Echo & Alexa Forums
General Category => Alexa Tips & Tricks => Topic started by: eborg9 on November 27, 2015, 03:49:29 pm
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Thanks to IFTTT support, I was able to get my Echo to turn on my TV using the trigger recipe and my Harmony Hub.
https://ifttt.com/recipes/342269-alexa-trigger-activity
Once you set the activities with your Hub, you can set it to launch Netflix, Roku or whatever you have set up on your hub. Here's a quick demo:
https://youtu.be/uf7myz7tq2w
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I have Wink switches for appliances. Would one work to turn on power to my TV? Thx
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I don't have any Wink switches, but it doesn't sound like that would work. The Harmony hub works by sending the on signal to the TV via IR. Most TV's aren't always on. If the power is cut, the TV switches off.
I just tested this with my own TV, and when I cut the power from the strip, and then turned the switch back on I still had to turn TV back on.
If the Wink is merely an outlet on/off, that still doesn't turn on the TV, it just sends power to it. Something still has to turn it on.
I'm just spit balling here. If you already have the Wink switches, can't hurt to hook it up to your TV and just test it out.
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I am curious about this scenario....
I have the smartthings hub and the Xbox One and Samsung TV's are wifi connected (all have the ability to be "always on"). Can I create a trigger to turn these on and off?
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I have an XBOX One. When you cut the power whether it be unplugging it or cutting power to the outlet, and turn the power on again, it doesn't turn on. You also should shut it down properly each time you turn it off, not merely cut the power.
Also, the off/on signal to the TV, Speakers, Cable Box is sent via IR blaster. NOT Wifi. Wifi and Bluetooth only work when the devices are on. Sending a wifi signal to a device that's has no power will do nothing.
However, in the case of the XBOX it's always on and listening even when you've shut it down, so you can probably send a signal to turn that on via wifi. If the TV is plugged into the XBOX, then it may work.
But again, once you cut the power ( as in with some kind of smart plug), you've turned it off and that won't work. All you'll be doing is turning on the flow of electricity, you'll still have to somehow turn the box on.
At the moment the only remote that I know works with XBOX One AND can be configured with the Echo is the Harmony Hub.
You'll have to work backwards. Find the hub that works with the Echo...probably via IFTTT recipes, and then see if it's compatible with the XBOX.
Or bypass the XBOX and look for an IFTTT recipe that works with your TV brand.
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Thanks to IFTTT support, I was able to get my Echo to turn on my TV using the trigger recipe and my Harmony Hub.
https://ifttt.com/recipes/342269-alexa-trigger-activity
Once you set the activities with your Hub, you can set it to launch Netflix, Roku or whatever you have set up on your hub. Here's a quick demo:
https://youtu.be/uf7myz7tq2w
I see there are several Harmony + hub models. Are the more expensive models worth the additional cost?
Which do you have? Do they all play nice with Wink/Echo?
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I have the Harmony Smart Keyboard
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KOLNVAQ?keywords=harmony%20hub%20smart%20keyboard&qid=1450547182&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1
Making the Echo do stuff is a combination of Harmony and IFTTT.
https://ifttt.com/harmony
It requires you to have the kind of Harmony remote that lets you set up a My Harmony account.
https://www.myharmony.com/en-us/
I assume that any Harmony product that lets you use your smart phone or tablet as a remote has the kind of IR and Wifi hub that you need for Echo to send a signal to it, otherwise you'd have to send from Echo to each individual device and that's probably a little harder.
I can't say for sure what other Harmony remotes work because I only have one model, but I'm going to suggest that you probably need a hub.
There are also Wink IFTTT channels. You'll have to look through the recipes to see if there are Harmony/Wink recipes or triggers. I'm willing to be that there are, or that you can create actions since they are both supported by IFTTT.
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The Harmony Smart Control is on sale at Best Buy. I just ordered one. Price is $69.99 as of 12/22/2015.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/logitech-harmony-smart-control-black/8574049.p?id=1218879313967&skuId=8574049
Comes with a Smart Control (I probably won't use it) and a Harmony Hub (this is what is needed for Echo and IFTTT to control IR devices such as a TV or gaming console)
(http://pisces.bbystatic.com/image2/BestBuy_US/images/products/8574/8574049_sa.jpg)
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Does the hub with Smart Control really work with IFTTT? I thought I saw something that said it only worked with the hub from Home Control.
Thanks!
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UPS will be delivering it later today. I'll let you know how it works in a few days after I figure it all out.
If everything is successful, I'll make a Youtube video demonstrating it, and maybe a how-to video as well.
Does the hub with Smart Control really work with IFTTT? I thought I saw something that said it only worked with the hub from Home Control.
Thanks!
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Any update?
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I think I read somewhere you only need the Harmony hub,
not it's companion remote.
Is that correct?
What is it's model number?
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Here's the update on the Harmony Hub that I got a few days ago.
I played around with it and explored all the things I could do. At the end of it all, it's a great universal remote hub that can control thousands of IR devices (TVs, DVD/Blu-Ray players, cable box) as well as hundreds of Internet devices (Smart TVs, Nest).
As great as it may be as a universal remote hub, it's not really made for Echo. Although I can use Echo and Harmony Hub to turn on/off my TV, change channels, increase/decrease volume, change input, it is not consistent nor reliable. Often times, Echo would accept my voice command and confirm that it will do the task I asked (like change the channel or increase volume), but nothing happens. There's no rhyme or reason why it works or why it doesn't work.
So the end of the story is that I am planning to return it in a few days.
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I just bought the Echo and have a "Harmony Smart Control." I am trying to connect it using IFTTT, but IFTTT keeps saying "No supported products found." Can someone please let me know if IFTTT works with the Harmony Smart Control, and if so, how to set it up.
Thank you very much
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I just bought the Echo and have a "Harmony Smart Control." I am trying to connect it using IFTTT, but IFTTT keeps saying "No supported products found." Can someone please let me know if IFTTT works with the Harmony Smart Control, and if so, how to set it up.
Thank you very much
It does work and I am using the same setup. First setup your activities normally on the remote. Then add the Harmony to your IFTTT account. Then setup a recipe with the Echo as the IF part and the Harmony as the THEN section. In the trigger section on IFTTT enter "turn on the TV" (or whatever) then below that in the Harmony section select the Watch TV activity in the dropdown. That's it.
The part you might be missing is any Harmony commands you give to the Echo must be preceded by the word "trigger" so the Echo knows this is an IFTTT recipe to send off. So you would say "Alexa trigger turn on the TV". Works every time for me.
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@jwlv... how did you get the harmony hub to change channels for you? I was only able to get the tv, dvd plyer to turn on/off. I don't see how you can create an activity in the harmony app to let you change channel, please explain.
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@jwlv... how did you get the harmony hub to change channels for you? I was only able to get the tv, dvd plyer to turn on/off. I don't see how you can create an activity in the harmony app to let you change channel, please explain.
Because I've already returned the Harmony Hub, I can only tell you from memory what I did to change channels. My memory might not be 100% accurate.
But from what I remember, I set up several activities. For example, i have an activity to press 13.1 <enter> on the remote. I named it "channel 13". In IFTTT, I created a recipe that's linked up to Alexa & Harmony. The IF part is the Alexa, with the phrase "change to channel 13". The THEN part is to invoke the action "channel 13" in Harmony. While I was setting this up, I noticed that whatever I created in Harmony may take a few minutes to show up in ITFFF.
The end result is, when I say, "Alexa, trigger change to channel 13" it makes the remote press 13.1<enter>
I also have a "channel up" and "channel down" activities. But those didn't work as well because if I wanted to press channel up multiple times, (in my area channel 5.1 to 13.1 would go thru about 6 more channels), it completely ignores all of the "channel up" commands except for the very first one. Same with "volume up" and "volume down".
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That's how I did it. I set up an activity to press the channel number buttons (i.e., press 8, press 6, press 5) and named the activity "ESPN". Then I set this up in IFTTT. I then say "Alexa, trigger ESPN" and it will change the channel. I set up an activity for a few favorite channels. This is really only convenient for me if I'm doing something else and want the TV on. If I'm on the couch, I use the remote. Word of warning- if I turn the tv on with the hub / alexa, then shut the TV off with my Tivo Remote, (I don't have the harmony remote, just the hub) the hub doesn't know the tv is off. So if I then say "Trigger TV on", nothing happens as the hub thinks the tv is still on. I then tell alexa (or use the harmony app) to shut the tv off, then turn on. Hope this helps.
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Good to hear on the Harmony/IFTTT - Anyone try this with Blumoo or Anymote - they're both supposed to have dedicated skills for remote control activities? I'm more interested in a direct skill than having to use IFTTT limitations for control if possible...? Any familiarity?
Blumoo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gef38RoT_JI
Anymote: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5zrpovXark
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Those look like interesting options over the harmony hub. However, "Alexa, tell Blumoo to press ________" is a mouthful for simple button commands. I think I would find that quite annoying.
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You can use ifttt without any limitations with a Harmony remote. The process is a little techy though. There is an android app called tasker, which is used to automate pretty much anything on an android device. You can also get a plugin for this called "harmony tasker" which can send button presses via wifi to a Harmony hub for any ir device without needing to go through an activity. I set up alexa ifttt commands, but set them to send a pushbullet notification to my phone to act as a trigger for tasker. As I said its for technical tinkerers only, but I can now say "Alexa trigger volume up/channel up/pause/play and also set sequences to automatically skip through ad breaks now too. Good when you've got your hands in the sink or something. Not too much delay with ifttt on this.
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Just saw on http://www.AntiRebate.com that the Harmony Hub with Smart Control is on sale again for $66.50 - 10% off = $59.85 at http://www.wirelessoemshop.com/logitech-harmony-smart-control-with-smartphone-app-and-simple-remote
Use coupon code: 10off to get 10% off.
Note: I have never bought anything from wirelessoemshop.com so I don't know how reputable they are.
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I don't think just supplying electricity to a modern TV wouldn't work. I'm new to the Echo, loving it, and now seeking automation guidance. I'm looking into lights, how exciting!
I have Wink switches for appliances. Would one work to turn on power to my TV? Thx
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You can also get a plugin for this called "harmony tasker" which can send button presses via wifi to a Harmony hub for any ir device without needing to go through an activity.
Would you mind to briefly explain how you do this? I have done a few things with Tasker and the Harmony Plugin, also with Alexa and the Autoremote remote plugin for Tasker, but I can't imagine how you accomplished this. My understanding is that you use this to change channels and volume via the Harmony Hub (as opposed to changing Activities, which is fairly easy to to.)
Thanks in advance.
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Yes, no problem. I created an IFTTT trigger command for alexa, and it results in a pushbullet link being sent from IFTTT and is picked up by the pushbullet app on my android tablet. You can set this resulting link notification as a tasker trigger, which sets of a task which uses harmony tasker plugin to do a Harmony command (a specific non activity button press, ie a tv channel up button or a sky menu etc).
The pushbullet link can be anything you choose, the pushbullet plugin simply looks for a recognised text string in a notification. I set the pushbullet command to delete the notification after receiving it, so you don't have to swipe anything away after the notification has done it's job.
I find pushbullet IFTTT links very fast, so much faster than other channels, I have pretty much given up on commands which control things like hue bulbs etc also. It's quicker to just pushbullet it to my tablet & have a tasker task plugin control whatever smart device. You get a lot more fine control that way too.
I hope that is is some way clear.. As mud!
If you get stuck on any particular part please do ask.
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Cool can you change channels?
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Um, you don't need to use IFTTT for this anymore.
With the integration now in Echo you can just link to your Harmony device. Then it will find all the commands you have created there (including changing channels, if that's what you want) and just tell Alexa what you want (I say "Lexa, turn on Kitchen TV", or "Lexa, turn on Bedroom Netflix" for example).
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Um, you don't need to use IFTTT for this anymore.
With the integration now in Echo you can just link to your Harmony device. Then it will find all the commands you have created there (including changing channels, if that's what you want) and just tell Alexa what you want (I say "Lexa, turn on Kitchen TV", or "Lexa, turn on Bedroom Netflix" for example).
Are you linking them directly, or going through SmartThings or another hub/ emulator? I'm currently using a Hue emulator but would be interested in a direct link if one is available.
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I'm going through Smartthings hub -- sorry, should have specified (all my stuff is through Smartthings and sometimes I forget which forum I'm on, as most of the time I'm on the ST forum talking about Echo, rather than vice versa).
But it's just SO much easier than trying to write IFTTT stuff -- I just connect to the Harmony hubs and whatever routines I've programmed there show up in ST and I can create simple one word commands to have Lexa do them (like "Lexa turn on Movie" which then turns on my theater stereo system, my media player, my projector and sets all to the appropriate channels for our movie night. Not to mention dimming the lights and making sure the doors are all locked).
I have three Harmony hubs to control three different receiver/TV setups so I never have to touch a remote to get things set up (I actually don't have to touch a remote after that, but I usually use my TiVo to fast forward through commercials. Hmmm, perhaps I'll program a voice command for that as well :>).
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Thanks for the info. I used to use IFTTT, but I have a VeraPlus hub, and someone wrote a Hue emulator to allow the Echo-->Vera-->Harmony connection, similar to your SmartThings connection. I have a Tivo as well, the "skip" button is great!
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Yes, no problem. I created an IFTTT trigger command for alexa, and it results in a pushbullet link being sent from IFTTT and is picked up by the pushbullet app on my android tablet. You can set this resulting link notification as a tasker trigger, which sets of a task which uses harmony tasker plugin to do a Harmony command (a specific non activity button press, ie a tv channel up button or a sky menu etc).
The pushbullet link can be anything you choose, the pushbullet plugin simply looks for a recognised text string in a notification. I set the pushbullet command to delete the notification after receiving it, so you don't have to swipe anything away after the notification has done it's job.
I find pushbullet IFTTT links very fast, so much faster than other channels, I have pretty much given up on commands which control things like hue bulbs etc also. It's quicker to just pushbullet it to my tablet & have a tasker task plugin control whatever smart device. You get a lot more fine control that way too.
I hope that is is some way clear.. As mud!
If you get stuck on any particular part please do ask.
Thanks very much. (Sorry, only noticed your reply now. Did not receive an email to warn me of activity in this thread)
I will definitely try this. I'm using my old Note 4 as a "server" on my night stand. All it is used for, is to display the time (used a screen saver) and to run Tasker tasks. If I remember correctly, the Harmony Tasker Plugin allows specific commands per device, which could probably be used for stuff like changing volume and channels.
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Yes, that's right. You can control individual equipment button presses with the tasker plugin. With this, and the hue and wemo equivalent plugins, I have created a great cinema movie command, which turns off the lights, then slowly raises blue sidelights, switches on a bunch of infrared controlled candles (controlled by harmony), & turns on all of my av equipment to the right settings for my chromecast ready for a movie. Just like a cinema! It also gently raises the lights back on when you say "alexa, trigger end credits" :-)
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I am really interested in this ability but after reading I'm not sure if its worth the time or money. I really intended getting the harmony hub (if this is the easiest & functional) to use echo to turn on the tv but always like checking out other abilities available. Can someone let me know if they think its reliable enough, I know one post said echo verified the voice command but did nothing and i've had that happen to both my Lifx bulbs & tp link plugs but far and few between. Also is just the hub required, I'm guessing that would be the cheapest route & I really dont need any of the other accessories you can get packaged with the hub. Thanks for the ideas & any help ahead of time.
P.S. on an unrelated subject since this is an echo forum I had bought my echo through the amazon payment plan of $36 a month & two days before my 2nd payment amazon just charged my card for the remaining balance. After inquiring to them, they dont know how or why it has happened. I should have just bought it outright to begin with but it was easier dealing with my wife paying for it this way. Has anyone run into this issue or heard of it happening, I'm now not sure about how secure my payment info is from them if they can just charge things as they please regardless of arrangements. They told me their looking into it but 4 days later have yet to hear anything. Thanks again for the helpful posts
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I'm going through Smartthings hub -- sorry, should have specified (all my stuff is through Smartthings and sometimes I forget which forum I'm on, as most of the time I'm on the ST forum talking about Echo, rather than vice versa).
But it's just SO much easier than trying to write IFTTT stuff -- I just connect to the Harmony hubs and whatever routines I've programmed there show up in ST and I can create simple one word commands to have Lexa do them (like "Lexa turn on Movie" which then turns on my theater stereo system, my media player, my projector and sets all to the appropriate channels for our movie night. Not to mention dimming the lights and making sure the doors are all locked).
I have three Harmony hubs to control three different receiver/TV setups so I never have to touch a remote to get things set up (I actually don't have to touch a remote after that, but I usually use my TiVo to fast forward through commercials. Hmmm, perhaps I'll program a voice command for that as well :>).
No t related but do you have any issues with smartthings sockets outlets? I.e not working through echo
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