Hello, I’m facing a limitation issue that is blocking my push notifications. I receive a little over 90 push notifications per day due to my motion sensors and door/window detectors, which doesn’t surprise me because with my previous eedomus box, I had the same number of notifications. However, with Homey, I’ve noticed that beyond 90, I no longer receive push notifications, and I’m stuck for several hours, which is very inconvenient.
I’ve reviewed my flows, and there’s nothing alarming except for the fact that the number of push notifications sent during the day is too high. Can you tell me if there’s actually a limit on the number of push notifications per day? Is there another way to receive notifications? I tried the email application, but it no longer works, probably due to Google’s restrictions. I also tried WhatsApp, but it doesn’t work because it’s not possible to configure an account. I’m out of options. For me, this box is non-functional if I can’t receive push notifications anymore. I’ve opened a ticket with Homey, but they don’t know how to respond and are not replying anymore. I’m considering whether I should return the box to Amazon. It’s very frustrating.
No one knows exactly what the limit is. You can reset it by restarting Homey, or wait for
24h. The CallMeBot app provides for Whatsapp, Signal, Telegram and Messenger. I use it for a long time now, with Signal and Telegram.
I use CallMeBot Signal to duplicate (and save) all my timeline entries, right to my mobile phone. Also the notifications are searchable this way.
Of course Signal and Telegram have rate limits, but I reached them very, very few times.
The timeline has also a rate limit, so it’s wise to send certain notification elsewhere (Telegram for instance)
For things I don’t need to read right away, and to have historical logs, I use the Simple Log app. It works offline on Homey itself, and has no rate limit.
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It’s a pity Homey still doesn’t have a decent log system, but the available apps take care of that, and make it a great smart home controller imho.
I have motion detectors outside the house, both in the front and in the back, that send me push notifications when there is motion. This allows me to check the cameras at that time. Of course, when a family member moves in front of or behind the house, it sends a push notification to both me and my wife. Consequently, I receive a lot of notifications, which was not a problem with eedomus. I can’t understand why Homey has imposed such a restriction. I’ve never seen this elsewhere. Honestly, if I had to pay 10 euros a month for unlimited push notifications, I would do it without any issues.
Then you must be a busy man
It looks you need some automation to prioritize the notifications. However I have no idea how to deal with that.
Maybe it suits your needs when you activate a doorbell in stead of sending a notification?
The solution would be for Homey not to restrict push notifications. Unfortunately, I live in France in an area prone to burglary attempts. If we don’t install sensors throughout our home, it’s risky. This allows us to alert the authorities if needed, hence the importance of having push notifications when one of the sensors is triggered. Honestly, I would do without it if I could, but I don’t have a choice.
As for apps like Messenger, WhatsApp, and Telegram, I see that you have to go through a web server (CallMeBot) that has access to our phone number. I’m not a fan of that. Regarding Telegram, there are very negative reviews of the app, with many scams reported. I have the impression that there is no simple solution to this problem.
For me, home automation is just a hobby. And I don’t automate critical processes with it. Not even my heater, or windscreens, or garden watering system. I leave that to the dedicated non-updatable standalone systems. I am really not amused coming home, to find all my lamps are switched on due to some glitch. So definitively not for heating, or my garden being sprayed during my whole holiday. Or finding my sunscreen is gone with the wind, as storm detection just missed something. When I read of all the problems with Homey, it confirms my ideas. I would certainly not build an alarmsystem with Homey.
Because who is going to pay for the damage in all cases mentioned here above when the system fails? Your assurance company might have some questions.
As for me, I’ve been using home automation (Homelive and eedomus) for over 6 years now for various tasks, including automatic light control, water shutoff in case of flood detection by sensors in different rooms (which has already saved my life several times), and, most importantly, motion detection using sensors and cameras before a break-in, which has allowed me to thwart numerous attempts. Without this home automation system, I would have been burglarized many times. I’ve never encountered any malfunction issues, especially when coupled with a UPS and a 4G dongle – it’s very reliable. Regarding insurance, at least in France, there is no requirement for having an alarm system. In the end, I have more confidence in home automation for security than in a security company that promises to send a team on-site, which is not sworn, and especially one that arrives at your home 10 minutes later once the burglars have left, all at a price exceeding 35 euros per month.
OK, in that case I want to advice to turn of auto firmware updates, and auto app updates. Update Homey yourself. Firmwares are announced in the timeline, for apps update alerts we had the community store app (which is offline and in a rebuild state for now)
There’s lots of posts about Homey (partly) malfunctioning after a nightly unattended update. Often an extra reboot solves it, but Homey does not alert you when it runs on one leg.
Sometimes the update itself is crap, even when it’s not a test or experimental one, but it can take a day or more before a quick fix, or rollback is published. This happened with “official” Athom apps as well.
