@buster - Can you let us know which of these options you’ve investigated has worked for you to affect SmartThings Home/Away status based on bookings, or let you control things like thermostats based on bookings through some method?
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Our thermostat situation is way different than most. We have a minimum of 10 thermostats per home and max of 23 in one home. All boiler and zone valves. So I wouldn’t be a good reference for that. We use SharpTools.io and some other things for the boilers and resetting them all at once.
Can someone point me to a good Sharptools resource for learning how to set lock codes and automate modes based on them?
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You could also try asking in the sharptools forum. They are usually very helpful over there.
Is this a question? You have 5 RBOY replacement solutions today if you are staying with SmartThings:
#1 - EnsoConnect
#2 - Aurmur
#3 - Hospitable
#4 - Write your own API via https://www.seam.co
#5 - Lynx (https://www.getlynx.co/)
The other options are commercial that have their own dedicated hub like RentlyKeyless, RemoteLock, etc. Even if RBOY released RBOY via API (a Groovy Replacement) you would have to ask yourself, do you want to do business with them going forward. They have made it clear they didn’t have a “Customer First messaging approach” to the decommission of Groovy.
All of these options have various option for Integration and functionality.
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Here’s the discussion thread for Seam.
This is a third-party company which provides software for Airbnb hosts and commercial projects.
I don’t know anything about them, but their CEO has a thread here, and they are offering free access as a temporary solution to people affected by the loss of groovy SmartApps. Details in the following thread.
Seam: Temporary Solution for Managing Lock Guest Codes (Jan 2023)
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There is also the lockmanager.io solution (sorry, I don’t have a link, but can be found by searching the community).
This is very deceptive, none of these are close to being replacement solutions.
These are only recommendable if SLGA is not available. I know in some countries and some devices SLGA is not available, and where SLGA is available these are no better than SLGA.
These should not be mentioned as an replacement solution for RBOY RLA. The only solution that is close to replacing some of the functionality of RLA is Sharptools and although Sharptools is a cost-based solution, it is community supported, so the most support you will get will be other users in the community saying it works, but no real directions on how to get it to work as RLA did.
Currently, the only solution is to use SLGA, don’t have SLGA try these. Got some free time to try to build a solution, try Sharptools.
Please explain how explain how a list of alternative solutions it is deceptive?
They all automate and integrate with various calendar functions and allow scheduling of lock codes.
RBOY was a paid service however all Software companies are moving to a SaaS (Software as a service model).
I think the only deception was hope of Rboy bribing a replacement to market.
All of these solutions fit the need of go to market lock control. In running a business of STR I don’t think anyone has a problem paying for lock software on a subscription. The only thing free was my time of making a list and choosing to share it with the community with expectation of nothing.
SharpTools can handle any automations for controlling other devices. The key piece for STR operators is getting the the guest in the door.
Turning on lights and fireplaces is value add. RLA core function was adding and remove by codes dynamically based on booking.
It is a free market, have you considered building a replacement that is not “deceptive”. You have the Rboy code as a template, just translate it to APIs.
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Understood. However, it’s mostly working fine for me right now, although I did have to re-do all my codes yesterday to get them in the order I wanted. I hope the author comes back soon. He’s put some good work into it. I was tempted to try Seam just to see how it works. I don’t have rental properties, so this is just a replacement for the non-rental Rboy app for me. I could use SLGA except it doesn’t allow for timed codes.
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LOL, how is a list of options from a fellow community member deceptive? I see you’re new to this community so maybe your opening line of your first comment shouldn’t be an insult to someone trying to help.
How’s that PAID support from @RBoy treating you these days? My setup would be absolutely destroyed if it weren’t for “other users in the community”. Rboy’s complete lack of communication sure as hell isn’t helping me.
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Yeah, but most looking for help on this are being directed to not comparable options.
There should be a Statement: “Currently no replacement for RLA”
Solutions: Best solution SLGA. Can’t get SLGA, try these.
Simple, it makes it seem like these other options are replacements.
Different things will work for different people, or, as the old saying goes, “Your use case is not my use case.” Choice is good. 
Just as different booking apps will work for different hosts. Everyone has to do their own research to see what features and options are available from each candidate, and what the costs are, both in money and time.
I saw the list as a list of possible candidates that people might find worth looking at. Nothing more than that, and helpful in that context.
This is a frustrating time for all of us, and lack of information isn’t making that any better. The best we can do is try to help each other get through it, be understanding if someone makes a different choice than we do, and wish each other well. It’s going to be a long journey, no matter which direction you’re heading.
In my own case, I’m Quadriparetic, and a wheelchair user. I love voice assistants, they give me a tremendous amount of independence. But there are other community members who are also wheelchair users, but don’t have the ability to vocalize in a way that the voice assistants can understand. They aren’t looking for the exact same solutions that I am. But we can still share ideas and resources, and often our needs to overlap. Even if we end up with different options, the process can still be helpful.
Fwiw
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CEO of Seam here. As mentioned in the other thread, Seam is just an API + some fairly advanced dashboard for managing 10K+ devices. As such, it’s probably not an appropriate long-term solution for this community. However, we saw folks here were struggling with the sunset of Groovy and were left stranded without a proper UI alternative. We thought it was appropriate to offer what we have free-of-charge as a stop-gap.
In terms of longer-term solution, our understanding is that there are also a couple of folks developing SLGA/RBoy replacements on top of Seam. For those doing Airbnb/STR, we also have a few PMSs like Enso, Hospitable, HostAway…etc that use our API to directly control your devices. Lastly, our team is going to release a Zapier integration this weekend. We’re looking for a couple of folks to beta test it so feel free to reach out to support@getseam.com if you want to be added.
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The Seam solution doesn’t allow you to import calendars, to use the information from those calendars to set lock codes, or do any automation making it roughly the same as SLGA.
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@Redcentauri Seam is not meant for that. Seam is a frame work of API’s that you can build your own calendar imports, etc on top of Seam with a little bit of coding.
What Seam does allow, that is far superior than SLGA, is the ability to operate it all from a desktop, rather than a mobile app, with confirmation and validation of the input. It also allows you to schedule it. The validation alone and logging makes it a very good temporary solution until you purchase or subscribe to a commercial solution. The odds that the commercial solution is built on top of Seam is high.
You can also build your own apps on top of this framework while Seam does the heavy lifting. You have the Groovy Code for RBOY apps and it is “well documented” within the code, so you could use that as a framework for re-coding as well.
If you are looking for a one stop shop, you might want to look at RentlyKeyless, August, or any of the other commercial lock products. Samsung SmartThings is not a commercial platform.
I would start by building a matrix of your “Requirement Definitions” document then you can start to down select a new vendor or system, (or build your own) based on the requirements. This is how we do software procurement. Maybe you even put it out to RFP and see if a vendor responds. Then you can down select through a matrix of requirements the respondents of that RFP that match the features you are looking for.
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@Redcentauri the answer above is excellent. We’re just an API with a UI-dashboard for basic operations. This is why I had indicated in my original post that this is only a stop-gap solution for those left stranded.
With that said, there are a few options to sync your reservation calendar. First, you could sign up for a PMS like Hospitable, Hostaway, Enso…etc. Second, I know there are a couple of people in this community build commercial apps ontop of the API to automatically control your locks + thermostats. Third, I believe our team is going to release a Zapier integration this week that you can try to use with the other Zaps available for pulling in ical events.
Hopes this helps!
we’re about to release a Zapier integration. I believe there are ways to grab things from iCal. Second,
I’ve been using this successfully with SLGA and our Yale Assure zwave lock (for now). Going to try out the Yale wifi module and their Airbnb integration as well, but I don’t have high hopes that I’ll be anywhere near as satisfied as we were with Rboy RLA.
@ryoung9 Rich, I wouldn’t bother with the Wifi module and AirBnB integration. I started with that, and although the wifi is more feature rich and uses the door sensor, the AirBnB integration is a disgrace. You can not customize the message to guests, Yale sends out a self serving marketing message that is totally confusing to guests, it doesn’t go back and pick-up past reservations even if they are months in the future so you will end up with a mess of knowing which reservations will be handled. It’s shocking for a large company how poor the implementation is.
Having said that I was considering to try the wifi module (as it does have more features and manual remote management capabilities) with one of the platforms that integrates using the Seam API Seam ST Thread, but have not had time yet.
I’m also thinking of just waiting for the Matter module.
Let me know what you find.
Best,
Manel
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Wait, so that driver works for Yale locks even though it says it’s for Schlage only? Interesting. I think I’d have to remove my current Yale Assure and add it back into SmartThings, as I currently do not have the ability to change the driver (I do have that driver installed), as it states ‘ineligible device’ in API+.