How to? Press one button and some lights go on and some go off

Apps & Clients
1

Like this:

GE Dimmer 1: turn off (could be currently on or off of course)
GE Dimmer 2: turn off
GE Dimmer 3: turn off
GE Dimmer 4: turn off
GE Dimmer 5: turn ON
GE Dimmer 6: turn ON
Hue Bulb #1: turn off
Hue Bulb #2: turn off
Hue Bulb #3: turn ON
Hue Bulb #4: turn ON
Hue Bulb #5: turn off

** I do already have all of these set up as “Things” and they are functioning properly.

I can’t figure out how to do this.

2

A. MASTER SWITCH METHOD

I don’t have any Hue Bulbs, so I’m not sure if those work with this, but there is a smartapp in the Convenience section called “Big Switch” which will do exactly this. You can make some devices go on when the master goes on while others go off. No custom code required.

  1. Open the regular mobile app.
  2. On the dashboard, you will see different categories, including Things and Conveneince.
  3. Go to Convenience. If The Big Switch is already there, skip to step 5.
  4. If the Big Switch isn’t already there, you need to add it.
    4a. Tap on the plus sign
    4b. At the very top of the screen where it says THINGS, Swipe right to MORE and tap it.
    4c. Scroll down to Convenience and tap it.
    Now you see a whole bunch of prebuilt schedulers you can choose. Pick the Big Switch and install it.
  5. With the Big Switch installed, just choose the master switch and then what you want all the other switches to do, on or off.
2 Likes
3

OK, that was the master switch method.

B. PHYSICAL REMOTE METHOD

If instead you want to do this with a physical button on a remote like the Aeon Minimote, you can do that. You just have to assign the actions to the button using the Button Controller wizard.

  1. Add the remote to the network.
  2. Go to its device tile and tap on the gears.
  3. Choose preferences and follow the instructions.

C. HELLO HOME ACTION METHOD

You can also create a new Hello Home Action phrase and assign many different actions to happen at about the same time.

  1. Open the mobile app.
  2. Open the dashboard.
  3. Tap the HelloHome speech bubble at the top right.
  4. Tap the Gear at the bottom of the page.
  5. Create a new Hello Home Phrase following the instructions and save it.
    For example I have a Bedtime Hello Home Action that turns off the entertainment power strip and turns on a pathway of lights from the living room to the bedroom.

To use it, open the mobile app, go to the dashboard, tap the speech bubble, and tap your phrase.

D. VIRTUAL SWITCH METHOD (requires custom code)

Using custom code you can set up a virtual switch (a tile that only shows up in the mobile app). Then you use Big Switch but you make the virtual button the master for the master switch method.

1 Like
4

Thanks for this. When you say “choose the master switch”, does this mean this all has to happen upon hitting a pre-existing light button? Because that is all I see listed when I make the first choice in the SmartApp. I don’t really want a bunch of things happening every time I turn on my “Office Light”. Can I somehow make up a switch that only does this?

5

Yes, using method D above. But that requires using the developers environment to create a virtual switch.

Alternatively, use method C above to create a new
Hello Home Action. It’s a few extra taps each time, but doesn’t require custom code.

For method D, see the following topic. People there will be happy to help if you have any questions.

http://community.smartthings.com/t/feature-request-on-off-button-tile-why-cant-you-install-it-from-the-st-app-itself
6

Great SmartApp for this: baldeagle072 wrote Virtual On/Off Switch Creator. Works perfect!