ST + Google Assistant integration (using new Google Action)

Devices & Integrations
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Hi Community

I reconnected my ST account to my Google Assistant (hereafter, referred to as simply GA) the other day, after all the email reminders from ST and audible messages from GA, regarding the new ST Google Action which should be used from today onwards.

With the previous ST / GA integration I was able to actually select / deselect which ST devices I want to share with GA. This was useful as I didn’t necessarily want ALL (ST) devices to suddenly appear in GA and clutter things up, especially when I couldn’t see any use in having voice command capability for a certain device (i.e. a ST motion sensor… I can’t think of any voice command I would want to actually use for such a device).

With this new integration, it does not now seem possible to select / deselect which ST devices I want to share with GA; it appears to be an all-or-nothing deal. This presents me with a few issues.

Firstly, it pollutes my list of devices in GA with all the ST devices that I wouldn’t want voice commands for (i.e. again, motion sensors). This bloats the number of devices that GA “sees” too much. And I really hate clutter when it comes to things like this.

Next, it also results in duplicated devices being available to GA. Let me explain. I have a Hive Heating thermostat, which is obviously linked to my Hive account, but I also have that same thermostat listed as a device within ST (by connecting my Hive account to ST) - my idea being that I use ST as the one-stop-shop for all things (devices) relating to my smart home, and that I rarely use the other vendor apps (Hive, Hue, Harmony etc.) to see the status of their associated devices.

Now, back to the duplication of devices. I have connected my GA to both my Hive and ST accounts, therefore GA pulls in all devices it “sees” in my Hive account and all devices it “sees” in my ST account. This results in my Hive heating thermostat being listed as a device TWICE - the device from Hive AND the same device from ST. Also, when asking GA about the status of the heating, it splurts out the exact same info TWICE - once for the ST version of the device and then another time for the Hive version of the same device. That kinda sucks.

Because of this, and because of the way I had it configured using the legacy Google Action, I want GA to ONLY be able to “see” the Hive thermostat, pulled in from my Hive / GA account integration. I DO NOT want GA to ALSO “see” the same device pulled in from my ST / GA integration as well. Sure, I want the thermostat still listed in ST as a device (as it’s my one-stop-shop and I use it for pistons in webCoRE too), but I don’t want GA to “see” it as a device from ST, especially when I already have GA “see” the same device from my Hive account. I feel it’s always better to connect GA directly to whichever vendor (in this case, Hive) as it surely provides additional functionality specific for such an integration(?)

All that said - and, I hope it all made sense - is there any way with the new ST / GA integration (new Google Action) that I can be picky with which devices I choose to share and not share from ST to GA, like it was possible to do before? This would mean I could again choose to NOT share my Hive thermostat with GA from ST, and solely rely on my Hive / GA integration for that particular device.

It would also allow me - again, like I could do before quite happily - to NOT share devices such as motion sensors and moisture sensors from ST to GA, which I don’t see the value / benefit of being listed as a device in GA, as I can’t think of any voice commands that I would ever wish to use for those particular devices (if there are even any available in the first place…).

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Is this something that could be introduced to the new ST Google Action some time in the future?

Many thanks in advance
@frazzlegod

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Short answer: this inability to select devices and resultant duplication is a recent known issue discussed at length in another topic as it’s a problem for many, including me. I’ll try and find the link for you on a minute.
No known solution just yet but there is a workaround involving creating a second dummy Google location to divert unwanted devices to.

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Here’s that link @frazzlegod - not want you want to read but at least you will know you are not alone and I hope the workaround helps.

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Hey @black-paladin

Thank you for your reply, much appreciated.

I should have, perhaps, spent a little more time than I already did searching the community to see if this issue had already been reported or not, then maybe I would have found your link. Hey ho. Apologies for that.

I’m glad I’m not alone with this issue now. And I think I will actually try to read (most of) that thread anyway, if only to get a better understanding of what others have found.

Being honest, I’m not immediately a fan of creating the second home location in GA as a workaround; after all, that goes against my policy of ridding my smart home world of unnecessary clutter, as I’m sure it does for droves of other people too. That said, a workaround is indeed better than nothing at all. I’m sure I could live with the “out of sight, out of mind” (diverting to a dummy GA location) solution for the time being.

So, thank you, once again, for taking the time to reply and pointing me in the direction of others’ similar pain with this.

Stay safe…
@frazzlegod