I am new to Smartthings and so far very impressed at the skill and knowledge across the community. I am in the middle of implementing a security system using ST with motion sensors and door switches. It seems to me some basic functionality might be in order for the Smartapp: Smart Home Monitor - Security in the following areas:
The smart app does not have the means to create a zone (or sensor) with a delay function. The delay function could be programable in seconds or minutes and would allow a person to either enter a particular zone (front door) and give them time to disable the alarm. Perhaps all the sensor types could have a delay option?
A delay zone mentioned above should also have something like a pre-alarm. On traditional alarm systems when someone enters a zone with a delay function a pre-alarm may sound immediately until the delay has expired and then the alarm siren sounds at that point. Often pre-alarms are built into a key pad and are something on the order of a piezo (not too loud but loud enough to wake you or be heard at the other end of the house).
The smart app Smart Home Monitor - Security has the ability to turn a light on. This might be the easiest place to plug in a Zigbee or Zwave outlet which for a simple example might have a wart type transformer and piezo wired to it used specifically for the pre-alarm sound. SO some functionality and timing parameters would have to be developed (turn it on, look for unarm command, otherwise count down and expire) at that point the siren would be enabled but as you can see some orchestration is needed between these functionalities.
I would love to continue the dialogue here to see where this might go. At the same time if I missed something of significance (it exists already dummy, wrong thread or otherwise I apologize profusely)
Holy delay Batman!!! How is there not a delay zone or even delay the entire system. How does everyone disarm there system? I pull in to the the garbage and as soon as I open the door, I get intrusion alerts. If i walk in through an outside door, intrusion alerts. The list goes on. Please add a simple delay. Is there an official feature request form to fill out?
The issue of needing a entry and exit delay for smart home monitor has been brought up since the feature was released and raised directly with the CEO of SmartThings in May, but it hasnāt happened yet.
There are some ways to introduce a delay using custom code, but itās not very intuitive. You can ask in the core peer assistance thread, I think some people there have done it.
( Core is a very sophisticated community-created rules engine. In core, a single rule is called a āpiston.ā)
Biggest thing Iād like is to be able to set a delay before triggering the full alarm so that I can turn off the alarm before it goes off causing a false. Ideally SHM would add another page after editing each alarm type (security, smoke, water, custom) where the can enter an optional delay (in seconds) as well as what lights/sirens/beeps/notifications, etc theyās like triggered during the pre-alarm delay.
The problem with the current SHM is that every open/closed switch and every motion detector is considered an intrusion device therefore, SHM will always initiate an Intrusion alert. There is no customization - one has no choice of which of these devices to use for intrusions and which devices not to use and no way to do anything if one of these devices changes stateā¦ The way around this is to use custom rules and routines. The problem here is that there is a disconnect between the custom rules and the routines, therefore when you arm/disarm the system from the dashboard nothing happens - cameras will not turn on, lights will not turn on or off. The same is true with the Notify Me When app. Everything is considered an intrusion. There is no page to select the devices you wish to only notify you without an intrusion alert. And of course, there is no delay capability with the dashboard. This to me is the biggest disappointment with ST otherwise I would give ST a very good rating. If I hadnāt spent so much money on the system and devices, I would scratch it and wait for something else better to come along.
Thanks @Scott_Barton. I think it used to work that way, but I just double checked before I replied to you and currently I can slide the switches to the left to turn them off but no devices are listed on either page. When you save the app and return to it the switches are automaatically turned on again. Thia condition renders the security app as useless.
Thanks, @dangitbobby but flipping the switch does nothing and after you leave the page it automatically reverts back to on. I do not know when this happened as I had not made any changes to my ST system in months but I believe it worked for me beforeā¦ I installed my Arlo cameras about the same time as the latest software update and that is when I noticed the change. Is anyone else using an iphone? Sometimes software updates happen on iphones before Androids and I am wondering if this is the new Dashboard. Firstly, I donāt recall any messages regarding this change and if any of the ST staff is reading these messages, why has nothing been said about this change? I have ranted about this in many posts. Do I need to reinstall the app?
Since you are very knowledgeable, @JDRoberts and you have been trying to help me, here is what I have uncovered so far. In the Marketplace under SmartApps in the Safety Security section there is the app Smart Home Monitor - Security.
In the Marketplace under SmartApps in the Smartthings Recommends section there are two apps called Smart Home Monitor - Security.and Smart Home Monitor - Custom. They are one and the same! They are what makes the Dashboard work because if you remove the app you lose the Dashboard. There are also Smart Home Monitor - Smoke and Smart Home Monitor - Leaks. These are the apps in the Configure Section (accessed by the gear on the Dashboard.
What that means is that someone has gone in and taken out all the functionality of these apps. I can not figure out why I am the only one that has this problem. Who dunnit, when and why?
@JDRoberts. Thanks again. This will probably be my last post on this issue.The real reason I posted to you before is that I am not sure if you are using an android device or an ios device as you have written about both.
Scott_Barton8h
Huh. I just took that screen shot. And my phone just updated the app this morning so I assume its the latest Android app. Are you on iPhone?
This post got my curiosity up, so I was just wondering if anyone with an ios device would check out to see if this happening on their phones.
Iām not sure about iOS, but when I flip that switch, the page refreshes and if I scroll down I can choose the individual devices.
As long as I choose at least one device, tap āNextā, and continue through all the following screens, it saves everything as expected.
On a different note, Iāve created a new zone based security SmartApp and I plan on releasing a beta version soon, but if youāre interested in trying out the Alpha version, let me know and Iāll send you the code and documentation that has screenshots.
The SmartApp has a bunch of notification options, but you can also view the security alerts and arming/disarming changes from within the SmartApp so you donāt have to use them. That allows you to continue using SHM for the notifications while testing the new SmartApp to see if it provides the functionality youāre looking for.
