Only having problems with virtual edge contact sensors / switches from the community. All other Alexa integrations seem to be working as expected though i can’t confirm that my alexa triggers beyond these are very diverse.
Yes I learned of the change where units are now always required so I’ve gone through all my virtual device types and made sure to comply. So I think that issue is resolved. Don’t think it has relevance to the Alexa integration issues some are starting to see.
Regarding the Alexa integration reliability issue some are reporting: I’m curious to know if your Alexa routines are performing a ‘dual’ function of both testing the contact and taking some action AS WELL AS setting a switch state based on some voice command or other Alexa-based event — both on the same device? Or are your routines only doing one or the other? If you try to do both with the same SmartThings device, you could cause an unintended feedback loop.
With Virtual Alexa Switches I use the switch portion in ST to open or close the contacts and I use the contacts to trigger the Alexa Routines.
I don’t use the switch portion in Alexa.
For the “real” contact device that you tested and had consistent results - that’s really interesting. Maybe it’s true that Alexa is not liking the dual switch + contact anymore. As @JDRoberts earlier pointed out, we’ve always known that Alexa sees these devices as switches, even though it’s allowed us to use the contact capability in “When this happens…”.
Creating just a stand-alone virtual contact device wouldn’t be very functional since there would be no mechanism (switch) to open/close the contact. I’m thinking of creating a new virtual Alexa device PAIR- one switch-only + one contact-only - that would be linked & synched internally by the driver.
Otherwise it sounds like another good alternative for now would be to use the virtual lock, which has been reported as consistently reliable.
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Could we try that atleast for diagnostic purposes?
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Well at least I can now try without worrying about the consequences of any changes affecting Alexa routines.
Tonight nearly all virtual switches (90%) both those triggering as well as others switched by Alexa have disappeared from 30+ Alexa routines! Also have disappeared Third Reality motion sensors (those that plug directly by USB to the Echo) and cannot be seen as sensors. The problem, if there was any doubt, is Alexa, and also my ST history shows they are firing in ST automations.
The only virtual switches I can detect at this moment not disappeared in Alexa routines are a couple of @ygerlovin momentary buttons (with hidden contact sensor) and some recently added vEdge switches.
I’m not seeing that behaviour. Could you have deleted and re-added devices from Alexa or smartthings? You might know this already but that will remove devices from associated routines in Alexa, requiring manually re-adding.
No, I haven’t touched anything - happened during the night. Precisely I had replied to posts on this, and another thread, that I had not had any problems with virtual switches. Wish I’d never said anything!
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FWIW, I ran into a problem on 11 May reported by others on Alexa forums where many of my devices, regardless of the method of integration, disappeared from Alexa control even though they still showed in the Alexa app.
Fortunately all that was required to fix that problem was “Alexa, discover new devices.” Whew! All of my devices were then marked as new, but all my groups and routines were unchanged and worked fine.
As to whether the dual capability issue is due to a change on the SmartThings side or the Alexa side, there’s no clear proof either way yet as the virtual devices, by their nature, cannot be tested from another platform. It’s clear the integration is broken, but whether that’s because ST is now sending different data to Alexa or because Alexa is handling the same data differently is invisible to us as end users. Hopefully the engineers will figure it out. 
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Which engineers though? As yet neither smartthings official support nor amazon support has really acknowledged the issue. I appreciate that @nayelyz is looking into it (I think?). Has anyone else had any info back from open tickets from either company?
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Effectively Alexa discovered 159 devices, then said added 91.
Some of the virtual switches (those seen as switches have been rediscovered) while I have seen a reclassification in Alexa not noticed before.
although many grayed out
Not surprisingly the lock is recognised
I’m not posting just to show my issues but rather in the hope we can see some common thread to Alexa recognition of virtual switches
Yeah I’ve just noticed this too. My Alexa routines are no longer working and when I go into the routine the contact sensor isn’t there anymore.
This is a bog deal as I have so many things relying on these. What’s the solution, if any?
Thank you.
To answer @TAustin question, i both test contact sensor for trigger and sometimes change status via the switch in Alexa routines.
I have not seen the disappearing devices in Alexa that others are seeing
Regarding the comment about using the lock instead. I tried that last week … to confirm … you then need to set a pin to unlock it, correct?
Wait and don’t touch anything. My physical Third Reality sensors are 10 minutes ago available again and I can start to see the virtual switches reappearing. Now I shall see if they run.
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I created a lock in vEdge Creator to test if it suited my needs as a replacement for the problematic contact sensor / switch combinations. It worked fine triggering Alexa routines when locked or unlocked from within Smartthings, but when you lock or unlock the device from within Alexa, the Alexa routines would not trigger. The device status in Alexa and Smartthings would appropriately change, Smartthings routines would trigger, but no Alexa routine triggering. Does that behavior make any sense to anyone? Could it somehow be related to or provide any clues about the contact sensor / switch triggering issues?
I have replaced 1 of my Virtual Alexa Switches with a Virtual Lock and it is very reliability triggering Alexa Routines.
The only problem with this approach is that it not intuitive in ST app.
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@Paul_Oliver Are you seeing the same issue that I saw where changing the lock status in Alexa does not trigger the Alexa routine?
You can make it more intuitive by creating a basic virtual on/off switch, then using two smartthings routines to unlock the virtual lock when the switch is turned on, and lock the virtual lock when the switch is turned off.
Now you can use the lock in alexa Routines and use the switch in smartthings routines, scenes, and Alexa voice commands.
It’s more work to set up, but it should be intuitive equal to the previous virtual switch/sensor combinations.
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I am only changing the lock status in ST, and it triggers my Alexa routines. I have not tried to change it in Alexa.
To change in Alexa you will probably need a pin code to unlock it.