Routines vs. Modes, etc

[JDRoberts]

@JedTheHead

Now that MODES aren’t used the same and it is all through Routines, I can easily turn on lights when someone arrives - but how do you now turn them off after x mins, etc?

I am sure I am missing something simple!

Thanks!
Jed

Most of this functionality is now in the official smartlights feature. Have you had a chance to look at that yet? The “turn off after 20 minutes“ is in the “power allowance” option.

https://support.smartthings.com/hc/en-us/articles/205949776-How-to-create-lighting-automations-with-Smart-Lights

If you want to get fancier, there’s a how to article in the community – created wiki on setting up a virtual timer to use with lights.

http://thingsthataresmart.wiki/index.php?title=How_to_create_a_virtual_timer_for_a_light

It’s true you can do just about anything you can think of with webcore, but that might be overkill for something this simple. So I would just start by looking at smart lights and see if it has what you need. It also has the advantage of being able to run locally, which webcore cannot.

You might also find the following FAQ of interest:

How to Get Started Creating Complex Rules in SmartThings

(This is a wiki post: feel free to edit it or add to it as needed. Also, I can’t take any screenshots since I can’t use the app at this time due to its incompatibility with voiceover, so feel free to add screenshots where they would be helpful.) At one point, one of the biggest advantages of using the SmartThings platform was the wide variety of devices that it supported. However, by the end of 2017 several competing platforms had caught up in that regard. Where SmartThings still holds a significant advantage over some of the other low-cost home automation solutions is in the ability to really build really complex rules in a fairly simple manner. You won’t have to be a programmer, but you may need the help of other community members to get the logic constructed just right. Also, you …