I currently have my nest thermostat integrated into SmartThings simply to allow it to trigger the thermostat home and away modes whenever my hub goes into home or away modes. I don’t actually want to control the thermostat through SmartThings as I’ve yet to find a way that isn’t clunky and awkward. If I need to make changes with my phone I can simply use the Nest app. Given that I don’t need to actually control the thermostat, is there a way to have it trigger away mode without actually having the thermostat installed as a “thing”?
Unfortunately not, as far as I know. In this case, you need a device to change modes. Things represent the devices that Smart Apps act upon. So, the thing is needed.
Maybe you could use IFTTT?
Thought of that, but unfortunately couldn’t figure out how to make it work. It doesn’t look like IFTTT allows you to change modes on the Nest, and also I couldn’t figure out how to have IFTTT trigged by a hello, home action.