SmartThings Hack: Virtual Switch for any IFTTT Device 

Can you possibly expand on this video? Never have used IFTTT before. Created the virtual switch but no clue how to link the specific device to it nor how IFTTT really comes into play. Thanks!

Thanks for this video, but can you please update creating virtual switches on the new SmartThings app?

You are my hero!!! I don’t know how I missed this vid until now. Thank you a million times over for posting this. Word cannot properly articulate how much this has helped me. Keep up the good work!!

Man this is great! I was looking for something like this to be able to use affordable light switches, thank you

Nice. I added my first simulated device to control a cheap WiFi plug switch. But I added two more IFTTT rules to turn on or off the simulated device when the native device changes states. It goes like this: 1) If simulated device is turned on, switch on native device. 2) If simulated device is turned off, switch off native device. 3) If native device is turned on, switch on simulated device. 4) If native device is turned off, switch off simulated device. Warning: It might take from 5 to 45 seconds for SmartThings to see the new state of the simulated device.

I know I have come to this video late, but how useful is it. I couldn't quite figure the right route for connecting wifi devices to smartthings but now with your help I am there. It took me a few minutes to figure that you have to create an on trigger and an off trigger, but once I sussed that out I am away. Cheers for the video.

Extremely useful, nice way of explaining and simplifying it. Great job.

THANK YOU SO MUCH. This is the video I have been searching for.

I found an app called SmartRules which lets you create if then else rules to control SmartThings very easy! I love it! Thanks for the great videos.

Honestly that IFTTT app saved my ass so many times. Very useful and versatile app.

Thank you so much for sharing this, all my IFTTT devices all show in SmartThing, also thank you Reed for the rest of your videos :-)

You should create a second set of ifttt rules turning on and off smart things virtual switch when turned on or off in native app. That way you're always in sync, even when switched off physically (e.g. sonoff plug socket)

THIS IS GREAT!! Thank you so much!!

Greetings from Saudi Arabia, Jeddah by the Red Sea. Extremely useful, nice way of explaining and simplifying it. Great job. I am using most of your suggestions here.

Thanks a million, that's a life saver tip

Helped me alot. Thanks👍

Pretty cool and useful.

This just solved all my frustrations trying to get Google assistant to lock my Yale assure deadbolt, I had to use a different applet to get exactly what I wanted but now Google assistant can lock my z wave lock with a command!

Thank you, thank you, lots of thanks!!! I followed a lot of tutorials but couldn't get it to work. Only you addressed the issue I was having -- I had to refresh the SmartThing account in IFTTT because, for something that's supposed to work with automation, it doesn't detect new devices automatically. 🤷‍♂

Great tip thanks for this, it's allowed me to pull back together what had started becoming a fragmented set of smart home devices

Game changer. Thank you.

I use a ST virtual switch for arming my Blink XT2 cameras when I execute my leave routine to arm the house, works great, IFTTT has a slight delay and sometimes a long delay.. but its the best we have at the moment

The only problem is that you have to pay IFTTT to turn on your lights. Right now is $4/month, but they say the price will up to $10/month in the next few months. Remember that each time you turn on the light, it might cost you 20-50 cents, depending how frequently you use it? :p The last thing people need is another subscription just to have the ability to turn something on in their home. That IFTTT has no future once Google Home and Amazon Alexa conceptualize each device in their system and bypass completely the need for user applets. A smart system is something that you teach with your voice "Hey Google, if I am coming back from work, turn on the fans 5 minute before reaching home". Users should not need to code all this stuff or create applets that cost money and time to prepare. So... bye bye IFTTT (and whoever has invested in that thing that wants $10/month from me).

I would recommend you to get a broadlink remote pro as now also has ifttt integration and the IHC app is so much greater now. Not to mention the Google integration and even use Google to open / close a garage (rf remote) on the cheap

I’ve relinked my geeni devices to the smart life app and now have control of them in smart things

Great video - is this possible on the new platform? Thanks

Perfect timing. Thank you. Will the smartthings virtual switch also work for smart life devices? Do your instructions still apply for those situations? Do I create a separate applet for each virtual switch control? Thank you once again. Merry Christmas

I've made a virtual switch and then set up applets to turn it on and off based on the Wyze Motion sensor. Then I used the Virtual switch in a smart app to control a bulb. I got the advice from the "Automate Your Life" channel.

Hi, I'm in the uk whats the best motion sensor to use for lights that doesnt need a hub ?

I made a virtual switch for "All Lights." Like the end of you video, I can illuminate the entire house with one command. Unfortunately, I did this a couple years ago and don't remember how I did it! (Using the Smartthings web interface, I think.)

My Samsung Note9 also allows me to create a Virtual (Smart Things) Smart Switch. I mostly use this to fire events from IFTTT into Tasker in order to test whether Tasker properly receives the IFTTT message and does what it is supposed to do. Once I know that's working then I can swap the Virtual Switch IFTTT trigger for the real trigger. This means I can keep triggering the test without needing to repeatedly fire a real trigger like a motion detector for example. I can't get the phone to let me create more than one of these things though, and, although I haven't tried it yet, I don't think the web console will let me do it either as I don't actually have a Smart Things hub. :) Thanks for the video and the research behind it. UPDATE: The web console did let me add a second switch! :)

I don't get the same screen in IFTTT when I refresh my SmartThings account, I do not see how to pull in that virtual switch. This video would get me so close to what I am looking for, thank you for sharing!

Is it possible to do this using Amazon smart plugs?

Hi Reed just found your videos and I love them idk if u will see this but I have a question is there a solution to automate things in a room that has no outlets I do have a ceiling light but one of our small bathrooms does not have an outlet in it is there any automation I can do with the ceiling light? Is there a way to bring power to this room with a device? I hope I explained it well I feel dumb asking but I am really bad with tech and am watching all your videos so I can start my own smart home. Another question I purched an echo 8 and 2 echo 5s I want to get the echo 10 to have zigby hub I want to start making amazon routines and turning my home into a smart home where do I start do I purchase a smart things hub? What should be my next step to start making my rooms smart? Thank you I hope you see this and can help me. I can't say it enough I really enjoy your videos and your so creative knowledge funny and you amaze me with what you can do! God bless and much support from me I've subscribed the moment I watched your first video and I can not get enough! I wish the best for you your channel and your beautiful family!

Ready for an update. It took me a LONG time to find what they did with IFTTT and how to operate it in the New Smartthings App. I have no idea why they buried it so deeply under the gear icon of the app, and why one can't set the default of Virtual Switches to ON in IFTTT under the App. This will be hard to remember. Loved your Tutorial though. A few years ago, it kept me from returning my Hub. The "new" Smartthings app is still not as user friendly as it could be, but somewhat better. It is more confusing, like moving IFTTT out of the SmartApps section... just confusing.

Instead of ONLY using a automation in IFFFT to turn on/off the device when the place-holder turns on/off, you can make the place-holder turn on/off when the device turns on/off by the app or somewhere else. This will. Keep the two always the same, even when the device is controlled from somewhere else.

Good job Reid, It's great to use virtual device but i cant find the applet in ifttt?, could you please help me find it? Thanks in advance 😊

Can I run ifttt on another phone or does it need to be installed on the same phone as smartthings

Great Video, lam having trouble connecting SwitchBot thermometer to IFTTT or Alexa without having their Hub. SwitchBot App doesnt publish the thermometer outside the phone app, and lock cloud capability. Not sure if l can pair it using bluetooth using smartthings? Any hejp plz ?

I tried to follow every step and have watch this video 10 times but its still not working. I can see all the devices on the new smart things app. however when i click them on or off the just stay at whatever i already had them, PLEASE HELP

I use Virtual switches for IFTTT to Smart life for controlling Aquariums, Coffee Pots, Toaster, Fans and Humidifiers. Coded through webcore.

If I have an outside plug and an inside plug, must I create 4 applets? (on/off for each device?)

Great video. I am using virtual switches to represent my location (present or not), and my wife's location and then leveraging Stringify to determine if the house is occupied or not before triggering certain flows (turn on/off lights and adjust the thermostat).

The new SmartThings app won't let me create a virtual switch ... or am I missing something?

Somehow on my first try, with only setting the on function, it was doing both (on and off), repeating the process it was just turning on, so I created the off function. Do you and idea why? Thanks a lot!

Does those controlling methods operates only within the house, or you can control the lights for an instance from anywhere as long as you are connected with the internet?

Can we able to control sonoff device which use Ewelink app and also available in ifttt with this vertual device trick?

Is this still the best way to connect lights to smartthings?

To everyone asking if Virtual Switches can be created in the new Smartthings App. There is a Virtual Device Creator in the app now. Click the 3 lines at the top left, then click Smart Apps, then Virtual device creator at the bottom. The Virtual device creator link only shows up when I go to Smart apps by clicking the "3 lines" on the top left on the new Smartthings app main page. It won't appear (not yet at least) when I go into Smart Apps after clicking the "+" located on the top right of the same main page as the "3 lines" in the new Smartthings app.

Can you use these SmartThings sensors and motion sensors with any Wi-Fi light strips? Thanks for your time

Would this work with arming /disarming my home alarm system, I have safebyhub6 that connects to smartthings thru IFTTT. Is there another option to the virtual switch instead of toggle on/off..thanks

Question - Am I correct in saying the virtual switch connected device is still connected directly to the internet router rather than directly to the SmartThings Hub? Trying to figure out the strain I'm putting on connecting directly to wi-fi with all non-compatible devices. It'd sure be great if all devices are compatible with SmartThings. I'd like to keep all smart devices on a separate network to communicate with a hub, like SmartThings Hub. Thanks for any advice!

any idea to connect honeywell evohome app to smartthings

Couldn't someone use the new smartthings button product for a similar result with ifft? I'm asking in an effort to find for possible workarounds in case virtual switches arent available in the new smartthings app.

Do I need a smartthings hub for this?

cool..

Hi. How can you integrate a Zigbee Zemismart switch with Samdung Smarthings? Thanks

Hi. Please, how can I configure a SONOFF CAMERA WIFI ? Thanks

Where are you finding this virtual switch in ifttt? I have it in smsrtthings but don't see that option anywhere in ifttt

Here are some issues with this solution that I discovered trying to do this in my home. I was trying to integrate my Wi-Fi connected home with smartthings. I have 17 ZigBee sensors, but my 42 plugs and switches are all Wi-Fi. IFTTT can be STUNNINGLY slow. My experience is It can introduce sometimes minutes into the action of the device (usually just a few seconds but not predictably). It is functionally useless to do things like turn on a light based on a motion sensor. You may be calling the medics long before the light comes on. For automations that require reasonable speed, I pass the virtual switch to Alexa and execute without IFTTT. Next, if you follow the instructions given, if you are controlling a light switch and you manually switch it (press the switch with your hand), smartthings will not know it has been switched and it will be out of sync. Next, if you use Alexa to turn on/off the switch, smartthings will not know it has been switched and it will be out of sync. This is not true of Alexa routines because you can switch the virtual switch as part of the actions of the routine to keep it in sync. Last, IFTTT does seem to have a way to synchronize the virtual switch, at least for smart life plugs and switches. You can set up 4 rather than 2 applets, 2 for virtual on/off for the device based on the status of the virtual switch; and, 2 for switching the virtual device based on the status of the smart life app. The problem is it does not currently work. If you do this, your light will randomly switch on and off. In short, Samsung’s completely ignoring the existence of Wi-Fi devices makes having a reliable device status almost impossible. Alexa handles this WAY, WAY better. Unfortunately, Alexa cannot handle complex automations so some kind of hub is needed. Perhaps Reed can help us out to know what is the best hub to select if you are integrating a wi-fi smart home?

I’m somewhat new to this but instead of using IFFFT (subscription) could you possibly create the virtual device in the Samsung account management for free?

Idk if it's just me but I cant get this to work at all. It just runs through and I am very much lost

Trying to use this method in an automation where a Wyze contact sensor triggers the virtual switch via IFTTT and then setting up an automation to turn on some Hue lights. When I try to save the automation, I am getting a network error. Any ideas?

Can you please explain the process again using the lateas version of ST and IFTT ? The pad you mention no longer apply. TK

Sonoff uses ewelink and ewelink ifttt support is no longer free. Any suggestion on how to make it work with smartthings?

Can some please tell me how to add a automatic switch off function to a smart life wifi smart plug after a certain time, ( similar to the ewe link app option, but with a non ewe aka sonoff plug) ?? i will really appreciate it, it prevents overchargin a lot of stuff like laptops, phones etc.

Could you do this again but 6 times slower

Its a little hacky but it works

Hello, I have a Samsung 2015 model (un55ju6400). I followed all the steps in the video, however, the on and off switch does nothing when I press it on my phone or when I try using Alexa voice command. (Alexa does recognize it because she says ok to the command but nothing happens. Is this even possible to do with this Samsung tv? Btw this tv is a smart tv that has a built-in hub and is connected to the same wifi network. Please also advise if a "switch" is even needed to do this. The only option i see for tv's is for harmony and requires a Logitech account that doesn't apply to me.

Is this only available in the old classic SmartThings app?

Hey I have a broadlink RM pro (newer version) and I only use it for 1 RF lamp I would like to use it with ST, I've created the virtual switch and added the IFTTT applet but it does not respond any Ideas?

Im probably being slow but did I miss the bit that shows how to connect my none Smartthings Plug (Teckin in this case) to IFTTT ? I think it may have been at 2.16 but he seemed to fly by it. Any help would be good thanks. I have my virtual switch created. i just don't know how I tie that to my actual wifi plug. Thanks all.

Ive been using virtual device creator for a while now and it works well. However this is my first time using virtual device creator for a dimmer switch. The on and off functions work perfectly but the dimmer functions using the smartthings app DOES NOT WORK unfortunately. Does anyone know what i'm doing wrong?

Can this open and close a GoGarage opener?

Does anyone know how to connect magic home pro leds to smartthings?

Reed, I recently found your channel and it gave me the inspiration to make my house smart. However I have a problem setting up virtual switches, or more specifically, what to do once I have them created? I can find all kinds of videos and documentation on how to create the virtual switch within Smartthings, however its the part about how to connect the virtual switch to the actual device that I cannot find an answer to ANYWHERE? I have some Govee WiFi LEDs on my stairs and kitchen that I want to turn on with a smartthings motion sensor. I have the Virtual Switch and Motion sensor set up in Smartthings and I have the LED lights set up within Alexa. Now what? How do I get them to talk? I'm assuming I have to use IFTTT, but I can literally find no documentation on that part. Can you (or anyone else) help me, please?

Slightly off topic.... using IFTTT, I've linked my SmartThings motion sensor to my Kasa light bulb. Motion detected, light comes on. Light stays on forever!!!! How do I get the bulb to turn off (time or lack of motion) and is there a way to have this automation ONLY run between dusk and dawn???? Any help would be appreciated.

Not true about turning off your light after a certain amount of time. If the light is on via a motion sensor, you can create a rule via the Smart Lighting app in Classic SmartThings app. You can add a secondary rule in Smart Lighting app in ST which is native (No Need for custom code) and use the Power Allowance option as a Trigger after an amount of minutes. I have my Power Allowance set for my Christmas Lights for 360 minutes after dusk. I will post a video for this on my RU-vid channel "Leo's Tech & Lifestyle".

Smart things classic isn't even a download option. The instructions on how to use a browser don't work. The things it tells you yo click don't even appear on the page. I have logged into my account.

The smart things classic app doesn't load anything for me. Always says "something went wrong" on every page and only sometimes works. I can't even make a virtual switch. Back to square one...

I'm a little lost here. I created a Virtual Presence Sensor (VPS) in the ST IDE and then created an IFTTT that if the VPS is not present turn on Wyze cam and the opposite to turn off. The Wyze cam is not turning on when VPS is not present or off when present. How to include All Presence sensors not just any?

I used a virtual switch to allow Google Home voice commands for Gentle Wake Up at a certain times. Ex. "Hey Google, turn on my 5:30 a.m. light!", then my light faded on at 5:30 a.m.

How do you know if your device supports IFTTT?

*Why do you need Samsung Smartthings if you know how to make an Applet on IFTTT?*

what's to stop a neighbor from doing this to control their neighbor's devices?

You should go slower. I don't get it and can't get it to work. More explanation needed at a slower pace. Give/make an example. Does the virtual switch have a name? How do you get it on your home screen? Can these switches be controlled by Google Assistant? Lots of unanswered questions in this video.

My Smart Life devices don't show up when i'm creating the applet. I tried logging in again, but no dice. Any idea how to fix? I've googled it, but no one has an answer. Any help would be appreciated.

you dont have that option in the smartlife app this is very different app now

my virtual plug did not work. Cannot connect the device error occurs

Hi. I can't find Virtual Device Creator in SmartThings app. Why?

This still didnt help me because my devices aren’t linkable to ifttt. What i need is the ability to control and automate from smart things the devices i already have control of within google home. This is incredibly frustrating to realize i cant automate my google home devices within smart things

Too bad ITEAD/eWeLink/Sonoff recently switched to a paying plan for integration with IFTTT.

Bat signal! How?? Is that an ikea light?

For anyone failing to be able to add a 'virtual switch' with the new SmartThings app- You can still add a virtual switch via the web browser and SmartThings login: thingsthataresmart.wiki/index.php?title=How_to_Create_a_Virtual_Device Worked perfect for me. Now controlling my Blink Cameras based on everyone in the houses geolocation!

You lost me at jumping into the IFTTT app. You didn't provide much information there.

I have new smartthings hub and the classic app no longer works. Keeps asking for some kind of code. How do i get around that?

'Am I the only one who doesn't have the more options on their app when looking for virtual device creator?? under add a smartapp i have just a few options that are nothing like yours on the android app

How out-of-date is this video? How do I “Go to the SmartThings Classic app”. My SmartThings device was purchased in December 2019 and it requires the “SmartThings” app. I tried using the “SmartThings Classic” app which is still available but it does not work on my newer device

I must be missing a step....(bangs head on desk)

basically the only limit is what has an IFTTT channel.. not your imagination