Well, that title was a mouthful. I would like to have my kitchen lights motion activated…but for different times or modes. For example, at night I would like to have them come up to 20% when motion is detected (someone getting a glass of water). But, maybe during the day (mode Home) I would like them to come on if it is dark outside (I don’t have an inside luminance sensor).
I saw the nightlight app, but that does not allow for a dimmer setting. If I add it to the light itself, it only works for one mode. This is where I would like to see ST expand. Why can’t I spawn (to quote Minecraft and make my daughter proud…or roll her eyes) multiple smart apps she setting them for a device under lights and switches?
Am I missing something or are there any smart apps I should be looking towards?
Nothing already done I’m aware of, but it would be relatively simple to build one app that has a number of options for what to do when motion is sensed, and carry out the proper one based on the current mode.
My DoubleTapModeSwitch app has a lot of the bits (which I borrowed from multiple apps myself) you’d need to implement this. I spawn (bam!) multiple instances of this app per switch to control what mode is activated depending on the time of day or the current mode (e.g.: Nap Time from 10AM till 4PM, Bed Time after 6PM, Good Morning after 5AM, etc.) Still don’t know how to set a custom label, so it’s a bit of a mess when you have multiple instances.
@sudarkoff - How quickly do you have to double-tap? I only got this to activate once on a Linear 3 way accessory switch. Am I press on if the light is already on or off or does it not matter? Does it work with dimmers? The app doesn’t exactly do what I want to do in the original post, but I want to use it to switch to Party mode!
Not quickly at all! It’s not a true double-tap, really. It’s just two slow taps in a row, something like this: two-thousand three-hundred fourty-two, two-thousand three-hundred fourty-three.
It doesn’t matter whether the first tap is a mode change, you just need to tap twice slowly in the same direction. It does get a bit flaky on dimmers because the dimming function throws off the timing. So I prefer not to use this app on dimmers. Or if you have to, turn the switch on or off first and then do the slow double-tap in the same direction. I wish switches would send a legitimate double-tap signal, without it this app is just a hack. But it is still faster than reaching for the phone, unlocking it, launching the app, opening the events view, clicking the “Change mode and more” link, scrolling to the right “Hello, Home” phrase and finally clicking it.
There’s an option of blinking the lights for confirmation - I highly recommend using it, otherwise it’s hard to tell whether it worked on not.