Updates to the SmartThings Platform

I can see the writing on the wall that that’s where we’re headed, so I’m fully expecting to have to work on my alarm, ST_Anything devices, influxDB, and a few other random things that are talking over the LAN. So far though, everything that I’ve seen has been that the new developer workspace is for cloud integrations, and that everything local (zigbee/zwave/LAN) is coming later. I haven’t bothered to log in to the new workspace since I have no intention of putting that stuff on the cloud, and all my efforts to transition right now are just to get the Groovy code to play nice with the new app.

If webhooks to a Pi are possible right now then that’s something I need to go ahead and learn. I’m lucky to have time now to work on this stuff. I won’t have that luxury if they drop Groovy on a similarly quick timeline at some other time in the year.

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Yep - that’s exactly why I started reading the docs top to bottom, to see if I could unwind best direction for that kind of device. May be worth asking @jody.albritton for a pointer in the right direction (low priority Jody, go fix the other stuff first) :slight_smile:

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“Industry standard” -there is no standard for “multi-functional” smart hubs. Phillips hue does lights on a single protocol, Apple HomeKit argument is the same as the iOS vs. Android argument and Echo plus is just as fragile, but sticking to one protocol just gives users the impression that is somewhat more reliable, although it has 10000 developers behind it :slight_smile: We are still in the Wild West territory when it comes to smart hubs. :wink:

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Hopefully Connected Home IP Alliance will change this, but as with all new standards that emerge, things take time to arrange and implement.

You quoted me out of context. The 10 year industry standard referred only to smoke alarms.

As I said below that, I think most customers’ expectations for Home Automation Devices is 5 years, but I agree there is no industry standard for those, and as I mentioned, the home automation warrantees are very short.

Also, echo plus is definitely not “fragile.“ It’s a certified zigbee 3.0 hub, and it’s been “set and forget“ in that regard for two years. It may not offer very many features, but the ones that it does offer work and meet the MFOP of 12 months easily.

(I’m not sure what the point was on Phillips hue, but it’s using two protocols: Zigbee and LAN. And again, meets the MFOP of 12 months easily. They also publish change logs for each update.)

If you’re saying that smartthings is a more complicated system, OK. But that doesn’t mean it has to have an MFOP that is so short. Again, JMO, obviously. :sunglasses:

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Check out this app, it can be used with STHM and has Entry and Exit delays: [RELEASE] Security System: Intruder Alert with Actions

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Agreed, but let me put it another way.

Several years ago the then new head of engineering at smartthings (Who came from Amazon) said that his goal was that when something went wrong, your first thought wouldn’t be that the problem was SmartThings. In fact, he wanted your last thought to be that the problem was SmartThings.

We are clearly no closer to that goal than we were then. The problem is almost always SmartThings, and the customers know it. :disappointed_relieved:

Say you have an automation to turn a light on at sunset. It’s been running for several months. Then today the light doesn’t come on. Do you think the bulb must be burned out? The smart switch must be bad? The power must be off? There must be local interference?

Or do you think “What did smartthings change now?” :thinking:

That’s not the wild wild West. That’s not an issue with customer expectations. That’s one company’s design philosophy, as evidenced by what they do, not what they say.

Submitted with respect.

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I’ve been around for a few years to know that is SmartThings who is to blame for a lot of things, but this goes back to my original post, we paid less than a bucket of paint, and expect the store clerk to put it on the wall too, and not leave a mess behind.

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Again, we’ll just have to disagree on that. I don’t think the cost matters one way or the other, There are lots of inexpensive devices like smoke alarms and thermometers that we expect to be very reliable.

As for the “not leave a mess behind“, yes, I do expect that. Which is to say if everything was clean when I went to sleep last night, I don’t expect to find a mess in the morning. :scream:

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Exactly @JDRoberts. What about my situation? I bought this thing full price less then two months ago and have continuously lost functionality ever since. I definitely did not get what I thought I was paying for. Two months for something to work the same way shouldn’t be an unreasonable expectation.

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What you thought and what you actually paid for, are two different things. Tell us what you thought you were getting (or link your posts) and what actually happened, and many here can tell you if your expectations were skewed…

I think something more like:

‘There is a definite problem here. If I could rely on SmartThings to speedily communicate their recognition and acknowledgement of a problem being experienced by multiple users, I could concentrate on possible problems at my end. Instead I shall probably waste my time checking at my end anyway, only to then discover many others with exactly the same problems. In a few hours or days time, it might even make it to the SmartThings status page so I know it is being investigated.’

And also:

‘I know this is a SmartThings problem. Unfortunately I have no way of effectively communicating the existence of this problem to them and if has been five hours / two days / one and a half weeks / about two months now and I’d have rather hoped they’d have said something.’

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How about a day in the life as presented on the SmartThings website:

https://www.smartthings.com/smart-home

I would bet a virtual pizza that if you set up what is described in those images (even if you can), using no custom code, and then left it untouched for three months that something would break in that time because of a change in smartthings.

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Umm, maybe doubletap to work on my switches without me having to learn how to write Jason code ? [RELEASE CANDIDATE] Jasco/GE Z-Wave Plus On/Off Switch (14291) With Double-Tap and Associations

Echo speaks to keep working? Updates to the SmartThings Platform

The app I had to teach my wife how to use to keep working and not be replaced with crap?

I did a lot of research before getting this, and had I known what I know now WOULD NOT have purchased this hub.

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I’ll sum.it up…its the software…samsung can make great hardware but when it comes to software…they have you many issues. On a side note software is the only product u can sell that is defective. The second part has nothing to do with this discussion…but it’s the truth & this is from someone who is locked into their echo system as some of you are also.

This. We really need a central point on the ST support site that lists current bugs with the migration, new dev tools and/or the new app. I thought about throwing together a public google doc, but I shouldn’t have to!

But I guess it’s not surprising considering they don’t even properly communicate new features in the new app that people have been requesting. We have to go on an easter egg hunt to find them. At least brag on your work at little!

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Maybe you did. My V2 SmartThings Hub cost much more than a bucket of paint, and I buy good brands of paint.

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You must not be shopping at Home Depot for paint :slight_smile:

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You owe me a virtual pizza, but again, like you said before, no two locations are the same and the experience can be completely opposite.

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Ooooooooooo💪🏾