I really want to like this platform. I was at Samsung prior to them acquiring SmartThings, and the promise of the platform is amazing.
That being said, BASIC functionality in core apps (like Smart Lighting) is just too darn unstable to be useful. Case in point - I have several of the Aeon Gen5 Multisensors, and in two cases, I’m using them for internal light control - one triggered on motion and one triggered on lux value. Both of those work perfectly.
However, in the SAME Smart Lighting App, another automation to use Lux value from another Aeon Gen5 refuses to fire the automation even after the lux value is received. This is beyond frustrating, and makes it an unusable platform in a lot of ways.
Yes, before anyone asks, I’ve tried submitting support tickets (hah, good luck waiting on that), and also ‘gotten in line at the chat support’ (#97 in the queue at 9 am when they opened - that should tell you something).
Sorry, I’m ranting, but as an engineer who worked at a similar startup to SmartThings, I can’t abide by the fact that BASIC and ‘official’ apps have so much instability.
Have you tried to flip the Aeon Multis? To eliminate the multi and determine that the rule is in fact to blame. Switch the multi sensors out and see if the rule then fires. Other things that have thrown my rules off:
There was a bug where modes created after the rules were not respected. I don’t know if this is fixed yet. The rules allow the selection of multiple triggers but it will only respect one.
What was the startup you worked at and did it succeed?
So you have 2 automatons utilizing Lux sensors?
1 that does work and a separate automation utilizing a separate Lux sensor that does not?..and both within the same Smart Lights app?
It’s a shot in the dark (lol) but have you tried swapping the Lux sensors to see if the issue repeats?
How about deleting that instance of the automation and creating a completely separate instance of Smart Lights for that automation?
Pretty sure you are already doing all the other things I could think of given your background. I offer up those because I continually find things that I didn’t think of…and initially they make no sense…but it often works.
Thanks everyone for the advice on switching Multis… I did try swapping out the multi this is happening with (I had a spare new in box), but I haven’t tried assigning one of the working multis to the rule that’s not firing. I’ll give that a shot and see if it leads anywhere.
Also, I’d love to create a new instance of Smart Lighting to see if it’s an issue with too many (is more than 3 too many!?) automations in one Smart App, but, since the upgrade to Smart Lighting, you can’t do that (at least I can’t find a way), as selecting it from Marketplace a second time redirects you back to the existing one you have installed.
The startup I was at was called Destiny Networks, later bought by Home Director (and probably long gone by now). I worked extensively in our internal graph code, so I have a fairly good idea of what’s going on under the covers here, which actually just makes it more frustrating…
Hey join the club! Have a small suggestion. While waiting for stuff to get fixed, might as well enjoy the best of ST…Have you tried this new app? It’s just awesome. It really made me forget about the several outstanding tickets that have been aging for days.
Something else to think about (not that it helps you now)
By being a forum whore I do a lot of reading. One common thing that sticks out to me is that there seems to be different experiences with products, apps, device types, depending on V1 or V2 hub. I assume you are on V2? I can create as many seperate versions of smart lights as I want…or at least I could…hadn’t tried since.
The only other thought I had was…the Lux sensor you believe to be working…associate it to something else that you don’t want to control with Lux and see what happens.
Seems to be working better already, lol. Though trying to figure out how to mimic the setup I had in Smart Lighting. I had Smart Lighting rule set up to turn on the garage light when the garage door opened after sunset, and turn off 5 minutes after the door closed. I have been able to do the same with the rules machine, accept for turning the light off after the door being closed for 5 minutes. it just shuts off at close instead.
Someone just needs to come up with a generalized timer app, launched by a Momentary Button Tile, with a set time. Rule Machine could turn on the timer when some rule came true. Each instance you install has it’s own timer value, and device to turn on/off/open/close, etc.
You don’t need to know how to write code, just how to read it well enough to change it. That’s the original definition of “hacking”. Try it, it’s fun!! Harmless too.
Good question! However, there is no means in ST for SmartApps to talk to each other. So, in general, no other automation could ‘interrupt’ the timer. You just have to think through what should happen. A general timer app may not be the answer for many automations! It, by definition, lacks context. If the timer functionality needs context, then it has to be part of the app that knows the context.
