I want to switch on/off a power plug via Homey, which can only be managed via Google Home. I used to do this by installating a powerplug that I don’t even have, but that syncs to Google Home anyway. Like a virtual device, but simulated with a ‘fake real one’ 
That worked. Now I saw the new ‘Virtual Devices’ in Homey Pro, wanted to replace my fake devices by virtual ones, but Google Home Automation can’t start a routine based on a Virtual Device action (it’s simply not listed along the ‘real’ ones). Even devices created by the community ‘Virtual Devices’ app have the same problem. Strange that this problem is limited to virtual devices… How does Google Home even know that they’re virtual? Anybody any idea how to bypass, or do I have to keep using fake real devices?
Or, you can use device class ‘Kettle’ (no joke) to get a on/off switch in Google automations
I could use the Device Capability App, thank you for the suggestion. For what I need, this app seem a bit overkill, but it’s probably a cleaner solution than a fake 433Mhz device. Still, having to use the kettle class in this app suggests that Google Automation can be picky for a reason that is not known to most app developers. So I sent an incident ticket to Homey developers because I’d expect the built-in virtual devices to have the same capabilities as similar ‘real’ devices installed on Homey Pro.
It did work at some point with simple VD’s. Not sure why Google restricted it / changed it
This (for some reason) solved it for me! I tried using virtual device types for “vacuum”, “light”, “plug” etc. with no success. Some showed up in google home but would not trigger automations when activated from Homey, other simply failed to show up in google home at all.
Vritual device type “kettle” both shows up in google home, and allows me to trigger google home household automations successfully.
Thank you!
Thanks!
Still it’s ridiculous those more common device types aren’t valid anymore.
Makes no sense.
Thanks for the ‘kettle’ suggestion. I think that Google Automation only want do include devices that it can access/read-out directly and not via synchronisation. The problem is not restricted to virtual devices: e.g. Zigbee Innr plugs or lamps are not shown in Automation either. If this is true, the ‘kettle’ device may be accidentally escaping the exclusion. I’m hesitant to start building flows that rely on a bug in Google Automation
Well, in 3 years nothing works exactly as it did today anymore (IT law), just build it I’d say 
Oh, and ‘lock’ and ‘vacuumcleaner’ also (still) work in automations.
But maybe you should look for a solution without needing Homey > Ghome route.
Agree. And would if I could. I am trying to start my Roborock vacuum from Homey - and no working app/integration exists for Homey, whereas its natively added to Google Home.
The “kettle route” appears to be somewhat sketchy; its only working properly (triggering on-satte in GH when activated in Homey) one time out of five, and I havent really figured out what causes it to work/not work.
I am knee deep in trying to reverse engineer the Roborock API (or rather the implementation of the API usage for HA), to create a local web service that can be triggered via a logic REST action from Homey flows. The things you do for home automation… 
Is your model not supported by one of these apps?
Yes and no; those apps rely on the bot being paired with an older Xiaomi Mi app, not the newer and more feature complete Roborock app. They rely on the token created in the Mi app, and loans it for triggering actions from Homey.
The HA implementation uses the Roborock app apis instead. And I have managed to get what I need right now, so I can start/stop the vacuum using REST calls, while still being paired with the Roborock app 
I’m trying to make a switch in Homey to start music from Spotify on one of my Google Minis. I made and virtual Kettle button from the Device Capability app, and put this into an automation in Google Home that should start music on the speaker. But when i push the button in Homey or Google Home app, nothing happens.
The automation works if I manually start it in Google Home app, and the state of the button changes if I press it in Homey or the Google Home app (on/off).
Anyone know what can be the problem here?
Also: Is it possible to make i push button and not and on/off button?
Button setting in Homey:
Automation in Google Home:
Should work with an AVD configured like you did (just tested) (but the Ghome automation action can take up to several minutes to finally start, or sometimes isn’t started at all).
I wonder if you selected a device action as starter:
.
Not sure if it’s only me:
I"ve discovered this doesn’t seem to work anymore (Spotify being default music service):
However, this does
Do you have the Sync with Google toggle enabled? More→Settings→Google Assistant
Yes, I have it the same as in your screenshots.
I tried just putting in “The Beatles” as in the tips text underneath. The automation i Google Home works fine when I start it manually in the app. After some seconds of delay it starts playing The Beatles on the Nest Mini.
This was on before but when I checked now it somehow was turned off. But I think the synchronisation worked yesterday since the button was turned on/off in Google Home when pressing it in Homey and vice versa.
But since the Sync was toggled off now I will do some testing after turning this back on and see what happens.
UPDATE: It works now. Though it takes some time from pushing the button until it starts…
I also tried to start it with a virtual device from the Virtual Devices app. That works as well so you don’t need an button from Device Capabilities.
That also happens to me sometimes, it’s a known bug that has existed for years.
