Just some basic questions about the meaning of the “Right Now” display when you select a multipurpose sensor (applies to other devices as well). The display consists of a large area obviously indicating the status of the device (open or closed), but below that there’s a grid of 5 indictators, and I would like to understand more about these:
"inactive" or “active”: not clear to me what this means. I had thought that “inactive” meant that the sensor was not reachable by the hub, but that appears not to be the case. Is it not really a sensor state at all but actually a condition on the system? (eg when you’re home, smartthings doesn’t care about the door status-- so “inactive”?)
Temperature: Pretty self explanatory, but how often is it updated? Also, given that these sensors are intended to be positioned between a door and its frame, even the smallest crack will admit cold air, so what’s the use of temp sensor here?
“Three numbers”: I have no idea what these are. Is it so obvious that it doesn’t need any label ? What units? Why put them there if there is no way to interpret what these are? WHAT ARE THEY? How can I use them? Shouldn’t there be some cue in the GUI that reminds us what these numbers are and what order they’re in?
"battery life". Ok.
“Refresh”. What exactly happens when I press this? Does it interrogate the sensor and give me back readings? It doesn’t give me any confidence that when I press it, it confirms successful communication with the sensor.
The item that’s inactive is the vibration sensor part (I believe).
Multi sensors do temp, open/closed, and vibration.
As far as using the temp, not everyone uses these as open/close sensors on an outside facing door. They are used for internal doors as well, and can be used to make sure the kids didn’t open something they shouldn’t (gun cabinet, liquor cabinet, snack cupboard door, etc)
If you have that page open, it will refresh in real time. (hold your phone up and open the door, you’ll see the open/closed change and likely the vibration).
Temp: The sensor will send an update when it changes by at least one degree, but it will also send updates every 10 minutes or so. ST will only show events in the app when the temp changes, but in the IDE you could check all the events to see how often it reports.
Refresh: It sends a message to the sensor asking its status. There is no way to verify it was successful from the app, and since it will report when any state changes, you’ll rarely if ever see anything change when pressing refresh. For non-sensor devices it can be very useful if the state of the device is changed from outside ST.
The three numbers represent orientation of the sensor, basically the “DC” value of accelerometer signals. The active/inactive indicator flags any rapid change in the accelerometer signals? Ahh… so that’s why it asks you if the sensor is intended for a garage door-- because in that scenario, it uses orientation to determine open/closed Presumably “active” would mean that the garage door is in the process of being opened or closed.
The “refresh” function interrogates the sensor, but as Scott indicated, it doesn’t actually report whether or not the communication with the device was successful. Is that the correct interpretation?
? What units? Why put them there if there is no way to interpret what these are? WHAT ARE THEY? How can I use them? Shouldn’t there be some cue in the GUI that reminds us what these numbers are and what order they’re in?
Presumably “active” would mean that the garage door is in the process of being opened or closed.