Ring Doorbell integration

[ilkeraktuna]

I know that the Unofficial Ring Integration does not work for motion alerts.
So I am trying to do the triggering on Alexa as discussed here:

Ring Integration

Another approach (hinted at before), is to do the integration in an Alexa app (even if you don't have an alexa device). Make up a routine in alexa set a (virtual) switch to on when motion is detected at ring doorbell send that virtual switch back to Hubitat via maker "Bob's you Uncle!" From wikipedia: "Bob's your uncle" is a phrase commonly used in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries that means "and there it is", or "and there you have it", or "it's done" . Typically, someone say…

When I create motion on my doorbell, I get the alarm from Ring app but Alexa does not trigger the routine.
How can I troubleshoot this ?
Is there a trick ?

[ilkeraktuna]

any ideas ?

[jtp10181]

I am using that same method, have been for a long time. There was no trick about it, just setup so when the doorbell had motion it flips on a switch.

[ilkeraktuna]

On the Alexa routine trigger I select "Home" (that's the doorbell name) and then select motion , and "detected"
As an action I added a hubitat switch "on" command.
I also added an announcement on Alexa device as a debug step.
But none of them are fired.
I only receive the notification on Ring app.
Should I select something on the Alexa skill to receive motion events ?

[jtp10181]

Yeah that should be about it. Can you open the doorbell device and see the video? That would confirm that it is connected to ring correctly.

You can also hit the play button next to the routine to force it to run as a test to make sure the actions work.

[ilkeraktuna]

I removed all routines and added one by one. Now it works.

[woodsby]

Another option for Ring doorbell motion and press is to use a smartthings account and Hubithings replica. Since ring is a cloud based SmartThings integration, no hub necessary. The doorbell comes into HE as a contact sensor and the motion comes in as a separate motion sensor.

I keep my SmartThings account for three devices I already had - a brilliant 2-gang wall panel, a ring doorbell and a Mysa baseboard thermostat. I tossed my ST hub in the trash right after I switched to HE.

[ilkeraktuna]

yes that's a good idea.

But I really don't understand. How Ring integration on Smartthings is available and why it is not possible on Hubitat.
Actually there is an unofficial integration (abandoned) but motion detection does not work.

[woodsby]

Licensing would be my guess. But as long as SmartThings accounts are free and cloud integrations are available for it, take advantage of it.

Funny though, I wired all 13 of our Samsung TV’s to our network and the HE community Samsung TV driver has worked way more reliably than SmartThings support. Wired TV’s just can’t be turned on through smartthings and after a few weeks of not using a TV, smartthings loses control of the tv altogether.

[jtp10181]

@ilkeraktuna

How Ring integration on Smartthings is available and why it is not possible on Hubitat.

Some of these cloud based integrations they have agreements with specific platforms for integrations.

[ilkeraktuna]

yes I can understand that. But there is already an "unofficial ring integration" , so the author of this integration has knowledge about the Ring API. Then it shouldn't be too difficult to develop (or fix) motion detection.

[jtp10181]

That is a backdoor / unofficial integration using reverse engineered APIs AFAIK, which then Ring can change at will, possibly to purposefully cripple unauthorized integrations. This is what happened to the MyQ integration earlier this year, the vendor purposefully locked unauthorized apps out of their API. Life 360 also made a similar move I think.

[ilkeraktuna]

OK, possible.
But then why Hubitat does not ask for an official integration ?
Hubitat is already a widely used platform. I wouldn't think that Ring/Amazon will reject.

[hydro311]

My guess is that Ring would reject since such integrations (backdoor or official) threaten their subscription revenue stream.

As Jeff said, MyQ and L360 both finally clamped down on API usage in order to box people toward their subscription services. There's no reason to think Ring will/would do anything different in that respect -- it simply doesn't benefit them.

[jtp10181]

I could be dreaming or thinking of a different app, but I swear there was a rumor floating around a long while ago that they did try and partner with Ring for an integration but they were not interested. Ring (Amazon) probably figured with Alexa, GH, and ST they cover all the bases of their target market. They need those to be able to sell more hardware/subscriptions. Having an integration with Hubitat is probably not going to help sell more devices.

Also, Hubitat is not very interested in doing cloud integrations at all. Seems like they do the ones they feel have a good value to many customers (Alexa and GH), but otherwise they focus on reliable local integrations that do not rely on cloud systems.