I do have the door lock available in ST connect and I am able to lock and unlock it so that leads me to believe there has to be a way to run something to trigger those actions. I was looking at IFTTT again and it looks like it might have the ability to do that so will have to play with that when I get a chance.
As far as migrating everyone over to the new app at once…I think that would be quite an undertaking and a sure fire recipe for disaster with bugs etc. Baby steps is probably easier to manage with the number of users involved. I dont mind playing with SM connect a bit in the mean time and it doesnt seem to bother what is going on with my hub and old set up so…
Ummm… the OP said that Support’s official response to the current inability to use a scene to unlock doors is as follows: “this feature is not allowed due to security purposes”.
Nowhere does that response state anything like “we are working on it, and will restore this feature soon”. Had it been “based on an incomplete app and back end”, one would expect that response. Instead, the response says that due to security purposes, the functionality has been erased from the system.
If true, then indeeed I will be abandoning SmartThings. It was the ability to automate my already-existing smart lock that goaded me into HA in the first place.
Not leaping to conclusions yet, just putting Samsung on notice… hopefully, this is being monitored by ST support. Otherwise, it’s Chamberlain all over again. WHat exactly is the value of presence if not to make your life convenient by opening your door for you?? I can say “Alexa, run scene XXX” the moment I walk in the door if what I want is for lights and other gizmos to go on/off upon my arrival.
Sell me the system, and let me decide how I’m gonna use it. Don’t be Big Brother, and make security decisions for me as if I’m four years old.
Btw, IFTTT would be an unacceptable workaround. Sometimes it’s quick, but sometimes it can take tens of seconds, or even minutes, to do something.
Glen_King is spot on in that we should all be able to make these decisions to use features or not use features as we wish and not have restrictions put upon us for their use. What is the purpose of a home automation system if you cant automate the things that you want to?
From reading articles on what not to automate, I think the vendors (Amazon, Samsung) have been burned in the early days by a neighbor yelling “Alexa, unlock the front door!” and letting them in to the surprise of the home-owner.
Companies do not want to be sued for letting bad guys in with no apparent attempt to secure their product.
So it’s less about you who doesn’t seem to mind that I can conk you on the head and run to your house with your phone and waltz right in. It’s more about the other versions of you who will sue Amazon for letting that happen so easily.
I have ST unlock my interior garage door when I arrive home (before ST this door would always remain unlocked)…don’t want to give up this functionality.
I wonder what will happen to devices/apps like Konnected & Iris Keypad & Lock Manager & Nest Managef & Keypad Cordinator
Amazon could rectify that issue by using their voice identification - currently deployed only for amazon purchases - to be utilized across the entire Alexa app.
Certainly, I wish to have my voice and my wife’s voice be the only voices that control Alexa in my home. And then “Alexa, unlock the front door” would not be problematic.
First, remember that the OP wasn’t trying to use voice: just geopresence.
Even there, different companies approach this differently. ADT, who is SmartThings’s security partner, has been strongly resistant to allowing Geopresence to arm or disarm their security systems. But many other security systems and home automation systems do allow this, and in fact consider it a feature since the system can be set to automatically arm every time the people leave.
I’ve never heard of a system that doesn’t at least allow you to automatically lock the doors based on Geopresence if they had a Geopresence feature. So that seems particularly strange to me
When it comes to voice, again there is a lot of variation. Apple lets HomeKit users use voice to unlock a smart lock, moving the security aspect to the device that accepts the voice command. You can change the device to only recognize your own voice. If you are using the phone, you have to unlock the phone before using voice, which you can do with a fingerprint, the pin code, or on the newest models with facial recognition. If you are using the Apple Watch, you only have to unlock it when you first put it on and then it remains unlocked until you take it off again. So that one is very convenient for voice. Also, apple’s HomeKit works with the Netatmo Presence security camera, which can use facial recognition as the trigger event.
Some systems allow you to use Geolocation to unlock a door while requiring a spoken pin code for a voice command.
There are just a lot of variations, depending on what the company chooses to offer. But there’s no industry wide trend to reject operation of smart locks, although many companies are requiring a second level of security of some kind. ( since I myself am quadriparetic, and require hands-free operation of the door lock, I tend to follow these features pretty closely. )
I also noticed, that you can’t create a virtual switch to unlock a lock either as the virtual switch uses the automation function to do anything. I get the security concern, but shouldn’t it just be a warning, maybe a pop-up asking if you are you sure you want to do this. So that those of us who want to allow it can, this hub seems to be less useful to me with every update.
The classic app has been working flawlessly for me to date using geopresense to unlock my doors so I dont have to bother with keys or punching in numbers or anything when I get home. My key bundle is now nothing more than vehicle keys and I am able to enter both my home and cottage effortlessly without fumbling to get the doors unlocked so I will miss that feature when it no longer functions. I too wish that I had the choice to “opt in” with this feature and then carry the burden of responsibility to use it. A simple disclaimer that there “may be a security risk with the use of geopresense to unlock your doors” may cover their buts… idk
Wow…It looks like you can again now use mobile presense to lock and unlock your doors. With the new smartthings update and UI I was able to ceate an IF then THAT automation to do so which you could not do before. I havent tested it as I am still using that feature with the classic app but may have to play with it more.
My wife has become so used to this feature that she gets annoyed if it doesn’t work. It is completely awesome to be able to walk up with handfuls of groceries, and just open the door without having to enter a code.
It baffles me that companies remove the best features of their products.
I think the problem is that the phone isn’t that precise of a presence locator. It doesn’t know you’re at home or driving by within a half mile of home. Maybe a better way is to set up a specific motion sensor and combine it with presence. Although Samsung should still allow us and give us the choice with a big warning. I assume this is why they’ve removed the auto disarm from SHM.
It shouldn’t be an issue if you are within sight of the door in question.
If that’s their rationale, then better to kill mobile presence and leave the presence fob fully functional - and leave automated unlock as an available function.
I truly don’t get why you’d even have arrival/presence capability if you’re not going to do something useful with it, something that can’t be otherwise automated. Add some smartness to your things…
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