Hello, you’re definitely not the first user to have this question. In fact, it’s very common—especially for users who are already familiar with the Automation 1.0 approach. We understand that Automation 2.0 may feel a bit confusing at first, but rest assured that this upgrade represents the more mainstream and comprehensive methodology adopted across the smart-home industry.
To help clarify things, let’s use your question as an example and walk through the underlying principles and configuration logic step by step.
Also, feel free to refer to the response shared by the other user in your screenshot—their explanation is correct and can serve as a helpful reference.
WHEN-IF-THEN (Automation 2.0)
IF-THEN (Automation 1.0)
How WHEN-IF-THEN Works and How to Configure It
Before we begin, please temporarily set aside the configuration approach used in Automation 1.0. Let’s first understand the nature of automation conditions.
Automation conditions can be classified by their temporal property into “transient” (an event that happens at a specific moment) and “stateful” (a condition that continuously holds).
Temperature is a good example:
- “Rises to 16°C” is a transient condition.
- “Above 16°C” is a stateful condition.
There are also some conditions with dual attributes. For example, “Someone is present” can mean both a momentary change (“no one → someone”) or a continuous state (“someone remains in the space”).
In Automation 2.0, WHEN is the starting point that triggers the entire automation evaluation. Only when the conditions in WHEN are met will the system proceed to evaluate and execute the subsequent logic. Therefore, WHEN must contain a transient condition. After WHEN is triggered, the system then checks whether the stateful conditions in IF are satisfied. This completes one full automation execution.
Let’s revisit the example: we want to turn on a climate-control device when Sensor 1 is above 16°C and Sensor 2 is above 16.5°C. In Automation 2.0, the configuration logic is:
Step 1:
Use a transient condition as the trigger under WHEN.
For example, “Sensor 1 rises to 16°C” or “Sensor 2 rises to 16.5°C.”
When either transient occurs, the system proceeds to evaluate IF (and will execute immediately if IF is empty).
Step 2:
Use stateful conditions under IF:
“Sensor 1 is above 16°C” and “Sensor 2 is above 16.5°C.”
As you can see, if two conditions must be satisfied simultaneously, they are configured inside IF.
Step 3:
Configure the execution actions.
This completes the full “Trigger → Evaluate → Execute” automation chain.
How IF-THEN (Automation 1.0) Works
Once you understand Automation 2.0, Automation 1.0 becomes easy to interpret.
In fact, behind the scenes, Automation 1.0 also follows the same WHEN-IF-THEN model.
The difference is that WHEN and IF are bundled together and simplified into a single IF during configuration.
During execution, the system internally expands IF back into the step 1 and step 2 logic described above.
Why Upgrade from IF-THEN to WHEN-IF-THEN
In Automation 1.0, because WHEN and IF are merged into one IF block, many constraints that depend specifically on transient conditions cannot be expressed.
The example from your screenshot is one such case:
- You may need to check whether Sensor 1 rises to 16°C and then within 1 second Sensor 2 rises to 16.5°C, or
- You may want to evaluate “Sensor 1 rises to 16°C” only during 08:00–10:00.
These scenarios require exposing WHEN as an independent configuration item.
That is why the system evolved from IF-THEN to WHEN-IF-THEN.