Current state of Alexa skill

News and Updates Voice Control
#1

So, I'm in the market to replace my SmartThings setup and Hubitat seems to fit hand in glove, similar coding requirements and most drivers already exist or can easily be moved across. However, looking for information on voice control and what is supported has been less than easy.

Looking at Hubitat videos it says the Alexa skill is compatible with lights, dimmers and door locks (or something similar). Looking at some forum posts it seems thermostats are supported, others seem to tell a story they're not. Some mention contact sensors works fine, others suggest you have to jump thru hoops to get this working...

Is there an official document telling me exactly what is (and is not) supported anywhere?

I mean, we mostly automate things but certain things we have become accustomed to with ST and dont want to give up. For example, with ST, Netstmo and a custom device handler I can ask "Alexa what is the porch temperature" and I'll get a reply akin to "the porch temperature is 14 degrees". Similarly for certain doors, I can ask if it's open rather than opening an app, finding the room, then the contact sensor in question and finally checking the status etc.

#2

If you can do it on ST you can probably do it on Hubitat.

3 Likes
#3

I have 2 thermostats linked into Alexa and they work fine. There are two versions, basic and advanced, advanced shows all set points where the basic one shows only the current setpoint. I really just use it for changing mode as I automate the temperature in rules, but the setpoint changing works fine as well for in basic mode.

Now one thing it does not seem to do is report back what the current temperature in the room is, unknown if it is supposed to but she just says " _____ thermostat doesn't support that".

Just curious, what do people need this for as I would think the automation side of contact sensors would be handled on HE not in Alexa routines. Does it report temperature or something?

OMG I just went exploring and added all my motion sensors to Alexa, no clue you could just say what is the temp of such and such room and she will just average it, that is actually super cool lol

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#4

Just migrated a large number of ALL my ST devices to HE C7 and everything integrates with Alexa as it did before with ST, e.g. thermostats, switches, outlets, lights, dimmers, Sonos, Harmony, Weather, etc...

I had to delete all leftover ST ghost devices in Alexa and removed the ST skill which was a PITA given Alex'a inability to select multiple, but now all converted to HE and working faster and much better than ST...

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#5

When deleting lots of old devices, I’ve found it goes faster to browse to alexa.amazon.com in a desktop browser window. Still can’t select multiple devices at once, but point and click with a mouse is less tedious than using the mobile app nonetheless.

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#6

Thanks, but I'm not a complete idiot :smiley: That is one of the pages I checked first, after seeing the Hubitat official video which said pretty much the same as your link, i.e.;

The Amazon Echo Skill app and Alexa Hubitat Skill are capable of controlling are on/off switches, dimmers and locks. Hubitat Elevation® Virtual buttons, thermostats, and input devices are not supported at this time.

That's a bummer, because that is my exact usage scenario.

It can report temp etc, but like you said, I do all my automation on the ST, or hopefully, HE side, but it's ideal to make sure the kids closed a door using voice rather than an app and/or actually going to check.

Great tip. This is what I've done the three or four times I've started from scratch again with ST as well. Boggles the mind how you cannot select several devices or even entire rooms at once though.

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#7

It does support them. Alexa gets confused when you have a group of lights with a name you may be calling for when asking temp. For example, if I ask "What's the temperature in the hallway?" it will respond [Hallway doesn't support that]. I have a Hue group of lights named "Hallway". But if I ask "What's the temperature of the Hallway Motion Sensor?", it respond with the correct temperature.

Thanks for pointing this out. This was old information and some of it contained typos. It has been corrected.

4 Likes
#8

French Canadian now released!! And run so fine! Thanks so much Hubitat!! :+1:t2:

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#9

Happy to hear that it’s working well!

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#10

No worries. I found quite a lot of out-of-date information scouring the web for information before deciding to make the jump TBH. This was just one of those instances where I was unable to discern what was correct or not based on so many differing opinions on forums.

So I ordered the HE on Friday. Will arrive Monday morning.

Turns out it's all for nought though. In my excitement I had also missed that the Ikea TrĂĄdfri buttons and motion sensors were incompatible. I have too many of the buttons to be able to make it work, so HE is also going right back on Monday :neutral_face:

Perhaps I'll look in again in another year.

#11

Well that's a shame. I wouldn't want you to hold out for something that cannot be promised. This can be resolved, but it requires a bridge solution for now. I've been cheering on the developers in the community to develop a HomeKit Controller type integration that would allow HomeKit compatible gateways such as the IKEA to be added very easily, allowing all the devices to be exposed directly to HE.

There are technical challenges, so I've no idea if that's going to see the light of day. I will keep faith. There are so many incredibly determined and talented people in the community and inside the company. Hubitat is rising to a level that is beginning to approach the big guys, and will likely surpass them in the not so distant future. Best of luck in your endeavors.

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#12

Amazon really needs to fix the ghosting issue! I wish we could multi delete or group things better.

#13

Anyone else been having sync issues as of late with Alexa exposed devices? When I want them to work they function fine, i.e. turning the light on/off does so, but if the light is turned on by my automations the status of the switch on the Alexa side does not seem reliable.

For example, with the new energy monitoring feature inside Alexa it said last week my downstairs bedroom lights were ON an average of 23.6 hours per DAY, when I know for a fact they were not, and whenever I seem to check the switch in Alexa it is ON even though HE and reality says it is off.

Actually on second look, it seems to be a wider spread problem at least for me. None of my lights (dimmers and bulbs) seems to be updated on either alexa or my dashboards when their brightness level is changed with an automation and when the on/off state change is detected, the brightness change is not and the sliders are at the previous level not the current level.