Frequently Asked Questions
Please also mind the latest update of the Change Log in the next post.
Q: When I set the infrared level using Homey the original LIFX app states the feature as deactivated?
A: Yes. This seems to be a shortcoming of the original LIFX app. Actually your light operates at the custom value you set using Homey. The LIFX app cannot interpret this and would default to showing infrared as deactivated, whilst it actually is working.
Q: The app store page shows a lot of devices, but when I start pairing it shows “All LIFX Devices” only?
A: Yes. This is because all LIFX devices technically share the same driver. You will still get device specific icons and all the device specific features.
Q: I added my device (app v1.0 or newer) but it shows the wrong icon for it or no icon at all?
A: Please contact me via email or private message directly so I can fix the icon mapping. Fixing it will not require you to repair the device. I just need to update the software accordingly.
Q: Flows with the Light went offline and the A light came back online get deactivated often?
A: Yes, this can happen if you have quite some lights. Please use the device specific cards instead. They serve the very same purpose. The generic cards are meant for testing mostly.
Q: Why are some flowcards prefixed with “(Experimental)”?
A: Well, those are literally experimental features. That means, those might be changed or removed at any time.
Q: Does the app require internet access?
A: Yes and no. For its primary operation the app does not require an online connection. However, there are two features build in which require online access.
- LIFX Scenes) You need to allow the app to communicate with the LIFX Cloud servers in order to be able to use the LIFX Scenes functionalities. This also requires you to configure the API access token in the app settings.
- Homey Zones) You need to allow the app to communicate with the Athom WebAPI (you most likely have this anyways) to be able to use zone wide commands. Hence why the app requires permission to control all devices, whilst it really just needs that to read the information about your configured zones. (see below) Whilst this usually works without internet as well, it might possibly need the online connection as fallback.
Q: Does the app still work if my internet connection is down?
A: Yes, it does! The core functionality is build on the LIFX LAN protocol. However, flowcards for LIFX Scenes will only work if Homey can connect to the cloud servers of LIFX. Currently the control over hardware effects specific to LIFX Tile and Candle are also depending on the cloud access.
Q: LIFX BEAM, Z and Tile do not provide any energy consumption data?
A: No. I decided to ditch energy support for those devices, simply because it would cause too much network traffic and CPU load to calculate it properly for those devices.
Q: Effects for LIFX Tile devices only work using the cloud?
A: Yes. I initially thought I would wait with the v1 version bump until I got full LAN protocol support for the Tile. But I decided not to invest time into this topic for now because LIFX decided to no longer produce those devices anyways. This app will, however, keep to support the Tile.
Q: Why does “Set random led colors” not respond timely?
A:: All multizone devices are limited to how many transitions they can process simultaniously. If you send too many updates, those updates will be queued up to certain extend. Try tuning your settings, delays and transition times to improve the behavior.
Q: Why do you require the homey:manager:api permission?
A:: This permission is required to access the WebAPI, which currently is the only way to access information about the zones (rooms) you have configured in Homey. The zones data is used to provide action flow cards for controlling all lights in a zone (and their subzones) instead of addressing the devices individually.
Q: When I rename a light in Homey it is renamed in the LIFX app as well but when I rename it in the LIFX app Homey still shows the old name?
A: This is by design. Currently Homey does not support renaming devices from the app code. I will support updating light names in a future release, if I find a solution or workaround for this.
Troubleshooting
Problem: Homey does not show energy usage certain devices.
| Reason: | I most likey do not have the power consumption values for the device in question, yet. Power consumption is in general not supported for LIFX Tile, LIFX Z and LIFX BEAM devices. |
| Solution: | I will add this information as I can get my hands on the data. If you can provide the information please contact me. I need the value when the light is in standby (zero dim value / off) and the value at maximum white brightness. |
Problem: My Homey Zones are not showing up in zone flowcards.
| Reason: | Homey needs a connection to the Athom Cloud for zone features. This data is cached by the app. If you just edited your zones this information is most likely not up to data. |
| Solution: | The app automatically refreshed the data after 10 minutes. Either wait and try again or restart the app to force a refresh. |
Problem: I set up zone flowcard actions but the devices are not reacting to those commands.
| Reason: | Homey needs a WebAPI connection for zone features. This data is cached by the app. If you just moved your devices between zones, this information might not be up to date. |
| Solution: | The app automatically refreshed the data after 10 minutes. Either wait and try again or restart the app to force a refresh. |
Problem: “Set Random Color” action card does not seem to set a color.
| Reason: | The card is autogenerated by Homey and sets a new hue value only. |
| Solution: | Add a "Set Saturation" card in addition to make the color visible. |
Problem: I renamed a light in Homey but in LIFX the name got cut short.
| Reason: | The name of the lights is stored within the physical device and it may be 32 characters long only. |
| Solution: | Use a shorter name please. |
Problem: No lights showing up for pairing.
| Reason 1: | The LIFX device is already paired using a different app. (unlikely as of v1.0+) |
| Solution 1: | Remove the LIFX device from the other app first. |
| Reason 2: | Broadcast packages are blocked on your network. |
| Solution 2: | Allow Homey and LIFX devices to send broadcast messages over your network. Also check your wifi router settings. It needs to allow devices to see each other. Also configure your VLAN accordingly if you have such set up. |
