Feature Request: Easy way to enable/disable SmartApps

There doesn’t seem to be a way to easily enable and disable SmartApps. Sometimes you want to temporarily disable an action or alert (you have company staying in your house while you are away for a day or two). Currently, it would seem the only way to stop a SmartApp from triggering is by removing it…and then adding it back when you want it again. And you have to re-set it all up (hopefully the way it was originally). Seems like the app should have a check box next to app to enable/disable it. The core code would need to know to ignore disabled apps. Seems easy enough (I am a software engineer…I understand it might not be trivial but I don’t think it would be crazy hard either).

I know there are workarounds (besides uninstalling it which is a bad one) like altering what happens or what gets triggered but I have used apps that were so basic that I couldn’t do that (if I removed the one trigger device the app wouldn’t let me save because you have to have at least one device selected…and perhaps I only have one of that type…or don’t want it triggered by a different device) so that doesn’t really help as a workaround in, at least, some cases.

Seems like this should be a pretty basic thing that was added very early in the SmartApp life cycle.

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Without trying to sound like I’m sponsoring CoRE, but this can be done with CoRE.
At the top of the piston you will see running. Click on it and it pauses the piston. Click again to get it running again.
I know some apps run locally and CoRE does not, but it might be worth a look.

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SmartThings actually built this fundamentally into the architecture … as Location Mode.

All SmartApps without dynamic preferences has two implicitly added lines automatically:

  1. Assign a name

  2. Set for specific mode(s)

This second option means that you could have the SmartApp only work in “Home, Away, Night, Day” Modes, but not “Vacation”.


In other words – the functionality you desire was thought of, but the implementation is pretty limited and has not yet been enhanced.

I’ve complained for years that there should be more than one “Mode” setting … but that’s a major platform overhaul, I guess.

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I use both. Works famously.

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Create a virtual switch, make your routines dependant on its state. If virtual switch is off, then execute routine, else don’t. I use this to tell ST to set things up for when I go to bed, and shut everything down when things quieten down. You can name the switch whatever you like. So, if your maiden aunt is visiting, you could call it The Dragon Visits. Or the kids come over, another one called Chaos. If you use Alexa, you would say Alexa, switch on Chaos, then when they leave, Alexa turn off Chaos LOL

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