So do you have to use the Virtual Device Creator App to make a virtual switch local? Or will the virtual switches we’ve created through the IDE automatically become local? I’d assume anything using the Virtual switch DTH would be local, but that’s usually when I get myself in trouble… I’ve seen a few references in the beta discussions, but I wasn’t certain how all of that would work.
There are two new device types that runs local, whether you create a virtual device from the app or in the IDE doesn’t matter. The confusion will be for years people created “virtual devices” which used the “simulated switch/dimmer” device type. Well the new ones that run local are appropriately named “virtual switch/dimmer”.
Point taken. I haven’t been in the IDE in a while and assumed that the dth I was using was the virtual one. (Remember what I said about getting myself in trouble… ) Now, that you mention it, I do remember it being a simulated switch, not a virtual one. Good to know! Thanks!
@Automated_House is correct. However, one gotcha that comes from creating the device directly in the IDE is you have to specify the hub field when creating the device otherwise it won’t run locally (because we don’t know which hub should run it). By default that field will not be filled in and it’s easy to miss when creating one manually.
You can now set a SmartLighting rule to only trigger if a switch is in a specific state. This is an added use case for the locally running virtual switches, but it can be used in the cloud, or with any other switch device as well!
The reason would be that there could be some cloud to cloud integrations that aren’t tied to any hub or location and could be used across all your SmartThings locations.
Ah, some good stuff in here. Excited about the local virtual switch and the SmartLighting switch condition. Kind of worried about the Z-Wave protocol update. No clue what that actually entails. . . .but makes me worried about network gremlins coming to my house on Thursday.
You bet, following the same rules as anything else for local execution, if all devices participating in a rule run locally the automation will run locally as well.
Agreed as before this I would go to webCoRE if I needed that condition. Nothing wrong with WC course but you’re immediately pushed to cloud when you might otherwise be local.
No, they should work locally on anything after version 0.19.X of the hub, but you will be far more limited on which devices run locally on older versions of the firmware.
Well done!
) Now, that you mention it, I do remember it being a simulated switch, not a virtual one. Good to know! Thanks!
)
