[ST Edge] vEdge Creator: a virtual device generator for end users

DRIVER UPDATE NOTICE

I have what I believe is a good vEdge driver solution to addressing the Alexa integration reliability issue.

The vEdge solution (described below) is in addition to the Alexa Multi-trigger driver I made available a few days ago, which seems to have proven out the fact that Alexa is having trouble triggering off of switch/contact combo devices. Triggering is more reliable when you use just a contact device. If you prefer the Alexa Multi-trigger approach over the vEdge solution, then feel free to continue using that driver. I will continue to maintain it.

I’ll summarize the pros and cons of the two different drivers farther down below.

vEdge Solution

In order to minimize disruption to existing setups, I’m adding a device setting option to the virtual AlexaSwitch devices to create a separate contact device. (Once your vEdge driver has been updated, you should see the new option in the Settings sceen) When you enable this option, a separate contact device will be created and will be synched with the corresponding switch device. The device label of the new contact device will be the name of the AlexaSwitch device with ‘-contact’ appended at the end. (Note that if you have changed the AlexaSwitch device label just before creating the contact device, it is possible that the older label will be picked up and not your new one; this is a platform issue). You can change the contact device label to anything you want.

This separate contact device will be synched with the state of the corresponding switch device (off=closed; on=open), so no automations are required to do that.

I have also included a new auto-revert option to the AlexaSwitch devices; you can find it in the device Settings screen.

You now have a synched pair of devices that you can use for both triggering Alexa routines (use the contact device!), and trigger from Alexa routines (use the switch device).

The AlexaSwitch device continues to contain a hidden contact as it did before. If Amazon/Samsung are ever able to fix the integration reliability issue with these combo devices, it’s possible that this device can be used by itself again sometime in the future, without needing the separate contact device. So this is another reason I’ve taken this particular approach, as it allows the device to be used in either scenario.

Summary of Pros and Cons between vEdge and Alexa Multi-trigger drivers

                          Pros                                            Cons
                          -----                                           -----
vEdge driver             * 2-way integration  with Alexa                  * doubles the number of devices
                         * simple transition from existing AlexaSwitch devices
                         * No further driver update needed if Alexa integration gets fixed
                         * vEdge driver solution, so no additional driver needed


Multi-trigger driver     * fewer devices due to multiple (19) switches    * primarily for triggering Alexa;
                           supported in main device                         2-way integration would require automation with separate virtual switch device
                                                                          * automation screens don't show configured device labels
                                                                          * yet another driver

vEdge driver Version: 2023-05-16T01:11:59.874273238

This update will be automatically installed on your hub within 12 hours.

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