New SmartThings Alexa skill (2020)

Thanks I’ll keep checking your link and can update on the other thread linked below when it is working.

I think that posting limit is temporary when you newly register. It should go away as people like and respond to your posts.

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I’ve been using the Alexa skill to make door open announcements. Normally Alexa will sound a tone followed by the announcement but for the last few days Alexa makes a “boop” sound, then the tone followed by the announcement. Anyone else hearing the “boop”?

I still have the normal tones before and after each Alexa function. I have always received a before and after tone, even though I have Alexa configured to only sound a tone following a task completion. If I choose a before tone, Alexa still gives an after tone as well.

Only way I’ve found to “fix” this is to turn off both the before and after tones. A bug that has never been fixed in all the years I have used an Alexa.

This is the longest topic I have seen. I have had problems with Alexa not able to voice control some ST lights but able to control them with a button push on my iPhone screen. Turns out you can solve this problem by renaming the device in Alexa.

That is a great tip, thanks for sharing. The voice integrations are pretty complex so there is a lot to talk about!

Any status update on the changes to allow users to select which devices are shared with Amazon Alexa and Google Home? It’s been a year since the new integrations were released, and about 8 months since it was mentioned that a fix was in the works…

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The Smartthings Alexa skill got updated 2 days ago. Anyone want to try unlink and relink and see if we got device selection:

Edit: Still the same

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Glad you tested it Andreas, I really did not want another 50 devices duplicated, shame it is taking so long to change, I am actually more pis##d we STILL do not have and probably never will have as it has been so long, Shortcuts to individual device automations on the devices page, ala original app, that for me is my NO1 annoyance followed by the alexa issue

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Hey Mike. Definitely with you on that one! I have a light that turns itself off at arround 6 in the afternoon and i have no idea what triggers this behavior! For me this is the biggest issue with the new app. I can live with the rest. Even with Smartthings exposing everything to alexa.

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Check the Alexa App to see if “Hunches” is enabled. This is often the cause of seemingly random events like this. If you have HomeKit integration, Adaptive Lighting might also be the cause.

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Thanks i ll give it a try

Yup, similar here Andreas, a light that turns on for no reason, I have given up keeping the system tidy and organised, it mostly works fine but the days of resolving issues quickly and easily are 3 years gone now
With ST being so poor in the past and Echo reliable, alot of automations went to Echo, now when issues do appear I just cba to trawl through multiple ST actions and automations and the terrible way that it is laid out, Echo is just a better UI to find and resolve issues

In the UK I don’t think we have hunches in Echo, I couldn’t find any mention anywhere

For those that never used the better older app, each device had a tab, that when tapped listed all the automations that particular device was attached to, you did not have to go back into multiple lists of poorly auto named items that were not relevant to that device, this made system maintenance easy, logical and quick, it has never been re implemented and as it has been years now I suspect it will never appear

The current app is designed by software engineers technically involved with the system, it is not designed for jo public to pick up and use easily which it should be, oddly the jo public version is the correct approach, for multiple reasons I can’t be bothered to list but the bottom line is, the easier and more logical it is, the less support is required and the more people will pick up the system and use it, and let’s not forget accessibility for disabled… it appears this current app is shamefully poor and to fix that JD should have (ST staff member ) next to his name and be paid for being chief accessability engineer, you will never get better

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Hey Mike. Just checked and i don’t have hunches enabled. It must be on the ST side. Btw you can switch to the US alexa without much trouble but you will be missing out some regional things. For me, there is no Honeywell Total Connect Comfort International skill for the US.

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I’m happy with the cut down UK version Andreas, in fact despite my seeming disgruntled post above things are (currently) stable, yes my much loved Fibaro RGBW controler is screwed by ST and some items do random things, yes we are missing major items as we all know but right now… its working
Maybe we should be thankful for that, the world has had and is still having strange difficult times

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Lars…Please look at my account (bnewlander@att.net) as you mentioned in previous posts. I have a new Echo Dot 4 and now my ST devices will not be seen/found by “Alexa”. I have the ST Skill enabled and linked.

Is there any way to connect Alexa to ST without giving Amazon access to your complete inventory of devices? It would be nice if ST could call Alexa routines directly like a REST api.

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It used to work that way… then Samsung replaced the old integration with this current version, which forces the user to share every device with Amazon and/or Google. I would not hold my breath for this feature ever returning, as the last time I saw anyone from Samsung mention it was back in January, roughly eleven months ago.

Initially stated the work began back in August, 2020…

And then mentioned that it was still being worked on in January, 2021…

I have not noticed any official word in the community from Samsung since then.

I do not believe Amazon has an official API to allow this type of integration. It used to be possible via a Community Integration called Echo Speaks, but Samsung pulled the plug on that as well due to excessive cloud server usage.

There are other platforms that allow individual device selection for Amazon Alexa and Google Home, and that can run Echo Speaks, if these are important features for your requirements.

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Thanks for the thorough reply. In general, ST should allow for device level permission control when interfacing with third parties. Would be great for security to limit the scope of external services.

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You asked if there was “any way”…

I initially did it by using the HubConnect SmartApp to export my selected ST devices to my other brand hub, and then used other brand’s Alexa integration go just expose those few devices. But that was just something I did initially; I eventually moved all my important devices off of ST to my other brand hub, so I no longer needed the HubConnect bridge.

I only did that after lobbying ST for 6 months to fix their “new” Alexa integration to allow device selection.

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And in similar fashion, I linked SmartThings to Home Assistant, killed the Alexa & Google connection from SmartThings, and just let Home Assistant be the decider of what they see.

Eventually, I moved everything to Home Assistant. This security flaw is a big reason I migrated.

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