I have just taken delivery of 4x Smart Plugs, got them working
perfectly with a separate Iphone app called 'Smart Life', but I am
struggling to get control of them via Alexa.

The tiny manual suggests I need to install a skill by the name 'Smart
Life', which I have tried to do via Alexa installed on my Iphone. I
search for 'Smart Life', find it and try to install it, provided by
TUYA. A button pops up 'ENABLE USE', with a warning about account
linking. It then wants my +44 (phone number) and password.

What password is that? password for what account please?

Harry Bloomfield, Esq. wrote:
I have just taken delivery of 4x Smart Plugs, got them working
perfectly with a separate Iphone app called 'Smart Life', but I am
struggling to get control of them via Alexa.

The tiny manual suggests I need to install a skill by the name 'Smart
Life', which I have tried to do via Alexa installed on my Iphone. I
search for 'Smart Life', find it and try to install it, provided by
TUYA. A button pops up 'ENABLE USE', with a warning about account
linking. It then wants my +44 (phone number) and password.

What password is that? password for what account please?


You need to create an account on the app compatible with your plugs.
Generally any Tuya app will work with Tuya devices. Smart life is as good
as most. The accounts use a phone number and password. Call it password1.

You them need to install the matching Amazon skill, if youve used
Smartlife for smart life.

Then you need to link the two.

As I recall, you do this from Amazon. Request the skill to link to
Smartlife and enter details, including password1.

Then tell Alexa to find devices.

That is how I remember it.

Once linked, you can add devices without the password etc.

Be careful to buy Tuya devices in the future otherwise you end up with a
mix of software which could be a pain. Sono off isnt Tuya for example.
Different Tuya devices seem to be fine with software from other
manufacturers. I have three or four different makes on the same software,
all linked to Alexa.

Radio Man expressed precisely :
You them need to install the matching Amazon skill, if youve used
Smartlife for smart life.

Then you need to link the two.

As I recall, you do this from Amazon. Request the skill to link to
Smartlife and enter details, including password1.

Then tell Alexa to find devices.

Thanks, I will try again..

Harry Bloomfield, Esq. wrote on 15/09/2020 :
Radio Man expressed precisely :
You them need to install the matching Amazon skill, if youve used
Smartlife for smart life.

Then you need to link the two.

As I recall, you do this from Amazon. Request the skill to link to
Smartlife and enter details, including password1.

Then tell Alexa to find devices.

Thanks, I will try again..

This worked, I didn't realise I had download and register the TUYA app
first, to get a password set up...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tuya-Inc-Smart/dp/B01I9GHK40

Harry Bloomfield, Esq. wrote:
Harry Bloomfield, Esq. wrote on 15/09/2020 :
Radio Man expressed precisely :
You them need to install the matching Amazon skill, if youve used
Smartlife for smart life.

Then you need to link the two.

As I recall, you do this from Amazon. Request the skill to link to
Smartlife and enter details, including password1.

Then tell Alexa to find devices.

Thanks, I will try again..

This worked, I didn't realise I had download and register the TUYA app
first, to get a password set up...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tuya-Inc-Smart/dp/B01I9GHK40


There are several apps compatible with the Tuya standard. Smartlife is
probably the most common although I believe it doesnt offer €˜if then etc
anyone. A number of the apps dropped it due to licensing costs as I
understand it. If you need it, there is an app called Bright Smart which
offers it but I dont know if it works with Alexa.

In real terms, Im not convinced the apps are that different. Ive looked
at several and they look much the same, icons vary, etc.

Radio Man formulated on Tuesday :
There are several apps compatible with the Tuya standard. Smartlife is
probably the most common although I believe it doesnt offer €˜if then etc
anyone. A number of the apps dropped it due to licensing costs as I
understand it. If you need it, there is an app called Bright Smart which
offers it but I dont know if it works with Alexa.

The separate Smart Life app, which doesn't work via Alexa, offers
direct on/off, programmed on/offs and timer on/offs.

With Alexa, is just seems to offer the direct on or off control.

Harry Bloomfield, Esq. wrote:
Radio Man formulated on Tuesday :
There are several apps compatible with the Tuya standard. Smartlife is
probably the most common although I believe it doesnt offer €˜if then etc
anyone. A number of the apps dropped it due to licensing costs as I
understand it. If you need it, there is an app called Bright Smart which
offers it but I dont know if it works with Alexa.

The separate Smart Life app, which doesn't work via Alexa, offers
direct on/off, programmed on/offs and timer on/offs.

With Alexa, is just seems to offer the direct on or off control.


Yep, that is usual.

You can set up €˜Routines with Alexa. Ive not done any with smart switches
yet but Ive done a few others. Basically you have things happening at
certain times or trigger by something.

Some are a gimmick but others Ive tried are nice to have rather than life
changing.

You set the routines up via the Alexa app on your phone.

Radio Man wrote :

You can set up €˜Routines with Alexa. Ive not done any with smart switches
yet but Ive done a few others. Basically you have things happening at
certain times or trigger by something.

Some are a gimmick but others Ive tried are nice to have rather than life
changing.

You set the routines up via the Alexa app on your phone.

One thing I was hoping it might be able to manage, but I haven't found
any evidence it can, is....

I have a single light in my drive, just providing enough light to see
where you are going. That is powered by an ancient solar clock, on at
dusk, off at midnight.

Could Alexa take over the switching of that light? Can Alexa decide
when it should be dusk by my latitude and longitude and power the light
on?

Another way I could do that, is by powering a light sensor switch from
an Alexa Smart Plug - on at midday, off at midnight.

I have some large floodlights able to light up my drive and back
garden, which I used to control on/off via an RF remote control. I have
just swapped those over to Alexa control. Handy for being able to turn
them on when almost home in the car.

I don't know, but can not just say enable and the skill name? iIf it needs
linking it should tell you what to exactly.
Is there any cost involved in these link ups?
Brian

--
--
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please
Note this Signature is meaningless.!
Harry Bloomfield; "Esq." wrote in message
...
I have just taken delivery of 4x Smart Plugs, got them working perfectly
with a separate Iphone app called 'Smart Life', but I am struggling to get
control of them via Alexa.

The tiny manual suggests I need to install a skill by the name 'Smart
Life', which I have tried to do via Alexa installed on my Iphone. I search
for 'Smart Life', find it and try to install it, provided by TUYA. A
button pops up 'ENABLE USE', with a warning about account linking. It then
wants my +44 (phone number) and password.

What password is that? password for what account please?

Sounds a bit like Tile, but I've not progressed this via Alexa, only the
phone. Then of course they simply send me loads of adverts about silly new
tiles and premium services for a sub.
Brian

--
--
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please
Note this Signature is meaningless.!
Harry Bloomfield; "Esq." wrote in message
...
Harry Bloomfield, Esq. wrote on 15/09/2020 :
Radio Man expressed precisely :
You them need to install the matching Amazon skill, if you've used
Smartlife for smart life.

Then you need to link the two.

As I recall, you do this from Amazon. Request the skill to link to
Smartlife and enter details, including password1.

Then tell Alexa to find devices.

Thanks, I will try again..

This worked, I didn't realise I had download and register the TUYA app
first, to get a password set up...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tuya-Inc-Smart/dp/B01I9GHK40

Brian Gaff (Sofa) used his keyboard to write :
Is there any cost involved in these link ups?

None that I am aware of.

Harry Bloomfield wrote:

Could Alexa take over the switching of that light? Can Alexa decide when
it should be dusk by my latitude and longitude and power the light on?

I don't know about Alexa, but Hubitat can trigger actions a certain
offset before/after sunrise/sunset.

Andy Burns formulated the question :
Harry Bloomfield wrote:

Could Alexa take over the switching of that light? Can Alexa decide when it
should be dusk by my latitude and longitude and power the light on?

I don't know about Alexa, but Hubitat can trigger actions a certain offset
before/after sunrise/sunset.

Another question has occured to me - if I use the Smart Life app on my
Iphone, to set on and off times, will it continue to switch on and off
at the times set if my Iphone is turned off or has no access to the
internet?

Harry Bloomfield, Esq. wrote:
Radio Man wrote :

You can set up €˜Routines with Alexa. Ive not done any with smart switches
yet but Ive done a few others. Basically you have things happening at
certain times or trigger by something.

Some are a gimmick but others Ive tried are nice to have rather than life
changing.

You set the routines up via the Alexa app on your phone.

One thing I was hoping it might be able to manage, but I haven't found
any evidence it can, is....

I have a single light in my drive, just providing enough light to see
where you are going. That is powered by an ancient solar clock, on at
dusk, off at midnight.

Could Alexa take over the switching of that light? Can Alexa decide
when it should be dusk by my latitude and longitude and power the light
on?

Another way I could do that, is by powering a light sensor switch from
an Alexa Smart Plug - on at midday, off at midnight.

I have some large floodlights able to light up my drive and back
garden, which I used to control on/off via an RF remote control. I have
just swapped those over to Alexa control. Handy for being able to turn
them on when almost home in the car.


Not something ive tried. Certainly if you can find a sensor which is Alexa
compatible you should be able to set up a skill to do it I would think.

Certainly you can get modules which control relays etc and are Alexa
compatible.

Harry Bloomfield, Esq. wrote:
Andy Burns formulated the question :
Harry Bloomfield wrote:

Could Alexa take over the switching of that light? Can Alexa decide when it
should be dusk by my latitude and longitude and power the light on?

I don't know about Alexa, but Hubitat can trigger actions a certain offset
before/after sunrise/sunset.

Another question has occured to me - if I use the Smart Life app on my
Iphone, to set on and off times, will it continue to switch on and off
at the times set if my Iphone is turned off or has no access to the
internet?


Yes. You dont even need to keep the app running.

Harry Bloomfield, Esq. wrote:
Brian Gaff (Sofa) used his keyboard to write :
Is there any cost involved in these link ups?

None that I am aware of.


None of the common ones.

Harry Bloomfield wrote:

if I use the Smart Life app on my Iphone, to set on and off times, will
it continue to switch on and off at the times set if my Iphone is turned
off or has no access to the internet?

Yes, the schedule isn't stored on your phone, it's on a server in the
cloud, and the plugs talk to the cloud not to your phone (or your phone
to the plugs).

Radio Man wrote:

Harry Bloomfield wrote:

Brian Gaff wrote:

Is there any cost involved in these link ups?

None that I am aware of.

None of the common ones.

IFTTT has started charging £10/month if you want more than three I think.

On 13:47 17 Sep 2020, Andy Burns said:

Harry Bloomfield wrote:

if I use the Smart Life app on my Iphone, to set on and off times, will
it continue to switch on and off at the times set if my Iphone is turned
off or has no access to the internet?

Yes, the schedule isn't stored on your phone, it's on a server in the
cloud, and the plugs talk to the cloud not to your phone (or your phone
to the plugs).

IMHO third party automation apps, especially Chinese ones, might be a hostage
to fortune. Chinese developers quickly lose interest and don't fix bugs but
instead move on to develop the next thing.

In five years from now, there's a fair chance even established suppliers like
IFTTT may not be around. Call me old fashioned but I want this stuff to last
longer than five years.

It would be nice to have one open standard interface for devices and apps but
the market seems to be heading for increased fragmentation.

On 13:25 17 Sep 2020, Radio Man said:
Harry Bloomfield, Esq. wrote:
Brian Gaff (Sofa) used his keyboard to write :
Is there any cost involved in these link ups?

None that I am aware of.

None of the common ones.

How do they monetise their service? If they don't have regular income they
will soon be bust.

Pamela wrote:

IMHO third party automation apps, especially Chinese ones, might be a hostage
to fortune. Chinese developers quickly lose interest and don't fix bugs but
instead move on to develop the next thing.


that's why I'm far more interested in zigbee/zwave devices, where the
intelligence is in a box that I own (the Hubitat) and would work without
internet.

But zigbee seems to be moving from a non-TCP/IP network with a gateway,
to a system where TCP/IP is in the thick of it

https://zigbeealliance.org/news_and_articles/project-development-to-reality/

On 08:59 16 Sep 2020, Harry Bloomfield, Esq. said:

Radio Man wrote :

You can set up ‘Routines’ with Alexa. I’ve not done any with
smart switches yet but I’ve done a few others. Basically you have
things happening at certain times or trigger by something.

Some are a gimmick but others I’ve tried are nice to have rather than
life changing.

You set the routines up via the Alexa app on your phone.

One thing I was hoping it might be able to manage, but I haven't found
any evidence it can, is....

I have a single light in my drive, just providing enough light to see
where you are going. That is powered by an ancient solar clock, on at
dusk, off at midnight.

Could Alexa take over the switching of that light? Can Alexa decide
when it should be dusk by my latitude and longitude and power the light
on?

Another way I could do that, is by powering a light sensor switch from
an Alexa Smart Plug - on at midday, off at midnight.

I have some large floodlights able to light up my drive and back
garden, which I used to control on/off via an RF remote control. I have
just swapped those over to Alexa control. Handy for being able to turn
them on when almost home in the car.

Alexa can schedule routines triggered by the time of sunrise or sunrise
without a light sensor (which may not determine sunset correctly if the sky
is cloudy). Use an Alexa Smart Plug or equivalent.

Menu Routines Create When this happens Schedule Sunset

Pamela wrote:

How do they monetise their service? If they don't have regular income they
will soon be bust.

afaik, IFTTT charges device manufacturers, but now starting to charge
device owners too

On 16:06 17 Sep 2020, Andy Burns said:

Pamela wrote:

IMHO third party automation apps, especially Chinese ones, might be a
hostage to fortune. Chinese developers quickly lose interest and don't
fix bugs but instead move on to develop the next thing.


that's why I'm far more interested in zigbee/zwave devices, where the
intelligence is in a box that I own (the Hubitat) and would work without
internet.

But zigbee seems to be moving from a non-TCP/IP network with a gateway,
to a system where TCP/IP is in the thick of it

https://zigbeealliance.org/news_and_...evelopment-to-
reality/

Yes, please but it's not widely accepted. I bought some Amazon smart plugs
on promotion and they work well. At £25 full price 25 they aren't worth the
benefit. Cheaper third party plugs need apps with rather "fragile" and
sometimes unworkable web sites which I don't want to get sucked into.

Anyway, I don't much like the way Alexa hosts all those third party skills.
I guess they want to encourage innovation but it can be a clumsy mess.

For eample, I end up with apps (unwittingly installed by voice command) for
LBC Radio and also a skill for their owner's Global Player. Every time I ask
for a background sound, like waterfalls, I end up with a new skill. I remove
as many as I can.

On 16:13 17 Sep 2020, Andy Burns said:

Pamela wrote:

How do they monetise their service? If they don't have regular income they
will soon be bust.

afaik, IFTTT charges device manufacturers, but now starting to charge
device owners too

Groan. I used an IFTTT routine to play BBC radio on Sonos with an Alexa
command. It was never that great and now it's effectively in the bin. Oh
well, good riddance.

Pamela wrote :
Yes, please but it's not widely accepted. I bought some Amazon smart plugs
on promotion and they work well. At £25 full price 25 they aren't worth the
benefit. Cheaper third party plugs need apps with rather "fragile" and
sometimes unworkable web sites which I don't want to get sucked into.

I ordered 4x of them for £24.

Radio Man formulated on Thursday :
Yes. You dont even need to keep the app running.

Thanks, that makes it much more useful.

On 17/09/2020 16:06, Andy Burns wrote:
Pamela wrote:

IMHO third party automation apps, especially Chinese ones, might be a
hostage
to fortune.Â* Chinese developers quickly lose interest and don't fix
bugs but
instead move on to develop the next thing.


that's why I'm far more interested in zigbee/zwave devices, where the
intelligence is in a box that I own (the Hubitat) and would work without
internet.
TCP/IP works without the Internet.


But zigbee seems to be moving from a non-TCP/IP network with a gateway,
to a system where TCP/IP is in the thick of it

https://zigbeealliance.org/news_and_articles/project-development-to-reality/

TCP/IP works without the Internet.

--
"I guess a rattlesnake ain't risponsible fer bein' a rattlesnake, but ah
puts mah heel on um jess the same if'n I catches him around mah chillun".

Pamela explained on 17/09/2020 :
Alexa can schedule routines triggered by the time of sunrise or sunrise
without a light sensor (which may not determine sunset correctly if the sky
is cloudy). Use an Alexa Smart Plug or equivalent.

Menu Routines Create When this happens Schedule Sunset

Thanks, thats what I was looking for :-)

I have that set up on a Smart Plug, to test it.

I see a need for more of these Smart Plugs.

The Natural Philosopher wrote:

Andy Burns wrote:

I'm far more interested in zigbee/zwave devices, where the
intelligence is in a box that I own (the Hubitat) and would work
without internet.

TCP/IP works without the Internet.

But do you think Amazon, Apple, Google will be interested in
non-internet connected IoT devices?

On 17:07 17 Sep 2020, Harry Bloomfield, Esq. said:
Pamela wrote :

Yes, please but it's not widely accepted. I bought some Amazon smart
plugs on promotion and they work well. At £25 full price they
aren't worth the benefit. Cheaper third party plugs need apps with
rather "fragile" and sometimes unworkable web sites which I don't want
to get sucked into.

I ordered 4x of them for £24.

I hope they work as advertised. I would be interested to know how they
perform.

Pamela has brought this to us :
I hope they work as advertised. I would be interested to know how they
perform.

Faultlessly so far. I put one in my metal roof + roller door garage,
not really expecting it to be able to communicate, but it works fine.

They are rated 13/16amps, but I have only switched small loads with
them so far.

Pamela explained :
Out of interest, are you using a third party app on your smartphone to link
them to Alexa?

To be honest, I have thrashed around that much trying to get it
working, I don't know if I am or am not using a third party app.

I may have the Smart Life skill installed, I definitely have the Smart
Life app, but it seems I don't really need the latter - because Alexa
does all it does and more.

I thinking to order more of these Smart Plugs, as I am finding them
very useful.

Pamela wrote on 17/09/2020 :
I hope they work as advertised. I would be interested to know how they
perform.

The four plugs are identicle to these, but lack the Teckin name on
them. The MAC traces to Beijing Winner Microelectronics Co.,Ltd.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Outlet-TECK...g=voicebrew-21

Pamela wrote:
IMHO third party automation apps, especially Chinese ones, might be a hostage
to fortune. Chinese developers quickly lose interest and don't fix bugs but
instead move on to develop the next thing.

In five years from now, there's a fair chance even established suppliers like
IFTTT may not be around. Call me old fashioned but I want this stuff to last
longer than five years.

The Tuya-based gear is supported by third party firmwa
https://tasmota.github.io/docs/Tuya-Convert/
The Teckin plugs are among them:
https://templates.blakadder.com/

It would be nice to have one open standard interface for devices and apps but
the market seems to be heading for increased fragmentation.

Tasmota runs a webserver locally on the device, and can be set up to speak
MQTT to a local command/control server (I use Home Assistant)

I'm not letting the Smart Life app near my phone, so I reflashed the plugs
straight out of the box (Maxcio W-UK007S in my case, but the innards are
roughly the same).

Theo