GE Mytouchsmart WIFI in wall smart switch won’t pair (with iPhone)

Speaks to the current messy state of smart home tech. So much confusion in the market.

How is that confusing??? It says that it doesn’t require a hub. You are trying to pair it to a hub. I’m confused why you would assume you could pair the device to ST when it specifically says NO HUB REQUIRED.

I’m trying to pair it to my iPhone x

All I want to do is to control my outside lights with my phone. Apparently there’s not a switch that just pairs to the WiFi that I can control with my phone. I gotta buy some middle man crap to go in between

@Raymond - I think there is a little confusion within the SmartThings Community as to what you’re trying to accomplish. Your last note, above, seems to clear this up for me.

Based on your statement, it sounds as though you do not currently own a SmartThings Home Automation Hub… Is that correct? This community is specifically for users of the SmartThings platform. Thus the confusion as to whether or not you were trying to pair your GE WiFi Switch to SmartThings.

So, if you’d like assistance with getting your GE WiFi switch to work directly with your iPhone, I would recommend you seek assistance from GE on this product. Your particular model of GE switch is not compatible with SmartThings, and thus you’re probably not going to get applicable support from the community members here.

SmartThings does work with GE’s Zigbee and Z-Wave models of switches, dimmers, and fan controllers - just not the WiFi model you have. Also, to use SmartThings, one must own a SmartThings hub.

Hope this helps to clarify some of the ‘assistance’ you been hearing from the ST Community members. :wink:

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Yes, sorry for the confusion. This particular forum is for customers of the Samsung SmartThings ™ home automation platform, so all of the questions and answers are assumed to be in that context. It’s a very active forum, so it often comes up near the top in general Home Automation Google searches, but it is not a general forum.

Since the particular model switch that you have doesn’t work with smartthings ™, it’s no wonder that the answers have been confusing.

Also, this is the new model line for Jasco/GE, and I see that the Contact Help Link on their site doesn’t work yet. Very annoying! :rage:

Anyway, you should be able to get your switch to work just with your phone, no other devices or services required, but it sounds like you may need help from their support.

Go to the following page from the manufacturers of the switch that you bought and look all the way down to the bottom of that page and there is a help number that you can call. They should be able to help.

https://www.mytouchsmart.com/learn/faq#qasec16

Sorry again for any confusion. Because you were posting in a Samsung SmartThings ™ forum, everyone, including myself, assumed you were trying to connect your switch to the Samsung platform. Not just to your own phone.

“How is that confusing”

I’m not the original poster. Second, I’m just commenting on the general state of home automation and how it’s creating confusion for the average consumer.

With the release of the new V3 app, Samsung no longer assumes that all SmartThings ™ customers have a SmartThings hub. And in fact it’s quite likely that the majority don’t, as the SmartThings app is the only way to get access to the smart features of the Samsung smart televisions and appliances, including their robot vacuums. Added together those have literally millions of customers.

In addition, the newest SmartThings brand devices, the Wi-Fi outlet and camera, don’t require a hub either.

No hub necessary
.
Simply plug in and connect to your home’s Wi-Fi. For total home control, add an optional SmartThings Hub.

I know that’s going to take some getting used to for people who have been in this community for several years, but we can no longer assume that community members have any SmartThings hub at all. They may still be using the rules engine in the V3 app and multiple different SmartThings brand devices without it. :sunglasses:

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And a GE Bluetooth Switch isn’t a Smarthing Television, appliance or Vacuum is it? And the switch doesn’t specifically say “Works With SmartThings” does it? I really don’t understand why it’s confusing that the switch doesn’t work.

The device under discussion in this thread is a GE Wi-Fi switch. Not Bluetooth.

All of the GE/Jasco devices use the same plastic case, and are Given very similar names, so it can be very confusing as far as what works with what.

The Leviton Wi-Fi switches, Z wave switches, and zigbee switches all work with the SmartThings app.

The GE Zwave switches and zigbee switches work with the SmartThings app, but the GE WiFi switches do not as yet.

But if you are using the new V3 smartthings app to add devices, all you see is a company logo to select from.

I can’t speak for anybody else, but I certainly find it confusing. :pleading_face:

Since all of the myTouchSmart devices come with this (or similar) logo, I don’t.

image

The app has that logo, but the box doesn’t. It has the GE logo.

See that little asterisk…it’s on the side panel. :slight_smile:

And this comes in the box:
image

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Which isn’t shown on most online listings or reviews. And it still has the GE logo.

You’re absolutely right that if you know what to look for, you could find it. But as far as a typical customer just picking up their first smart switch, I’m not surprised if it’s confusing.

This is the flipside of the fact that so many different things work with SmartThings. :wink:

If you use one of the home automation platforms where you basically get a choice of four or five specific model switches and that’s it, then you buy one of those and you’re done.

With SmartThings, you have a choice of literally dozens of different possible switch candidates: but that also means there are dozens more incompatible devices. And wading through all of that can be confusing for quite a few people. :sunglasses:

But if you bought this switch to pair directly with your phone, would you download ST or the app the switch tells you to download? I just don’t understand why the leap to ST if you’re not already a ST user. And if you are, you would know to look for one that says “Works With Smart Things”. Right?

You might have a Samsung high-end television or robot vacuum or other appliances and have been using the SmartThings app because of that.

And I think most people would be educated to look for “works with smartthings“ if those were the only devices that work with SmartThings. But as I mentioned upthread, there are hundreds of devices without that label that do work with smartthings, and some of them are very popular.

Beyond that, lots of people don’t know the difference between the different protocols. We get those questions in the forum pretty often. Even on something like a thermostat: some Honeywell smart thermostats work with smartthings, and some don’t.

You know my first rule of home automation: “the model number matters.“ But a lot of people don’t learn that until the first time they select a model that ends up not working. :wink:

Obviously this is an area where people vary a lot, so it doesn’t surprise me at all if someone with your technical background and expertise doesn’t get confused. I’m one of those people who read the user manual before I buy the product. But I also recognize that there are a lot of people who never read the user manual at all.

Smartthings doesn’t do a lot of pre-sale education for their customers. And even if they did, the fact that the platform works with so many different devices that aren’t on the official compatibility list would still create the opportunity for some confusion.

So I believe absolutely that you don’t find it confusing. I just also believe that there are other people who will. :sunglasses:

I’m guessing it works WITH the Alexa or google home. I’m just trying to pair the switch directly to my phone and control it. No middle man. Any suggestions?

Sure… how about the advice I provided earlier in this thread?

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See my post 16 above. This isn’t the right forum to help you, but I gave you the link to the correct support line in that post. :sunglasses:

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