Not a rant, more of a PSA. I was having a hard time getting my door to automatically unlock and lock with the I’m Back and Goodbye routines that come with ST. The mode changed but the door unlock never fired. There have been a few other SmartApps that I am grateful the community created but didn’t seem to work as well as SRB. Now I’m trying to figure out how to migrate all of my Smart Lighting SmartApp automation over to SRB.
It’s only downfall is there are no Sunrise / Sunset + offset triggers yet. Perhaps @JoeC can make a paid version with that functionality, I’d buy at this point. I love the fact that it’s a webui that I can access from PC, Mac, and even mobile. I don’t have to dive around some white and green SmartApp within the ST mobile app, Automation requires careful planning which is great to see all of the variables laid out on a big screen.
You realize that even “Simple RuleBuilder” or other 3rd party applications that API to SmartThings will not execute when the SmartThings backend is erratic?
I don’t know what I’m supposed to realize. What I observe is that it works whenever SmartThings pre-canned solutions don’t work. Also this has been a long term observation, not just coincidentally aligning with outages and back end problems.
And finally, @kurtsanders, nothing directly at you, but I think the community needs to lighten up, this used to be a great place to post things that we’ve found or created to better the SmartThings experience for others, now I feel like whenever I post anything, my post immediately gets buried by comments that are negative towards SmartThings or my opinions. Everyone is entitled to opinions, I can take constructive criticism as any adult should be able to, but this should be a place to post things that help the community.
I also have no problem with a venting thread, I have those days too.
@keithcroshaw I usually am not so negative, but having HA routines not work, randomly fire off at all times of the night, is maddening. No Help support and no where to fix items that used to work on a V1 hub, I think the “community” has a reason to be temperamental.
For example, here is what I received just seconds ago when I check my existing SimpleRulesBuilder account and asked to re-authorize my account. It needs to be authorized again because the existing device list is inaccurate.
Hrmm that is strange. Right before Christmas I was really fed up with it all too. Maybe @bravenel’s Rule Machine would be a better option.
I’ve had issues with the URL that SRB spits out. Try to cut off all of the URL after the .aspx
The main takeaway is that these rule builders are the way ST should have approached automation right out of the gate in my opinion. And I just wish I could manage ST from a PC, without android emulation.
Have a look at Rule Machine’s thread…I very much admire Bruce’s work, but unfortunately nothing is bullet proof against back end problems. I guess we should be happy that we are seeing less frequent failures these days?! Maybe…But I think for the community ‘to lighten up’ will take more than a few days with no hiccups. For goodness sake, I have scheduled a Wemo to turn on/off at sunset/sunrise in the Wemo app. It’s yet to fail once in 2 months, while ST fails on weekly basis.
Hey Keith, I didn’t mean to leave out your “maybe”. And I wasn’t saying that @bravenel’s app is NOT a better solution, because in MANY ways it is! It certainly corrects some childish mistakes left behind by careless coders (not a fact but a supposition based on observed results) But unfortunately, just like any other front-end solutions, the apps don’t solve the root problems.
I don’t fault simplerulesbuilder, SmartThings server is not operational or they are blocking the authorization from simplerulesbuilder.
I have two Ecobee systems that manage my home’s HVAC and humidity levels, they automate away and vacation temperature scheduling, provide remote area temperature control in all parts of the home, and offer excellent system & home efficiency reports. It has never failed once and they offer phone support. Note I do not pay for any after purchase support, Ecobee just offers it as a part of excellent customer service.
I have three Liftmaster garage doors that are accessible from the internet, and they have performed flawlessly from my iOS app with control and notifications. They too, offer free phone support.
I have numerous Sonos sound systems that perform perfectly and system and iOS updates are frequent and add high quality features.
I have a Honeywell Vista Alarm integrated to the Internet using AD2Pi and EnvisaLink. These operate will incident and offer free support.
My point is that all these products listed above are SEPARATE solutions that perform without issue. How does SmartThings think that they can continue to operate with all the random backend issues that plague their very existence?
I wish I had a crystal ball two years ago when I purchased their V1 Hub and upgraded to V2? I would have delayed any of this nightmare.
I know and I can’t believe they’re doing all of this Samsung TV stuff without fixing their problems first.
And I think that the problem you’re experiencing may be a result of the new OAuth policy change that ST is rolling out. I don’t know why mine is working, I hope it continues to. SRB is not a SmartApp that you can install yourself from the IDE which seems to be in their list of apps that will not work with the new policy…
There was a change in the OAuth flow that requires the code to token exchange to be done with an HTTP POST instead of an HTTP GET. The documentation originally documented the OAuth code exchange as an HTTP GET and over time switched to recommending an HTTP POST. As of the platform update yesterday, it looks like the HTTP GET was unintentionally closed. I updated SharpTools last night to work around the authorization changes, but I wouldn’t expect most developers to jump at making changes to their applications. That being said, SmartThings is looking into potentially rolling back the change.
@joshua_lyon Nice of SmartThings Engineering to break things that were working on other integrated platforms!
I know what they are saying, “We gave em plenty of notice…blah, blah…” but really, how about they get their house in order before they change working API integrations?
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tgauchat
(ActionTiles.com co-founder Terry @ActionTiles; GitHub: @cosmicpuppy)
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I definitely understand your frustration, Kurt, as the ability to install SmartTiles is currently down from the same issue.
The problem was due to a change in one the 3rd party libraries they link to. I don’t pretend to fully understand the issue, because, well, it strikes me as complete insanity that any Customer facing vendor (i.e., SmartThings) would allow their product’s stability to be at the whim of their 3rd-party suppliers…
Oh wait…: SmartTiles is in exactly this situation, sadly: Our app is extremely dependent on the stability of SmartThings. But my statement is accurate … I feel pretty darned insane at the moment.
But unfortunately, just like any other front-end solutions, the apps don’t solve the root problems.