How to group devices?

Questions & Help
1

Hello

I have multiple door sensors and would like to group them:

  • with a virtual device (I guess) so that it shows a global status: ALL OPEN / ALL CLOSED (if all underlying devices are OPEN / CLOSED)
  • on the app, to show all door sensors together in a list, without having to go room by room (where my devices are / should be located)

I’m pretty new to Homey, so forgive me if my question is pretty basic

Thanks

2

Requirement 1 can be made easily with the < group > app.

Requirement 1 & 2 can be made with an Advanced Virtual Device by using the Device Capabilities app.

More info and examples about the AVD can be found here.

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3

An alternative approach to consider is to organise your devices into zones by device group instead of strictly by room. I have a zone for all my doors and windows, with zones inside that for downstairs, upstairs. Then I can meet both your requirements 1 and 2 using the built-in zones and zone activity.

I extend the approach for other devices such as lights too. In practise, I find that having all my upstairs lights showing together for example is more useful than having a room-by-room view with sensors, lights and other device types grouped together.

At the end of the day this is definitely a matter of personal preference though so your mileage may well vary.

More info on zone activity here

And here’s what a bit of my device zones look like

Screenshot 2024-03-08 at 13.42.25
Screenshot 2024-03-08 at 13.42.25275×521 23.3 KB

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6

Thanks, I will try the Device Capabilities app, i did not know it
Once I have tried I will confirm here it’s working

7

thanks for the suggestion. However i do want to keep a view by room too, so i was looking for an alternative view rather than a replacement.
It is amazing to me the contrast with Homey. The overall experience is that of a real user friendly system, but there are really basic things (such as view by device type for instance) that are totally missing.
Ability to customize the apllication on the smartphone is close to zero (beside dark / light mode).
hopefully this will improve in the future, ithout having to use an external app

8

ok I have installed the app and I’m trying to understand how it works, not straight forward to me.
I have read the topic:

but I don’t see some kind of user guide giving the general principles, I will try on the dedicated topic.

9

Here’s a complete solution, you can even import the device and associated flow:
(I made this as answer to a similar question):

.
There’s no “All Open” status, but that’s quite easy (to me) to add. Just ask if you can’t get your head around it. This app has a pretty steep learning curve.

10

thanks a lot, this looks indeed exactly like what I’m looking for.
I’m going to try it right away
Ok, I tried to understand how to install, but I really don’t know where to start from.
In your original post you mention a number of apps that you used (not sure I need to install them) and I did not find a way to identify a device I could install on my Homey nor a flow
I have installed the Device capabilites app, and tried to look at the user guide, but the screens are pretty different from the ones I have only app.

Ok I found how to import the file created by Peter, if it’s not obvious for you, here’s how to do it:
1°) Install new app “Device Capabilities”
2°) Create new device / device capabilities / advanced virtual device
3°) Connect / importing a TEF
4°) Paste : [quote=“Peter_Kawa, post:88, topic:68676”]

[tef:AVD:"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":/tef]

[/quote]

5°) Read device, it will be created automatically

Thanks

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