EvoControl - custom Alexa skill for Evohome

[bruce_miranda]

Certified and Live with widgets enabled in en-GB and de-DE. UK/IE users should now see the widget and it may even install via “add” instead of being added to your shopping list ��

I can confirm it was offered to me and I've added it. We all had to come together as a family and decide if we wanted "Deal or No Deal", Farts, Animals Noises or Evo Control. There is only space for about 3-4 widgets on the Show 8, before you have to scroll. So we had to think carefully.

[philchillbill]

Widgets with TemporaryOverride built-in

I've added a new feature specifically for widgets where an activity name is checked to see if it ends in 1-3 digits plus either 'm' or a single apostrophe ('). If so, then the activity is activated for that number of minutes when tapped. For purists, the regex is

var duration = sceneName.match(/(\d{1,3})[`'��m]$/i)?.[1];

So you could have an activity named e.g. 'HW Boost 20m' which when triggered from a widget would result in a boost for 20 minutes, but not if you fire it by voice or touch from the 'full' skill. Then, it's triggered until the next scheduled block-time unless you specify until/duration.

Note there should be no space between the digits and the m/' at the end of the name, so the likes of "xxx 30m, xxx 9m, xxx 180m, xxx 10' and xxx 480'" are all valid. A space before the digits is fine/optional.

Activities are normally blocked when the system is Off/Away, but an activity will fire OK if the System Mode is HeatingOff provided that DHW is the only item addressed by the activity.

Thanks to Bruce for beta-testing.

[Midland45]

Apologies all. It looks like the widget was only published for the en-US locale and missed en-GB or de-DE. I'm looking into why that might have happened. Not sure if I can just update or if re-certification is needed but I'll report back here when resolved.

EDIT: It needs re-certification Just submitted so let's see how busy Amazon is with new fart-skills at the moment

Great stuff, I can now see the widget is offered up on my Echo Show 8G2 in the widget gallery.
So after adding it, I thought I’d give it a whirl. After switching to the widgets screen, and knowing my system was in Permanent Standby mode. I selected one of my activities. I saw the activity name “flash” on the widget, however my system just remained in standby. I tried with other activities listed on the widget, but got the same result.
I then tried to launch Evocontrol from the widget and it started to launch, however failed to fully launch with (something went wrong message - try again later).
Using verbal commands Evocontrol performed perfectly.
I did also note that once the widget had been added, it disappeared from the widget gallery, whereas my other added widgets remain in the gallery with the + icon replaced with a ✔️ (tick).
Just wondered is there an issue today, as I decided to remove the widget and then then re-add it, however it’s now not showing in the gallery?

[philchillbill]

I can see a whole load of errors generated by you in the logs. It looks like the skill is having difficulty with your live schedule content because it does not seem to know the next block-time to use as the 'until' for the activity activation.
Can you check in the TCC mobile app or on your Evotouch if all is normal? Are things working OK from the 'full' skill as opposed to the widget? You use Domoticz with the skill IIRC. Is Domoticz running normally?

When smart home skills produce constant errors, Amazon automatically unlinks them. That's not stated anywhere in their docs but I've figured it out over the years. They may do the same with erroneous widgets, although I would expect it to remain in your gallery.

[Midland45]

I can see a whole load of errors generated by you in the logs. It looks like the skill is having difficulty with your live schedule content because it does not seem to know the next block-time to use as the 'until' for the activity activation.
Can you check in the TCC mobile app or on your Evotouch if all is normal? Are things working OK from the 'full' skill as opposed to the widget? You use Domoticz with the skill IIRC. Is Domoticz running normally?

When smart home skills produce constant errors, Amazon automatically unlinks them. That's not stated anywhere in their docs but I've figured it out over the years. They may do the same with erroneous widgets, although I would expect it to remain in your gallery.

The full Evocontrol skill, Evotouch, TCC app and Domoticz are all working absolutely fine. Just rechecked and Activities triggered verbally by the skill all worked spot on. It was only the widget failing to trigger the activities or even the full Evocontrol skill launched via the thermometer symbol that was an issue.

[philchillbill]

The full Evocontrol skill, Evotouch, TCC app and Domoticz are all working absolutely fine. Just rechecked and Activities triggered verbally by the skill all worked spot on. It was only the widget failing to trigger the activities or even the full Evocontrol skill launched via the thermometer symbol that was an issue.

Unlike skills, widgets actually store data on your Echo for instant retrieval. When you view the widget panel it's already populated with data retrieved from the so-called 'datastore' on the Echo so as to save a round-trip back and forth to the skill. Something might have gone wrong outside the skill-proper when Amazon installed the widget on your Echo. Is it still not showing in your widget gallery as installable?


EDIT: Corner-case. Looks like I wasn't fetching the schedule from TCC from the widget when the user has a HGI/Domoticz. See if it works OK now. Apologies.

[Midland45]

Unlike skills, widgets actually store data on your Echo for instant retrieval. When you view the widget panel it's already populated with data retrieved from the so-called 'datastore' on the Echo so as to save a round-trip back and forth to the skill. Something might have gone wrong outside the skill-proper when Amazon installed the widget on your Echo. Is it still not showing in your widget gallery as installable?


EDIT: Corner-case. Looks like I wasn't fetching the schedule from TCC from the widget when the user has a HGI/Domoticz. See if it works OK now. Apologies.

Good to hear you spotted an issue, the widget isn’t presently available in my widget gallery, so once it returns I’ll re-add and re-test it.

[philchillbill]

I just filed a ticket with Amazon regarding why the widget has disappeared from the gallery. I changed nothing but also no longer see it on my devices. Might be an issue on their end. If installed, it still works so the issue is the gallery.

[Midland45]

I just filed a ticket with Amazon regarding why the widget has disappeared from the gallery. I changed nothing but also no longer see it on my devices. Might be an issue on their end. If installed, it still works so the issue is the gallery.

Yes I think there must be an Amazon issue, as the widget, if it behaves like the others, should always be in the gallery whether installed or not.

[philchillbill]

Update: Amazon confirmed it's an issue at their end and it's being looked into

[philchillbill]

Amazon recently announced the SimpleEventSource API for smart home skills https://developer.amazon.com/en-US/b...alexa-may-2023. EvoControl is officially a custom skill, not a smart home one, but I could potentially add a smart home 'section' to it and make it a combo-skill. That way, you could trigger Alexa routines e.g. when you trigger an activity. Something I've had for years at home is a dedicated Philips Hue lamp that indicates status of things like downstairs toilet occupied, bathroom upstairs occupied, garage door left open, etc, using dedicated colour-changes. I could also do this for EvoControl 'notifications', so you could see e.g. which activity is currently active based on the color of a Hue lamp (or some such). Useful, or a gimmick?

[philchillbill]

I saw in the logs that somebody who uses the Domoticz connector had an expired LetsEncrypt SSL cert. Amazon blocks such requests, but the skill was being silent about it and just showing the TCC data which it always has. I've now added an error message that will alert you if this happens and auto-disable your HGI connection until you resolve your cert issue. That will make the fallback to TCC more 'evident'.

[philchillbill]

In preparation for the HA-integration release (which is progressing nicely) I've changed the error behaviour when the query towards your HGI/ssm/nanoCUL fails or times out. Instead of toggling your enable-HGI switch in settings to off, the skill now just sets the Domoticz/HA connector logo

[s.w.webb1]

Finally pulling the trigger on this - what hardware do people recommend?

I see Prime Day is coming up on 11/12 July, so expecting a discount on the Echo Show.

We do already have iPads, but I'm presuming the interface isn't accessible via those?

[Midland45]

Finally pulling the trigger on this - what hardware do people recommend?

I see Prime Day is coming up on 11/12 July, so expecting a discount on the Echo Show.

We do already have iPads, but I'm presuming the interface isn't accessible via those?

Echo Show 8 Gen 1 or 2 would be my recommendation, as it’s a big enough display to do justice to Evocontrol. They’ll be discounting the Gen2 soon as theres probably a Gen 3 coming out very soon.