Hi,
My mom is not a tech person. I’d like to send her messages that simply display (persistently) on a small screen in her apartment. She could press a smartthings button to acknowledge she’s read one. I know I could set up a tablet with any messenger app, but I am sure such a complex setup would find a way to break weekly. I was wondering if smartthings might have a simple hardware based display that could show her messages I send.
Any suggestions or ideas?
Thank you, Dave
I don’t know of a really simple way to do this, unless @joshua_lyon knows of something with android.
I think you probably could do it with Triby. It has magnets on the back so you can put it on the refrigerator, which is nice. However, you really have to run it with a USB cord, because otherwise it needs to be recharged about every two days. 
That little yellow tab on the side pops up when there is a message. When she pushes that button again, you will see that in the triby app. Otherwise, if you wanted some kind of smartthings indication that the message has been read, she would probably have to push one of the other buttons on it.
Anyway, that seems the most likely candidate off the top of my head. 
It has an IFTTT channel as well as Alexa integration.
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While not SmartThings integrated (yet) … and, well, SmartThings integration would reduce reliability instead of increase it, this product below seems to fit your needs perfectly - though I have no experience with it and thus can’t endorse it.
There are pretty simple ways to build such a device, and/or just use a well-configured Tablet or old phone with ActionTiles or similar software that can support messaging. Just keep in mind that if your priority is “simple” and “reliable”, then specialized hardware like this may be worth the price … as well as be rather cute too.
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Thanks very much. I"ll check into this.
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Yes indeed, the Love Box is exactly the right fit for my mom. Thanks for pointing this out (and the other display too). She was laughing over it like I have never heard before.
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So glad I was able to help!
There are so many gadgets out there to do practically anything, but many catch my eye. In most cases I’m pretty sure I’d never get one, and can’t think of anyone either.
But some products turn out to be a great fit! Great to hear of the laughs! 
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