I’ve been diving into the world of smart home automation lately, and I must say, it’s been an exciting journey! One of the first things I wanted to set up was my Amazon Echo Show 15. I was thrilled to see all the widgets available, like the Amazon Notes and To-Do List. However, I ran into a bit of a hiccup when trying to add these widgets. They just wouldn’t show up in the widget gallery, no matter how many times I tried adding or resetting them. It was a bit frustrating, but I kept at it and finally figured out that updating the Fire OS to the latest version did the trick! Now, my Echo Show is looking sharp with all my favorite widgets neatly arranged.
On the lighting front, I’ve been experimenting with my Hue bulbs. I love how they can change colors and brightness with just a command. One thing I wanted to achieve was setting up a scene where the lights turn on at a low brightness when I wake up. I created a scene with the bulbs set to a warm color temperature and low brightness, but when I activated it in the morning, they came on at full brightness. After some troubleshooting, I realized that if I reactivated the scene, the bulbs would adjust to the correct settings. It’s a bit of a workaround, but it gets the job done!
Another cool project I’ve been working on is integrating my Sonos speakers and Amazon Echo devices. I have a tablet running HabPanel on both the main floor and in the basement. My idea was to clone each dashboard but switch the media controls depending on which device is playing. I wrote a rule to detect when a media player starts or pauses and then switch the active dashboard accordingly. It’s still a work in progress, but it’s been a fun challenge to figure out the best way to implement it.
Overall, I’m loving how smart home automation is making my life more convenient. Even though there are the occasional hiccups, the satisfaction of solving these little puzzles makes it all worthwhile. If anyone has tips or tricks for improving their smart home setup, I’d love to hear them!