One of the issues that I've had is with something called Alexa-Enabled Groups. This allows you to link a group of lights with an Echo device and control them without requiring a room name. For example, you could say, "Alexa, turn on the lights" instead of "Alexa, turn on the lights in the kitchen". Maybe that's a little thing but it just makes things flow more smoothly. The problem is that I couldn't set this up with my Insteon switches. It worked great with my Hue lights but my switches were registered as switches with Alexa so I couldn't create a group. It was very frustrating.
First I blamed Insteon. After all, if it worked for Hue, why wouldn't it work for Insteon. After some research I found that my view was unfair. My Hue lights were actual light bulbs while my Insteon switches were switches - and I do have switches that control ceiling fans and not lights. I realized that the real issue was with Amazon - they would not allow you to change an item from a switch to a light. That was the issue.
Well, it's an issue no more! With the latest update to the Alexa app, Amazon has enabled designating a switch as a light. I tried it out as soon as I found out and it works great! No more "Alexa, turn on the light in the living room." Now I just walk into the living and say "Alexa, lights on" and the lights come on.
It's pretty easy to set up as well.
- Open the Alexa App
- Tap the menu
- Tap on Smart Home
- Tap on Groups on the top menu
- Tap on Add Group
- Make it a Smart Home Group
- Choose a name for your group
- Add devices to your group (be sure to add an Echo or it can't be an Alexa-Enabled group)
- Tap Save and you're done!
It's the little things that make a big difference.
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