Recommendations for local virtual switches?

Devices & Integrations
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I need virtual switches. I’d really like them to be Edge so they’re local to the hub, and it would be nice to have functionality where Alexa can trigger routines based on their status.

TAustin’s vEdge Creator seems to be the recommended approach, but I can’t get it to add the “vEdge Creator V2.94” device in the SmartThings app, so unless I can get that resolved, I’m going to have to consider alternatives.

I’ve created virtual switches via my.smartthings.com, but they’re “Cloud” not local Edge drivers. Seems odd that SmartThings doesn’t make their native virtual switches as local Edge drivers given that the platform migration is supposedly complete.

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MOST SMARTTHINGS CUSTOMERS NEED CLOUD OPTIONS

First, as to why Samsung may put cloud options front and center…

It may help to remember that less than 15% of SmartThings customers have a hub at all, so the vast majority can’t use edge drivers. (They have a Galaxy phone, a Samsung smart television, or a Samsung smart appliance. Those all use SmartThings.)

You can still have a nice home automation setup without a hub: ring or Arlo cameras; a hue hub with bulbs, switches, buttons, and sensors; Meross or kasa wifi switches and smart plugs; Shelly or Sonoff inline relays. And many of those customers do use virtual switches.

So probably not a surprising decision.

OPTIONS FOR LOCAL VIRTUAL DEVICES FOR THOSE WHO DO HAVE A HUB

If you do have a SmartThings/Aeotec hub You can create your own local virtual devices using the CLI, it’s just more work than using VEdge Creator, which is why it’s so popular.

BUT THERE’S A CURRENT PLATFORM PROBLEM

All of that said, there is a known platform bug right now (September 2023) affecting ALL methods of creating child devices for all protocols, including virtual: that may be what you’ve run into. It’s very frustrating. :disappointed_relieved:

I suggest you first describe the issue you’ve run into with VEdge creator in the thread for that edge driver, and people there can let you know if it’s related to the platform bug in which case you may just need to be patient until smartthings gets things sorted. :thinking:

[ST Edge] vEdge Creator: a virtual device generator for end users

If you do want to look at other community-created edge drivers for virtual devices, you can find them in the community- created wiki on the quick browse lists, but they’re all running into the same problems right now if they use child devices.

https://thingsthataresmart.wiki/index.php?title=Quick_Browse_Lists_for_Edge_Drivers

And if you want to follow discussion about the bug:

Firmware v48 Failure to create devices

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They do, they just haven’t added the option on the Advanced Web App yet. You can use the CLI or Todd’s API Browser+ to create them.

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I may be mistaken, but the last time I checked, unlike VEdge Creator, Todd’s API browser plus could not create a virtual switch that can trigger an Alexa routine (which the OP lists as one of their goals.). That’s because of an Amazon limitation. anyway, the workaround is to create a virtual lock, but that can get kind of clunky.

FAQ: Creating Virtual Devices with the new architecture (Without the IDE) (2023)

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what is the issue you are running into?

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I’ve lost track of the exact details of what will trigger an Alexa routine, but I’m pretty sure that a native virtual switch won’t do it yet (I don’t think Alexa have ever had the opprobrium they deserve for this). However you do have a choice of it not doing it locally or in the cloud, which was the specific point I addressed.

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FWIW (I know it may not be much) Amazon explained back at the beginning in their developers forum that the majority of Alexa controllable physical switches sold on Amazon do not report a change in state when the switch is physically changed at the wall. (Most of those are probably cheap Chinese WiFi switches, but also some more expensive Bluetooth devices.) so they didn’t want their customers to get confused when purchasing switches about which would work with Alexa routines and which wouldn’t. Consequently, the initial set of triggers for Alexa routines (not SmartThings routines) only included sensors, which they knew would report the state change so they could act on it.

Later, they added locks, again, because almost all of these were reporting the state change, even when physically changed at the device.

Then, in the fall of 2022 they quietly added pretty much anything connected to a hue bridge, including switches and buttons, as possible triggers. Plus Amazon’s own brand of smart plugs. And then in the summer of 2023, Ring smart lighting and any Zigbee devices, including buttons and switches, that were connected directly to the Zigbee hub inside an echo device.

All of these work for the same reason: Amazon can be sure that the physical device will report a state change.

I’m not sure if that reporting is part of the matter specification or not. If it is, I would expect them to add matter switches eventually as well.

Anyway, from a business standpoint, I understand the customer service issues of having only some of the third party devices you sell having this functionality and wanting to avoid those questions. But it can definitely be frustrating for power users who know that the devices they have report the state change, but they can’t act on it. :rage:

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Thanks @JDRoberts, I always appreciate your input and background on how and why things are the way they are. It’s very helpful, you’re a tremendous asset to the community. :slight_smile:

I commented the vEdge Creator thread this morning with details about my issue, but I didn’t want to hijack that thread to go off topic and ask about alternatives to @TAustin’s offering, since I can’t get that to create the initial device.

My post on that thread with details about my issue is at [ST Edge] vEdge Creator: a virtual device generator for end users - #2012 by jamesdvb

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I commented on the vEdge Creator thread this morning with details about my issue, but I didn’t want to hijack that thread to go off topic and ask about alternatives to @TAustin’s offering, since I can’t get that to create the initial device.

My post on that thread with details about my particular issue is at [ST Edge] vEdge Creator: a virtual device generator for end users - #2012 by jamesdvb

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have you rebooted your ST hub since installing the Edge driver?

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Not just power users. It must be frustrating for any of their customers who can see the state of their current devices changing in Alexa.

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Yeah, about 24 hours after enrolling my hub in TAustin’s channel and telling it to install the vEdge Creator, I rebooted the hub to see if that would fix it and let me add the device, but it didn’t change anything.