New App function, but how to use it?

[Eternity]

Latest update states grouping is possible. How does that work?

[Henk_Renting]

You first need Homey v12.4.5 and app version 9.3.0.

Then, you will find a new function “create group” in a device (window covering, light or device set to class “light” like a smart plug) settings.
If you click it you can select other devices of the same type to create a group together.

[Eternity]

Have the required software versions, but couldn’t find it..

Than I scrolled down:

And found it!

Thanks @Henk_Renting !

[Tim2]

I have been waiting for this and was really looking forward to the update, but now it seems only the new homey Pro gets the future and not the 2019 version. Is there any reason why the 2019 couldn’t get a feature like this? I understand that you have to pay for significant new features like advanced flows etc., but this seems like such a basic feature that I would have expected it to be part of a normal update..

[Peter_Kawa]

Expectations…
Although I agree with you a group function is such a basic feature, idk why it took 10 years to get published ?

I think it’s mainly just a commercial decision, ‘guiding’ you to purchase a new model.
I also think we cannot expect a device to get (free) additional features forever.

Luckily there’s two great community apps with so much more functionality:
The advanced virtual device of Device Capabilities, and < group >

[Tim2]

Hi Peter,

Thanks for your reply. And sorry for the late response, I have been away for a bit.

I understand what you mean with expectations, and I agree that we can’t expect additional features forever. As mentioned, I do understand the commercial decision when it comes to things like advance flows and even dashboards (which in my opinion also was an obvious missing feature like grouping devices), which are significant feature updates. For grouping devices however, I think it is more of a minor thing and basic feature which could have been nice to include even for the previous hardware version. Afterall, the 2019 version was the only version sold until 2 years ago, so it’s not really that old. Getting a software update like that after 2 years could very much be compared to getting android updates for mobile phones years after the original launch. I think it could have a very positive effect on customer experience/satisfaction, that some things are still updated for previous devices.
It would also be more in line with the current trend that things should last longer, and replacing a fully working device because of basic “flaws” like this are not updated after a few years goes against that.

Anyway, thanks for good tips. I have actually been using the < group > app for a long time, but for quite a while now I have experienced issues with some devices within a group falling out from time to time. Even with nighly restarts of relevant apps this keeps happening way too often. And the developer has been talking about an upcoming built-in feature, which is partly why I have been looking forward to this (hence the expectations).

I have actually now also tested the built-in Device Groups of HP23, but I have to admit it is a bit more limited than I was hoping it would be. Two main things:

1. In many cases I would like to create a group of groups, and also across rooms. This is not possible in the built-in Device Groups.
   For lighting basic on/off and dim level works quite nicely via the designated light section in the Homey app, and in flows zones could be used. This is however not as smooth for blinds, where there is currently no such hierarchy and no zone control via flows (as far as I know). Also, with voice control via Google, the room hierarchy does not exist (it’s flat) - so turning off all lights on the 3rd floor doesn’t work for the sub-sections of that floor (i.e. rooms on the 3rd floor where the devices would actually be located). Hence a group on the 3rd floor itself is needed to achieve this.

2. Limited control/no settings for the Device Groups. Mainly this is not an issue, but I would have really liked to control how the status of the group is defined. Currently it shows as OFF if only selected (and not all) devices in the group are manually turned ON. I would have really liked it to show as on if any device is ON. I understand we can’t have all the flexibility of the < group > app, but this one thing is something I am sure more users than I would have liked to be able to define ourselves.
   To be able to adjust this under settings for instance would have been a very nice addition, which I assume shouldn’t be to complicated to achieve technically.

I assume using the built-in feature within a room and the < group > app on top of that could solve No. 1, and hopefully be a more stable solution when the < group > app is only used for the aggregated “groups of groups” while the underlying groups of actual devices (where the main mass is) is handled by built-in Device Groups. Do you have any experience with combining the native feature and < group > app like this?

I don’t have much experience with the Device Capabilities app, but I just had a quick look and it seems quite powerful and very flexible. However, have I understood correctly that every action has to be set up via flows? In that case it would be a lot more time consuming than using Device Groups/ < group > app. I understand you can use templates, but currently I can’t see any templates for blinds. If creating it myself from scratch, would it be possible to have a slider button for blinds like in the screenshot below?

Sorry for the long read @Peter_Kawa, but you have always been very helpful and I would really appreciate your advice on this before rebuilding my entire setup.

Thanks in advance!