On Sept 30 I will wake-up to discover what functionality is lost/broken for my 3 hubs in 3 remote locations. Some devices will need to be replaced, some features will be lost forever (myQ, rboy apps), the massive interconnected web of logic that was built through a patchwork of apps, device handlers, and newer routines will all need to be rebuilt and tested. I won’t be able to look at the old apps or drivers to compare since the IDE will be gone. I won’t be able to have any side-by-side comparisons to test if my new logic is working like the old ones did. And I have to do that for 3 houses in three parts of the USA all on one day. All that effort just to get back the same functionality I had on Sept 29th.
Driver updates will push to your hub automatically within 12 hours of when the author publishes an update.
SharpTools will continue to work after the migration, and their Rules Engine looks to be the best/easiest option for complex automations. They now have an option to connect through the new API, and have said they’re working on a migration plan of their own to move existing customers from the old to the new API.
SmartThings is creating drivers to replace the stock DTHs, so the test would be to look at your devices that are using custom DTHs and figure out whether they’ll still function on one of the stock DTHs. If not, then you’ll need to figure out a different solution.
First, the good news: Homebridge itself exists independent of SmartThings so it’s not going anywhere.
The current SmartThings/Homebridge integration, though, is a smartapp written in groovy, so the bad news is that, yes, that particular path will stop working when the SmartThings groovy cloud goes.
(And unfortunately the way Samsung is going to implement Matter will NOT let you add the ST hub to the Apple HomeKit app, so that won’t be an option.)
So someone will have to write a new integration between ST and HomeKit.
There are several ways that could be done.
@tAustin has done a really interesting integration to MQTT. You could use that and an MQTT broker to get to Homebridge, for example. But it would be more complicated than a regular ST/Homebridge integration.
If we are going to get another ST plug in for Homebridge, somebody is going to have to volunteer to do that work, and I haven’t yet heard of anyone who is. And I would expect it to take several months anyway.
Not the answer you wanted, I’m sure, but I do think a year from now there will probably be a new ST plug in for Homebridge, but of course no promises.
I’m still waiting for a response about this.
Also, I see that the provided link for Edge drivers goes to the ‘Main’ gethub branch and not the ‘Production’ gethub branch. To my understanding, only the uncommented devices in the fingerprints file of the ‘Production’ branch are eligible to be re-joined as an Edge device. So if that’s still true, then I take it that only those devices uncommented in the ‘Production’ branch will be migrated from a DTH driver to an Edge driver by September 30, correct?
I just looked at the remaining DTH zigbee & zwave devices I have connected, and all of them are not commented out on the ‘Production’ branch so it looks to me like all of my devices should be fully migrated to Edge by September 30.
The only remaining legacy DTH driver I have is the SmartThings SmartWeather Station Tile driver which I’ll apparently eventually lose with all its Automations at some point. Either by 30 September, or sometime before the IDE is finally depreciated in early 2023.
I’m not sure what’s officially happening with Weather, but @taustin does have a custom Edge Driver for weather working for some regions if it helps any.
Yet another weather driver (but for Edge!)
Also, you may have already tried this, but someone in the Beta thread might know the answer to your other question.
Since the vast majority of people who use the SmartThings app now do not have a hub at all, how can they use Virtual switches once the Groovy cloud is gone?
You can have a nice “hub optional” ST set up with Samsung smart tvs and appliances, a Hue bridge, Lutron or Leviton (WiFi) switches, a Ring doorbell, an Ecobee or Nest thermostat, Meross smart plugs, and other cloud to cloud integrations.
And currently you can use virtual switches to extend that via Alexa routines to other devices that don’t have ST integration.
So will those of us without hubs still have virtual switches come October? And will those virtual devices be able to trigger Alexa routines?
@JDRoberts I’m currently using one of the virtual switches that can be created through the CLI. It appears to be a cloud construct - routines that include it switch to non-local. Hopefully we get a better way to create them before October though.
You can make virtual switches through labs
virtual Switch creator in Labs is only available on android devices, unfortunately. I use an iPad.
Also, the CLI is a program that has to be downloaded to a pc. I don’t have one of those, either.
That’s what was so great about the IDE. Since it was accessed in a web browser, a lot more people could use it.
That really does need addressing, as does an answer I made elsewhere which overlooked the obvious pitfall. There is a ‘virtual switch’ Edge driver, so on the face of it a stock virtual switch DTH to Edge migration can occur, but that’s only any use if you have a hub.
I suspect the solution will be the virtual devices that have come to our attention via the CLI but have yet to be introduced to us and seem to be missing key elements (cloud v local, and how to map commands to them). However those using them need to know what they need to do.
BTW, if the answer for virtual switches is that you have to buy a cheap Android tablet so you can run the android version of the ST app, I’m personally ok with that as long as there’s a virtual device that can trigger an Alexa routine.
(You can usually find a tablet for under $50. Obviously it’s an additional cost, but not outrageous. Or complicated.)
There is an obvious flaw in my comment. A DTH to Edge migration is only any use if you have a SmartThings hub and actually want the virtual device to run locally.
The virtual switch created in Labs does NOT contain contacts and does NOT trigger Alexa routines.
Unfortunate, but thanks for the information. Maybe they’ll add one for the post groovy world. We can always hope.
I use Webcore, VLC Player,dedicated laptop and Bluetooth speaker to speak notifications (i.e., freezer door has been open for 2 minutes, Backyard gate has been opened. etc.). With Webcore going away I can convert to sharp tools but I can’t find anything about an Edge driver for VLC player.
Does anyone know if an Edge driver has been created for VLC Player? If not, are there any alternatives to VLC player?
Is there a way to see a list of the custom driver channels one is subscribed to?
Go to your hub device page in the mobile app, tap the upper right menu and choose Driver
I don’t usually come on and put in my $0.02 on these matters but this is absolutely unwarranted, and you should apologize now to @jkp
Also, Please refrain from attacking individual users, remember that most of us here are volunteers and offer advice based on a true drive to help.
At the time - the advice was ABSOLUTELY sound, and the correct advice, in fact the same advice we were getting from dev contacts. There has been ZERO whispers of any replacement for Smartlighting as a smartapp, until the announcement (that oyu notice came out to outlets OTHER than the community first, I might add - telling ytou wher ewe sit in the ST management team’s eyes…
…and in fact those of us who had dev contacts were being advised by ST internally to do the same thing. We also screamed (LOUDLY - I might add, now that the relevant players have left ST) that the way thigs were being done were a very bad idea. And I will even point out I know for a FACT, JKP himself griped about the way they were handling the smartlighting aspect of this.
SO - if you want to direct your ire - put it where it is deserved - at ST staff. They’ve managed to bork this rollout one way or another at every single turn.
If you’re unhappy with ST - leave and stop trolling people trying to help. I’m done.
Node-Red could be an option.