Sure would be a great feature to be able to “suspend” a device in it’s present state for a specified time. A good example of this need would be to suspend motion detectors to prevent them from turning lights on, alarming, etc. As mentioned, this would need a prompt to allow the user to enter a specified time with a.default value offered. This would allow a user to enter an area without disturbing others or activating an alarm. It would also allow night time mobility for people and pets without turning on lights.
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Depending on how creative you get with Modes, and using virtual devices, you could probably do what you want. Even the basic use cases for Modes could potentially do some of what you want.
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There are some Home automation systems which went this way, but SmartThings has a different paradigm.
Instead of turning a device off, each individual rule sets up its conditions for when the rule will be executed. This actually gives you much more flexibility because it allows you to have the same device work differently under different conditions.
For example, at my house there’s a motion sensor in the bedroom. During the day, walking past that motion sensor doesn’t trigger any rules.
In the evening, walking past that motion sensor turns on the overhead light.
After I have gone to bed, walking past that motion sensor does not turn on the overhead light – – instead, it turns on a soft night light on the wall.
The motion sensor is still reporting to the hub the whole time, but the rules for what to do have different conditions.
As @johnconstatelo mentioned, this can be easily done with modes, but there are many other ways to do it as well. Some of the more complex set up’s, such as setting a proxy switch for each sensor and then using zone manager to combine the two into one for reporting, would have some one time work to set up, but you can definitely create the outcome you suggest.
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I use ‘virtual switches’ as ‘flags’ or permission switches, etc. and then check for their state in my webCoRE programs.
- For instance, if my wife goes to bed early, I don’t want the master bedroom lights coming on - either due to motion or their normal timed schedule. So, I have an 'EarlyMBBedtime virtual switch/flag that I turn on and it prevents those lights from coming on.
- Another example is my morning lights that normally run on work days. I have an OffOnWorkDay switch that I turn on when we’re not working on what would normally be a work day, and then the lights don’t come on.
- I even have a ‘PreventLights’ switch/flag that I use to prevent any lights from coming on.
- For Halloween, I have another webCoRE program that checks for our presence - only on Halloween, and if neither my wife or I are present, turn the ‘PreventLights’ virtual switch/flag on and then no lights will come on for any reason while we’re away.
As mentioned, use of modes could also work.
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Thx for the reply. That could work on a predetermined more global badis, but would not be practical when one wants to enter a room spontaneously without turning on the lights or alarms. A good example is when one hears a noise and wants to see what’s happening outside.
Thanks again for the suggestion…
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Adding an “enable/disable” option to the Device Type Handler (and their in-App Tiles) of binary Sensors like Motion and Contact is really pretty trivial and would be of tremendous value if made an integral part of the SmartThings Platform.
You can copy and modify various DTH’s yourself; but unless this is a universally implemented feature, its usefulness is limited.
I presume SmartThing hasn’t included this in order to avoid customer confusion. Every UI enhancement brings along various risks and support costs.
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