Hi folks,
I have rules which turn off bulbs and led strips instantly. However when I run similar rules with groups containing the same devices , the devices turn off slowly like a transition. Albeit the dimming transition is over 1.5 seconds. I prefer an immediate off. Does anyone know why a group transitions but a solo device shuts off instantly?
Are you using Zigbee Group Messaging?
Thanks for the soft response Bruce.
Zigbee Group Messaging (ZGM) only works for Zigbee devices. You can expect at least some pop-corning of other types of devices.
I would suggest that you import that Group into Room Lighting. On the Room Lighting main page is an option to do that. Once you import it, you would need to disable the Group app (or remove it). You don't have a Group activation device, but for Group to work, you need one. That's how Groups work -- the activation device (a virtual device) fires the app.
Once you have a Room Lights version of this from the import, you can setup ZGM as an option under Other Activation Options.
Bruce, your always very helpful. I'll give this a whirl tomorrow and feedback. Much appreciated 
@bravenel just to give some context to what I'm trying to achieve. Regards Halloween and Christmas etc etc. (Mainly Halloween) My house has 8 illuminated windows/facades to the front, all of which have ZigBee lighting in some capacity. Ideally I want them all to synchronize and flash at the same time based on the rule in question. Appreciated...Stu
Definitely a candidate for ZGM. Be aware that you must activate and turn off the app using the Activation Device in order to kick in the ZGM commands. The hub will send a single command to the entire group of Zigbee lights.
May I ask why you suggest this?
I have a number of groups consisting of Hue downlights set up in the old Groups app. These groups are bound to Inovelli zigbee switches. Any rules in HE act on the switches; the lights simply respond as if they were hard-wired.
In cases like this, RL seems like overkill just to create a zigbee group. Are the various "Group ..." devices any less capable or desirable than the corresponding activator devices created by RL?
I suspect that if all your devices are homogeneous then the Group would behave the same as the actuator device in RL, so in your case, the group device would be just as capable as the individual devices.
However, if the group is non-homogeneous (e.g. Zigbee bulbs and LED Light strips), then the group might respond differently, perhaps only accepting a subset of commands, or as Bruce's answer above implies, there may be a popcorn effect as the differing devices respond slightly differently to the commands in the "group".
Just my .02 -- I am keenly interested in what Bruce says on this, as it may make me rethink some of my "groups".
S.
IIRC, Eric M's Hubitat binding instructions on the Inovelli site reference using the Group & Scenes (G&S) app, so that may be how some folks end up using G&S for binding their Blues.
As Bruce says, the same thing can be done via Room Lighting. I have binding set up on just one Blue for a couple Hue bulbs, and I used Room Lighting to create that 2-bulb group / group activator.
With respect to the particular goal of creating a group for binding, I think the 2 avenues (G&S and RL) are equivalent in terms of what you need and what you get.
AFAICT, the main advantage of using RL is that RL is the clear heir apparent to G&S... G&S is still hanging around, but staff could decide to deprecate it at any point. For that reason alone, I've moved all my G&S stuff to RL.
Probably. I'd just like a definitive answer in case there's some difference that's not obvious.
I wouldn't exactly say it's "clear" though. If someone wants to create a group, the most discoverable way would be to use an app named "Groups and Scenes", not "Room Lighting".
RL is a very capable app and I appreciate all the work that went into it, but if all you want is a simple group I think RL is like using a sledgehammer to hang a picture hook. The option is buried a couple of layers deep in a long list of checkboxes and you have to dig through a lot of documentation to discover it. And if all you want is a group, the concept of "activation" (which is prevalent throughout the UI) really makes no sense. Sometimes, simpler is better and RL isn't simple.
Nobody asked me 
but I would have called RL "Scenes 2.0" and left the Groups app alone. I think RL is definitely the clear successor to Scenes. The fact that you can create a group with it is sort of a footnote, IMO.
When RL was first launched, G&S was going to then be deprecated, but early feedback led to keeping G&S around.
I don't disagree with anything you said, but the original plan was to have RL wholly replace G&S, so designing RL as a coexistence with G&S wasn't really a consideration.
Anecdotaly, I had many issues with RL not handling my bound bulbs properly.
I found the Activator would never reflect the true state of the bulbs without a refresh at times.
This would lead to my pistons often failing on bad Device information.
I went back to G&L for my Groups and things have been fine.
Download the Hubitat app
