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Is that a intrinsic limitation or just an omission with the implementation? I have a TP-Link Smart Switch and have their Kasa app integrated with my Echo, and

Is that a intrinsic limitation or just an omission with the implementation? I have a TP-Link Smart Switch and have their Kasa app integrated with my Echo, and all I need to do is name my switches and say things like "Alexa, [device name] on", "Alexa, turn on [device name]". So it's definitely possible for 3rd party apps to turn devices on and off with Alexa without requiring users to mention the app name. Maybe you just need to change your app to add your garage door as a device to the Echo and use the provided on/off commands rather than register your own custom commands? I can imagine the device on/off paradigm could be limiting for certain use cases, but not for this one.

Klathmon 10y ago
I hate this, what would "on" be for a garage door? I have a google home, and through integration with IFTTT I can say "Okay Google open the garage door" and it will work. It's so much smoother than telling the garage to "turn on", or telling the front door to "turn off". It's the major reason why i've stopped using and actually sold the echo but i'm getting a second home soon.
- heywire 10y ago
  I love all of this smart home stuff, but the software developer in me cringes at the thought of some message queue connection getting messed up somewhere and my garage door going up and down 3 hours later as I lay in bed...
  - Klathmon 10y ago
    I've got fixes for that, mainly that it can't open from the Home when we aren't home, and it announces when the garage door opens by literally "announcing" it through the home's speaker, as well as a notification on my phone. There's also some trickery that you can do with IFTTT's activation time variable and checking how long it's been since it was "asked" to do something vs when it got to my system. It's not for everyone, but i'm really enjoying the setup. Although if i could I would remove IFTTT from the whole equation. Everything else is running off of a server in my house, so IFTTT is the only part that's really not fully in my control. But as it's nothing but a "layer" on top of the rest as an "ease of activation" kind of thing, i'm not that worried.
    - nitrogen 10y ago
      My (now sidelined/back burnered) startup's main product was kind of like an advanced IFTTT that runs on your own hardware. The major difficulty was scaling up development and production without capital, and getting a basically Turing-complete system to be easy to use.
      - Klathmon 10y ago
        While I would love a "self hosted" IFTTT, the biggest issue to me would be getting the integrations. IFTTT is the ONLY thing on Google home right now that lets you create fully custom voice actions. It's got a lot of things like this. There are a few similar services, but at the end of the day, if it's within my capability to talk directly to a service, I'm going to just write my own code to talk to it (or my FOSS HA system will more likely support it very quickly). IFTTT's power to me is completely in its ability to integrate with otherwise "locked down" services.
- chimprich 10y ago
  > "Okay Google open the garage door" Isn't this quite a security risk? I'm imagining a burglar standing outside with a megaphone and ordering your house to let them in.
  - Klathmon 10y ago
    Well considering the fact that it's pretty far away from any windows, and my condo is on the 3rd floor, couldn't they just break the glass window? Or shove the door down? Or more likely use a bump key or even easier fuck with the garage door RF "encryption" which IIRC is laughably weak. But that aside, it's setup so that my home automation system will only listen to the voice actions if there is someone home. But that was more to prevent IFTTT bugs from opening when I'm not home. If someone wants to go through all that trouble to break into my house, let them. I have insurance and security cameras. I'm not going to build my house like a vault to prevent someone from stealing my TV any more than I'm going to walk-around in a bullet proof vest to prevent someone from shooting me. Edit: Sorry if this comes across a little shitty sounding. I get asked this just about every single time I bring this up. I have this response pretty loaded...
moduspwnens14 10y ago
I think there's special integration for home automation. I have the same switches. Remember when you first set them up and you had to go to a special "Smart Home" section of the Alexa app? There's a special section there just for that stuff. I'm not sure if that part is open to developers or not. It looks like it is. There's a "Get More Smart Home Skills" button that shows 59 options, so it's probably not just for the big boys.

Klathmon 10y ago

I hate this, what would "on" be for a garage door? I have a google home, and through integration with IFTTT I can say "Okay Google open the garage door" and it will work. It's so much smoother than telling the garage to "turn on", or telling the front door to "turn off". It's the major reason why i've stopped using and actually sold the echo but i'm getting a second home soon.

heywire 10y ago
I love all of this smart home stuff, but the software developer in me cringes at the thought of some message queue connection getting messed up somewhere and my garage door going up and down 3 hours later as I lay in bed...
- Klathmon 10y ago
  I've got fixes for that, mainly that it can't open from the Home when we aren't home, and it announces when the garage door opens by literally "announcing" it through the home's speaker, as well as a notification on my phone. There's also some trickery that you can do with IFTTT's activation time variable and checking how long it's been since it was "asked" to do something vs when it got to my system. It's not for everyone, but i'm really enjoying the setup. Although if i could I would remove IFTTT from the whole equation. Everything else is running off of a server in my house, so IFTTT is the only part that's really not fully in my control. But as it's nothing but a "layer" on top of the rest as an "ease of activation" kind of thing, i'm not that worried.
  - nitrogen 10y ago
    My (now sidelined/back burnered) startup's main product was kind of like an advanced IFTTT that runs on your own hardware. The major difficulty was scaling up development and production without capital, and getting a basically Turing-complete system to be easy to use.
    - Klathmon 10y ago
      While I would love a "self hosted" IFTTT, the biggest issue to me would be getting the integrations. IFTTT is the ONLY thing on Google home right now that lets you create fully custom voice actions. It's got a lot of things like this. There are a few similar services, but at the end of the day, if it's within my capability to talk directly to a service, I'm going to just write my own code to talk to it (or my FOSS HA system will more likely support it very quickly). IFTTT's power to me is completely in its ability to integrate with otherwise "locked down" services.
chimprich 10y ago
> "Okay Google open the garage door" Isn't this quite a security risk? I'm imagining a burglar standing outside with a megaphone and ordering your house to let them in.
- Klathmon 10y ago
  Well considering the fact that it's pretty far away from any windows, and my condo is on the 3rd floor, couldn't they just break the glass window? Or shove the door down? Or more likely use a bump key or even easier fuck with the garage door RF "encryption" which IIRC is laughably weak. But that aside, it's setup so that my home automation system will only listen to the voice actions if there is someone home. But that was more to prevent IFTTT bugs from opening when I'm not home. If someone wants to go through all that trouble to break into my house, let them. I have insurance and security cameras. I'm not going to build my house like a vault to prevent someone from stealing my TV any more than I'm going to walk-around in a bullet proof vest to prevent someone from shooting me. Edit: Sorry if this comes across a little shitty sounding. I get asked this just about every single time I bring this up. I have this response pretty loaded...

moduspwnens14 10y ago

I think there's special integration for home automation. I have the same switches. Remember when you first set them up and you had to go to a special "Smart Home" section of the Alexa app? There's a special section there just for that stuff. I'm not sure if that part is open to developers or not. It looks like it is. There's a "Get More Smart Home Skills" button that shows 59 options, so it's probably not just for the big boys.