Hey all,
I’m trying to setup the Google Maps app for travel times. I installed the app, generated a nice API Key at Google and filled in my work address. But the app never generates the tags, and Google says no calls have been made to the API. How can i debug this?
I had the same problem.
Billing must be enabled on the account which holds the API key.
Since I don’t own a credit card I was unable to get this working.
I have a functioning API but i don’t get the tags too. I get a error that the flow token is not found. It is strange, the app was updated 2 weeks ago, but it wasn’t working before this update, and not working for me still.
@Jeroen_Bos (sorry, i can’t find Gerard Nijboer on the forum) do you know something perhaps? I remember someone working on it, something about sideloading the script or something like that. I didn’t pay attention to it back then, but now Google bills me for every API call Homey makes for directions, so it would be nice if Homey actually mentioned them again.
Edit: I’ve gotten it up and running. The flow needs to be build at a different way than i was used to, but it works again now.
So you need to pay for every time the homey checks the actual travel time?
Can you show a flow how this app should be used in flows?
@Dennisvm8 It does appear to, yes. Untill recently i had a free trial period. This week, it ended, so i had to put up a billing account. As you can see below, in the free trial Homey made roughly 120 calls per month to Google. A call costs less then a cent per call.
For this month, since i started with the billing, no costs have been made. Google hasn’t counted them yet, it appears. So to be clear, i didn’t have to pay yet, but it seems like it will be going to cost me a little over a euro a month.
For the flow part: When i wake up, i press a button on the wall. This tells Homey i’m up, so he puts on the light and he starts the following flow:
So now Homey ‘knows’ all it needs to know. In previous versions of the app, it just updated some tags that Homey kept. I used to start this flow more often, just to update those tags. Homey checked the traveltime in silence so to say, and only told me when i asked him to speak with a flow.
But now, i can’t seem to find those tags in this situation. I say it like this, because later on i found them in another situation.
They do get available when you use a flow like this:
X is the average time it takes, with normal traffic.
XX is the time it will take you now. It can be less than X, if you drive very early before morning rush, or more if there was an accident.
Name of the main road is really updated. When i press the button to inform Homey i’m awake, Homey checks traffic and tells me the quickest way to get to work is to take the highway. By the time i leave for work after my breakfast and watching the news, i press another buton, telling Homey i’m leaving. He turns of the lights for me and checks the traffic again. By now the highway is crowded, so he steers me to another road, wich is a bit longer route in kilometers, but faster as this one isn’t yet crowded so i can keep my car going 100 km/h instead of 10km/h or less.
As you can see by the red arrow i created so unproffesionally, this card provides the tags i was missing earlier. As you can see on the right side of the image, the tags seem to be available in this flow only, since in this flow the traveltime is just updated and fresh. So i just have Homey tell me right away, or really after 3 seconds as you can see, so Homey can catch his breath a bit after telling me Good Morning and telling me he’s going to update the traveltime to work.
So now Homey tells me everything i need to know. The Google Maps app seems to be creating two more tags, Vertrek tijd (time to leave) and Tussenstops (stops between home and work) but those remained zero for me.
I hope it is all clear this way. I’m sure there are other ways to create this effect with other flows, perhaps even letting Homey check the traffic in silence. But this way it does finally work again.
Hope it helps.
As of today, absolutely no billing has taken place. So it appears to still be free.
@Marcotics Google Maps has a 200 USD credit every month for Maps related APIs see here.
Just FYI, I implemented Google Directions in the Kia and Hyundai app a few months ago. It is used to calculate the Time To Home for the car.
Indeed you get USD 200 every month which is enough for this application to remain free. [APP] Kia UVO and Hyundai Bluelink
what a shame this app isn’t working on the new Homey :-/
Make sure you’ve enabled billing and the Directions API in your Google Cloud Console, and double-check your API Key restrictions and usage quotas to ensure calls are being made to the Google Maps and location API for travel times.
