First of all I am still on V1 hub and running the older Andriod app.
I had installed the Sunrise / sunset app a while ago but it stopped working last week. I uninstalled it but when I went to reinstall I find out it was deleted and no longer supported. Ok, so I figure out that I need to use “Bright When Dark And/Or Bright After Sunset” and installed it. My lights still don’t turn on at sunset. Because the app no longer prompts for location it must get the sunrise/sunset times some other way.
Now, I logon the the IDE and click on my locations and see the Time Zone is correct and the hub has the correct zipcode but the Sunrise and Sunset times are not even close to what they are supposed to be. It seems that I am unable to correct the problem.
Anybody have an idea why I can’t get this simple sunrise/sunset function to work?
Are you using SmartWeather (i.e. do you have a SmartWeather Tile amongst your “things”)?
If so, do you also have the SmartWeather Controller smartapp installed? This is responsible for periodically updating the SmartWeather Tile. Without it the sunrise and sunset times will not update as the seasons change (and the weather info will also remain static and therefore incorrect). If not, install and configure the SmartWeather Controller smartapp.
If both of the above are in place but you still have incorrect sunrise/sunset time, edit the SmartWeather Tile and check the Zip Code setting it is using.
If the Zip Code is wrong, correct it. If the Zip Code is correct but you still get bad data, it’s time to choose a new weather station… (this is what I did, as I’m in Australia; SmartThings doesn’t currently understand our Post Codes).
SmartWeather pulls its information from the Weather Underground. You can go to their website, do a location search and find all their weather measurement locations in your area. Once you’ve picked one which is most applicable to you, determine what its ID is. The easiest way to find the ID is:
Click on the station on the map.
Click the “Full Forecast” button in the panel which appears to the
right of the map.
Once you have the ID for the weather station you’d like to use, change the Zip Code in the Smart Weather Tile to be “pws.StationID” (but without the quotes). So, for the example above, I would set the Zip Code to pws.IVICMELB6.
Now, SmartWeather Tile will pull weather information, which includes sunrise and sunset time, from the Weather Underground, but specifically for that particular weather station.
Yes I have a weather tile and it is properly updating. I have been using polster to update it. In the tile it has the correct sunrise / sunset times. I pull the data from my personal weather station on the weather underground so I am 100% sure the station is operating correctly. Although I am not sure how other apps would be using it
In the IDE under locations it shows the proper time zone and the correct zip code. It is only the sunrise and sunset times that are off. I am assuming these times are maintained by the back end?
I contacted them yesterday and they tell me to go to the marketplace and use a different app. I don’t even know what the marketplace is. I am still on v1 of the app. I will not update to v2 until they fix it.
Part of the problem I have is there is no clear path on what apps to use. It is a hodge podge mess and the new names people are attaching to procedures isn’t really helping matters. I must admit that the thrill is gone between me and smartthings. I am left asking myself how much more of my time and energy must I put into SmartThings to get to a point where I am not constantly needing to babysit it?
What “fixes” are you waiting for? I have a feeling your experience will be worse in V1 app, than in V2 even without “fixes” you are hoping for… Just my feeling, and my experience working with many other companies. As soon as they focus on the new version, the old version languishes and sometimes moves backwards in cases like this where there is a backend. The old version starts not working with the backend anymore. My 1.8 cents.
@an39511 if you are in the US, Canada or UK that is not a response i’d accept as ST is supported in those countries and the sunrise/sunset times should be correct. If you are in one of those countries, i’d escalate the issue. If not this maybe the app you are looking for.
I already replied and told them there is a problem in the location not properly updating the sunrise / sunset times. They said they will go in and do something to fix it.
Thank you very much for the code. At least I can get things working again while I wait.
I realize this thread is over one year old, but with SmartThings, some problems never get old. I have a SmartLighting automation driven by sunrise/sunset events and noticed that the light does not turn on on time. Surely, looking in the IDE, I see that sunset event is set for 8:08 PM PST Really?! My iPhone weather app tells me that sunset time is 4:53 PM today. Is SmartThings hopelessly stuck in the past again?
I knew you were going to say that But then sometimes the obvious is not that obvious. Anyway, I get your point. But when updates are deployed restarting the apps is not that much PIA if it happens once in a while. Like you said, this thread is pretty old and that’s a good sign.
All Smart Lighting rules with Sunrise/Sunset triggers are failing again. Support says they cannot fix it on their end. Suggest I delete all rules and re-create them again. This sucks!
But then sometimes the obvious is not that obvious. Anyway, I get your point. But when updates are deployed restarting the apps is not that much PIA if it happens once in a while. Like you said, this thread is pretty old and that’s a good sign.
