I am newly using SharpTools. I am arrived on this tool searching a mean to implement widgets on smartthings managed real and virtual devices.
I run Smartthings and SharpTools on a Redmi Note 8 Pro, under Android 10 and MIUI V12.
I have read that different launchers are handling widgets differently. I find the widgets for devices but not for modes/routines. Are they available? If yes have you an idea about what is to do to get them.
Other problem : The devices widgets are working. When I click one switch, real or virtual, the command is well sent. But the visual state don’t change at all. I have either to open and close the SharpTools App to update the visual state of the widget and put the display in coherence with the switch state, or to wait for long minutes untill the visual refresh occurs.
Is it normal? If yes it’s really disappointing and could be prohibitive for my use.
If not, could you tell me how to tune this update feature, in order to have a more responsive behavior?
Thanks a lot to take attention to my, as new user, difficulties !
Note that there are ‘Shortcuts’ (blue) and ‘Widgets’ (grey/yellow) and that different launchers group these differently.
The blue Shortcuts do not reflect the state. Only the actual Widgets (gray/yellow) will reflect the state.
‘Mode’ control is available as a Shortcut. The ‘Routines’ that are available in SharpTools for Android refer to the routines associated with the classic app. The ‘Scenes’ which are associated with the new Samsung app are not accessible via the API we use – and to make things more confusing, SmartThings has started renaming ‘Scenes’ to ‘Routines’. As a workaround, you can trigger a Scene/Routine with a Simulated Switch.
Following your link (https://help.sharptools.io/article/73-troubleshoot-tasker-and-widget-push-events), I finally found where was the problem.
The “smartapp enable” for sharptools was unfortunately fallen in disable state. I don’t know why but it was so.
Your troubleshooting guide being very well done, I had just to follow your suggests until I found the real cause.
Thank’s a lot. Your technical support is awesome.
A last question : Some devices I use are Alexa compatible but not StartThings. Plan you, in a more or less future, to interface SharpTools with Alexa ? A kind of Alexa SharpTools skill…
Thanks for the update – I am glad to hear that helped!
Unfortunately, Alexa is a bit of a ‘walled garden’ – they’re happy to connect lots of devices into their platform, but they don’t provide APIs for other apps to interface with those devices.
That being said, a common workaround is to use a mix of virtual devices in SmartThings along with routines in Alexa. If you can share more details about what you are trying to achieve, perhaps we can offer some suggestions?
I use some wifi smart plugs connected to Alexa , wemo (via wemo app), tp-link (via kasa app) or directly (amazon plugs). Wemo app and Kasa app are also connectable to SmartThings that I use to implement extra automation routines and smart apps for user interface : dashboard (ActionTiles) and widgets (SharpTools).
Recently I have added Yokis components that are very usefull and powerful to mix, in a standalone mode, traditionnal electric equipments and wireless connectivity. I have used several Yokis equipements to achieve logical channels to pilot different outside light circuits, mixing radio pushbuttons, remote controls and radio teleruptors.
A Yokishub add cloud connexion to an Android App called Yno, giving an interface to Alexa via the Yokis Skill.
Unfortunately, Yokis has not any other software interface than Alexa and I want to unify the piloting of all my devices on the same dashboard and with the same widgets.
I have followed yesterday this tuto : How To Make Any Alexa Enabled Device Work With SmartThings
The implementation of a Virtual Switch/Sensor in SmartThings resolve very well my problem to pilot a Yokis light channel with a SharpTools widget.
But It’s not a 100% resolution of the problem, because I don’t find in Alexa a mean to get the effective ligth state which depends on two other independant things :
the fact that somebody can switch-on a light channel using a remote control or a radio pushbutton.
the possibility that the light channel switch-off issue of the optionnal temporization given in the Yokis configuration to automaticaly stop the light for ecology purposes.
I need to be able to get and manage the real state of each light channel in order to avoid a discordance between the widget display that reflect the dashboard or widget command state and the light channel that has perhaps been manually activated or is timeouted.
You were right telling me to use virtual switches as turnaround solution. But I think that to fully achieve this purpose I have to search too for power-on/power-off sensors, either alexa or smartthings compatible.
Your suggestions, if you have some, are wellcome !
Thank’s, even if none !
I think I have found a right and not too expensive solution. To monitor a Yokis channel, I am going to add a Shelly i3… of which interressant product infos are : “Shelly i3… shows the status of 3 inputs. The device… can command other connected Shelly products, or HTTP, MQTT or CoAP controlled devices. Opportunities are endless through discrete commands on the home network or scenes in the cloud” https://shelly.cloud/products/shelly-i3-smart-home-automation-device/
As I already use Url Triggers to pilot virtual switches, I will only have to use the “off state url” of the Shelly who monitors the Yokis channel to return on the widget the real state of the light circuit.
I am going to buy one and test it to verify that what I think really works. I will anyway give a feedback.
Thanks for the update. I had never heard of Yokis before and as you mentioned it doesn’t look like they integrate with many of the major smart home platforms like SmartThings, Hubitat, or Home Assistant.
Shelly, on the other hand, is a relatively popular solution in the DIY Smart Home space so they tend to have integrations with other systems (though I mostly recall seeing Shelly relays and don’t recall seeing the i3).
As a workaround, you can 
