Feature Request: Hello Home Actions triggered by a binary switch going on or off

Apps & Clients Features & Feedback
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Right now you can set up a Hello Home Action to trigger automatically if a sensor goes off. But using the mobile app only you can’t trigger one to start if a binary switch is turned on or off.

Hello Home Actions would be so much more powerful for noncoders if we had this while retaining all the other Hello Home Action functionality. For one thing, we’d then be able to use IFTTT to trigger them, including changing mode.

Ideally it would be great if we could also create new virtual switches within the mobile app as well without having to install a custom smartapp. But even without that, being able to make HHA’s triggered by switches, not just sensors, would be great.

Also note that these switches do not have to be light switches, so the Lutron patent doesn’t have to come into play. This could be a virtual button controller, and all would be well. :wink:

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I guess the short term answer is that use of “Virtual Sensors” (which could be hack triggered by any event, including real binary switches). But, yes, the platform doesn’t provide an easy way to install such things either.

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Yeah, but I don’t know how to do that from IFTTT, for example.

Right now @baldeagle072 has a “man in the middle” protocol that works, but requires two middlemen: a virtual switch (turned on by IFTTT) and a virtual presence sensor (turned on by the virtual switch) which then triggers the HHA.

So it’s doable, but confusing as heck to nonprogrammers, I think.

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Yep, the virtual switch is the only way to get IFTTT to control a hello home action in combination with the Big Switch for Hello Home Phrases smart app. Just attached the SmartApp to that virtual switch and you would be good.

I use it right now to identify “vacation mode” in the house, although not via IFTTT…just a virtual switch.

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Where’s the “Big Switch for Hello Home Phrases” smartapp? That’s not the same as the “Big Switch” smartapp, is it?

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See if the apps here will work for you: https://github.com/MichaelStruck/SmartThings/tree/master/IFTTT-SmartApps

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The purpose here is to have one specialized app that controls presence, then you could use that simulated presence sensor in any standard app or HHA, rather than having a bunch of specialized apps.

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I would love it if switches on & off could control hello home. I have a switch in the closet at my front door that’s only used at Christmas for outside lights. I would love this to set hello home modes. Yeah I could use other things to get it to work but it would be way easier if it was just built in.

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That one’s easy.

Replace the switch with any networked switch, then use the Big Switch for Hello Home Phrases (a community developed smartapp) and turning on that switch can trigger any Hello Home Action you like. :blush:

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