Iris Smart Plug WiFi

You are making perfect sense. So now we’re dealing with how to make a Virtual Switch. There are many fine apps that our amazing community has created. The Virtual Switch I am using was created via the Alexa Helper app. It sounds like you are a new to this, which is fine. I’ve only been here a couple weeks myself. But I would recommend reading this FAQ article on custom code. I found it VERY helpful.

I hope that points you in the right direction. If I can help any more, please just ask. If I can’t answer it, someone here can.

Michael

Here’s the FAQ on creating a virtual device. (This is a clickable link)

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I know i am a noob, but i am trying to understand this.

-smartthings has device handlers, why are they not used for some of these wifi (cloud) connected
devices.
-if this is not possible then how can i get them inside smartthings via other applications?

My main reason for asking is that the automation from smartthings is much stronger than many other iris and several others.

The other thing i have been looking for but this is kind of off topic is there a way to use openhab with the smartthings hub, i really would like to play with that platform since it has some unique graphical interfaces and is very open, i would like to use the smartthings hub since they make it very easy to add hardware.

Thanks for all the great things are developed here

@carelcolpa, if you are directing this comment to my workaround, the reason I had to use IFTTT and the Iris+ app is because there are no device handlers currently for this Wi-Fi plug. As it is not a z-wave plug, Iris would need to give access to their interface to that device. To my knowledge, that is not available. If one of the guru’s knows different, please chime in.

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no i surly don’t have anything against your workaround, i do think the ultimate would be that all devices end up in smartthings, this is my reason to ask.

I have at this moment about 40 devices in my smartthings hub most are zigbee or zwave, some like my logitech harmony hub and iris keypad are connected via the cloud.

As @Michael_Deffendall mentioned, it is up to each device’s manufacturer whether they allow for outside integrations or not. That is because unlike zigbee and Z wave, there is no standardized message format for Wi-Fi. It’s similar to a post office. The format for the “envelope” is defined by the Wi-Fi standard, but it’s like each letter inside is in a private code and if you don’t know the code it doesn’t matter if you deliver the envelope, the receiver can’t do anything with the message.

In contrast, zwave and zigbee home automation Have third-party definitions of what each message should say, so all light switches receive the same “on” Message written in the same way.

That’s why you can pick up any certified Z wave device and it will work with smartthings at least at the “basic” (that’s a zwave term in this context) level. But with Wi-Fi, all bets are off. One switch might be expecting a “2” as an instruction to turn on and another switch might be expecting “tangerine Alpha” for the same request. It’s just up to each manufacturer to construct their WiFi Messages however they like.

If a device has a “published API“ that means they have put out a document that says “to have a switch turn on, send a message that says tangerine alpha .” So anyone can use it.

Or, they might have an official way for third-party systems to integrate with them, such as through IFTTT. But it’s still up to each manufacturer to decide what they will allow through their channel. If they want to say you can request an on but not an off, that’s up to them. And they don’t tell you their own secret code, so you can’t reverse engineer it just because it has an IFTTT channel.

So when you’re considering buying any Wi-Fi device, you may need to dig a little deeper to find out what integration will be possible with smartthings. It may be easy, it may be hard, but there’s just no predicting in advance.

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thank you for that explanation JD. :+1:
so and i’m not sure if this works, since google and the iris+ can work with it then there should be some information about this.
Maybe a direct smartthings to iris+?

Quite a few of the Wi-Fi device manufacturers are creating their own private integrations with both Amazon echo and Google home, but unfortunately they often do not make those channels available to anyone else. That is the case here.

If the only outside integration for device is with one of the voice assistants, there is a workaround, but it’s a little crazy. :sunglasses:

Some people take an inexpensive android device, typically a phone or a tablet, and put it physically near the voice assistant. Then they can use one of several methods to have smartthings have the android device say a specific phrase that then the voice assistant will respond to. Or if you already have a speaker device like Sonos which can do TTS (text to speech) you can use that.

Once you have that set up, you can then trigger the speaker using any of the methods that smartthings controls, like a time based schedule or a sensor based trigger, or geopresence. It will work, but, like I said, it’s not exactly an elegant solution.

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As you can tell from a few of my postings, I’m a big fan of “outside the box” solutions and non-standard integrations.

So after this post, I did some poking around for ways to have my tablet, which is already being used for ActionTiles, and is conveniently right next to Alexa, speak to her.

Not surprisingly, the TTS apps I found were geared to speaking documents and emails. So if you already know of a way to send specific words, on a trigger, I’d be very interested. :slight_smile: I am also a fan of not reinventing the wheel. :slight_smile:

Just check the quick browse list in the community – created wiki in the project report section for the “voice“ list. This can be done with LANnouncer, for example, Although set up is somewhat complex.

If you have a TTS speaker, like a Sonos, it can also be done with “big talker.”

http://thingsthataresmart.wiki/index.php?title=How_to_Quick_Browse_the_Community-Created_SmartApps_Forum_Section

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A lot of trouble. Just add the IRIS skill to the Amazon Alexa app and run the scene or whatever from there as it will interface with ST as well as IRIS through the skills method. Since many are probably utilizing the voice command feature of this envoron already. This is the place to deal with the WIFI shortfall of ST and the desire for some vendors to keep their wifi command set proprietary. However, the ever increasing popularity of ‘Alexa’ will encourage the development of the necessary “'skill” to drive their hardware without having to buy their hub. KASA, VeSync, and other WIFI devices are already covered there, and the list continues to grow. In addition, if you want to write some code, you can write your own ‘skill’ now. IMHO

A lot of trouble. Just add the IRIS skill to the Amazon Alexa app and run the scene or whatever from there as it will interface with ST as well as IRIS through the skills method. Since many are probably utilizing the voice command feature of this envoron already. This is the place to deal with the WIFI shortfall of ST and the desire for some vendors to keep their wifi command set proprietary. However, the ever increasing popularity of ‘Alexa’ will encourage the development of the necessary “'skill” to drive their hardware without having to buy their hub. IRIS, KASA, VeSync, and other WIFI devices are already covered there, and the list continues to grow. In addition, if you want to write some code, you can write your own ‘skill’ now. IMHO

That makes sense if you’re willing to speak the command to Echo yourself every time.

The community members I referenced are using the method I mentioned to fully automate activity, such as triggering the light to come on when a motion sensor or smoke alarm is triggered, or when the laundry is done or someone comes to the front door. Or if you want the plug to switch off after there has been no activity in an area for fifteen minutes or after everyone has left home.

So you can create automations that run without you the human having to be consciously aware that the plug should be switched on or off. Like I said, it’s a clunky method, but it’s useful for these kind of purposes. :sunglasses:

I have 18 of these IRIS-WSP2PA-LW Model #CW1606A Wifi Smart plugs and now Iris by Lowes is going DOA! I currently have them running under the Iris hub and app, and integrated with Google Assistant. On the mobile side, I am totally iOS, so no access to the Iris+ app. Has there been any progress since the start of this thread, in getting these IRIS-WSP2PA-LW plugs to easily integrate into Smartthings? I just bought 2 v2 ST hubs.

No and with Iris going defunct you will probably never see it unless someone gets industrious and wants to find a way to flash the devices. That might have happened if Lowe’s dumped a bunch on the market, cheap but that’s unlikely as at last check they pulled remaining stock off shelves and are disallowing sale of the devices at the register if you do manage to find any still in stores. (read: cold day in hell before it happens)

And I have to ask… Two hubs?

Ha Ha. One for home up north and one for the snowbirding location in FL!!

If the Iris App would still work to connect to Google Assistant , that would do the trick. Looks like Lowe’s is going to release the code as open source , so something might happen down the line.

See the last paragraph: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.slashgear.com/lowes-iris-smart-home-shutdown-what-you-need-to-know-31564204/amp/

Take the credit they are giving for them and buy zigbee or zwave plugs.

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I had 3 hooked up when they did the snapshot of devices , prior their announcement. I managed to hook up 11 more on the day of the announcement. Still waiting to see if they will honor reimbursement for them. Some I had shipped to PA in Dec. while I’m in FL (by mistake now!! )

I haven’t seen a direct answer about if we can get these working now with SmartThings even if through IFTTT or wahtever.

Still would like to use the ones I have…

They will stop working once the Iris cloud is discontinued on March 31. So IFTTT will not be an option after that date. :disappointed_relieved: