This is my first dive into smart home automation. I automated my aquarium with an aquarium controller and got into the code writing and automation.
My experience with smartthings has not been as positive.
After replacing all the switch boxes to fit the switches and running neutrals to the switches I installed zooz dimmer switches. I got them working but the automation part is terrible.
I did some automation with with motion sensors but things feel very limited. I want to set automation by time. Basically during a time period, when motion is sensed lights come on at x dim level then turn off after x minutes. I also want the physical switches to completely override the code and turn the light on 100% then off if switched again. This doesn’t seem to be possible. Is there a way to prioritize the code? What am I missing with this. There is no real guidance on how to set up and program these things.
Have you tried the custom automation creator in the new app? For anything beyond that, webCoRE it is. You probably still won’t be able to differentiate between manual on and auto on.
I think I need to do webcore. Everything with this home automation seems overly complicated and there is no surprise that it’s not mainstream. Theres no reason for this to be so complicated.
If this is exactly what you want @Biglurr54 , then as @Automated_House says, you can create a custom automation in the (new) SmartThings app and your dimmer switch will do what you want.
If however you want to turn the light off x minutes after motion stops, not just after x minutes, then I believe you will need to use the old SmartThings Classic app (can an expert confirm that?).
You can create a reasonable set of automations in the app, especially for lighting, which is simple to use. For more complicated scenarios, you need a more complicated tool and that’s where webCoRE comes in. It’s extremely comprehensive but does have a fairly steep learning curve.