning?

Worry no more! With EchoSistant as your personal home assistant, the days of not knowing are gone. Very soon, you will just ask your assistant, “when was the dog walked?”.

Stay tuned for a whole lot more to come!

This is the first step in major advancements for EchoSistant and you!

Hello everyone… it’s been a bit since I gave an update… sorry about that.

11 June 2017 ~
Bobby and I are working hard on Version 5. There is a lot of fine tuning and debugging to be done before we release. But, you can be assured, Version 5 is better, stronger, and more reliable than ever before…

We do not have a release date yet, so please be patient. Version 5 will be a huge release for EchoSistant, so we have a lot to iron out first.

The flexibility of our new design is amazing… here’s a sneak peek…

You’re curious about the mode that your ST system is in… just ask your EchoSistant…

(this is just a small example of the command structure…)

  • Ask/tell home to Check the Mode
  • Ask home What is the mode
  • Ask home to Tell me the mode
  • Ask home to Tell me about the mode
  • Ask home What’s up with the mode
  • Tell/ask home to Check on the mode
  • Ask home What’s going on with the mode
  • Ask home What mode is the house in
  • Ask home What is the house’s mode
  • Ask home what is the system mode
  • Ask home to tell me about the system mode
  • Ask home What’s the system mode
  • Tell home to Give me the mode

EchoSistant will be the most versatile and easy to use Alexa Enabled Home Assistant in the SmartThings Environment

Stay tuned…

1 Like

Do you want to know if you left the garage door open???

  • Alexa, ask home is the garage door open?
    No, the garage door is not currently open
  • Alexa, ask home is the garage door closed?
    Yes, the garage door is closed
  • Alexa, tell home to check the garage door.
    The garage door is currently open/closed
  • Alexa, tell home to give me the status of the garage door.
    The garage door is currently closed.

Get ready for EchoSistant Version 5!!!

1 Like

This week has been interesting. Lots of planning and discussion about where we are going with EchoSistant and how we want to proceed with our ideas. Things are coming together smoothly and the ball is rolling!

One great thing for EchoSistant this week is the addition of a new Team Member!

We are happy to introduce @coreylista to the EchoSistant team. He brings a whole new perspective to the app and a whole new level of skill. With Corey on board, Version 5 is going to be even better than we could have wished for.

We know everyone is wanting to know what is going to be better in Version 5 than what is available now…

… well… we will say this… Amazon Alexa Room Control

3 Likes

Is anyone else having an issue when trying to configure profiles in the smart app? I had two configured from my initial install last month, never finished getting acquainted with the app enough to use it, decided to do it today. Every other option in the app will open for me, except Configure Profiles. I completely removed the app and reinstalled and now have no profiles configured (obviously after reinstall) still can’t configure. Will never open to the next screen that lets me choose Messages…etc. Any suggestions?

Do you get an error? Have you installed the second app called Echo Profiles?

No error. Just shows the loading image over it briefly and then stays the same. I have all other necessary child apps and optional modules installed. The main intent skill is built, just can not make the profiles now.

It appears as though something isn’t correct with my Reminders Module. I am able to open Configure Profiles with all other modules selected, the Reminders module is what was causing my issue, most likely something on my end with the install. I just wanted to post this here in case someone else has issues, try turning off all the add on modules.

1 Like

Reminder module is beta. It has never been implemented. And likely now with Amazon releasing their native reminders, we wil no longer implement it at all…

Thank you! And sorry for the confusion…

It’s been a little while since I’ve given an update… My apologies.

EchoSistant V5 is in full swing and some amazing things have already been accomplished. No sneak peaks yet, but use your imagination! You’re going to be amazed.

We are still quite a ways off from a production model for V5, so in the interim we will be releasing a few updates to V4. We’ve got several new features and improvements in that logic that we feel should go ahead and be in your hands, so look for an update soon.

2 Likes

Well, it looks like I should rename this thread to the “Month in Review”

I apologize. ESv5 and the real job have been keeping me very very busy.

But, for those of you following ES, please go here and read about the future!

@bamarayne Any new updates as to when to expect v5? Its been a year since your last post.