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There's Flic, but it seems overpriced. It's a button dammit. Also, I'm tired of adding hubs. At this point, I'd like devices that work with the hubs I already have. While's IKEA's smart home system has been the most annoying to deal with in terms of getting devices paired, a $10 button is the right price.
Great job on this, I'm a little jealous of you releasing something like this cause I was planning to do something similar this weekend with Tasker ;)
I just received some Flics (Bluetooth button), and I will stick one to my handlebar so I don't have to rely on movement detection.
I will also do a task to automatically name my ride in Strava to "Daily commute" or something like that.
To achieve the ultimate commute nerdness, my plan is that when I stop my ride at my building street door, it will open the door via a wifi switch (LazyBone) wired to my intercom and turn on my computer.
There is a mob called Flic who produce physical, bluetooth, buttons which can be used to trigger actions through a paired smartphone, or through an optional home station.
I've experimented with their stuff before, but don't regularly use it. But they might be something to look at.
Or building an ESP-based button which hits an IFTTT webhook when you power it up, and then maybe IFTTT can toggle your smartlights?
Something like the wemo stage, particularly if it gets thread support, or flic button could be used for that.
As others have stated, the watch on it's own won't be a big help. You'll always need the phone.
I would look into something similar to flic buttons. They're a button that you can program different things into and then apply to a single press, double press, and long hold. She could wear one of those as a panic button. If she gets lost or feels unsafe, one press will send you her location, two presses will call you, and a long hold will call police (or a safe alternative).
These will still needs to be paired with the phone, but will allow for her to make the call as to HOW important the event (or her fear) is, while taking away the stress of looking for her phone, finding and clicking contacts, searching for you, etc., etc. all while feeling panicked.
My goal was to make a cheaper IOT button than the flic. The parts add up to about $10 per button, but others have said you can get these batteries for as cheap as $1 (mine were $4 each, including the charger). All in all, I spent way more than $10 prototyping, but it was a fun project and still totally worth it.
Code on github: https://github.com/bendavis78/iot-button
One thing I'd like to improve is the connection time. Even with a static config, it takes anywhere from 1-3 seconds to connect to the access point. I'd appreciate any ideas on how to improve that.
Also, anyone have any ideas for a cool enclosure? The dimensions are 2'' x 1'' x ⅝''.
I do this with SmartThings and the third party SmartRules app. We use our phones as presence sensors, and when both of them have left wi-fi range, it triggers a "state" that turns all music off. SmartRules is great because it's a simple interface for putting together rules (Example: IF both phones leave house, AND it is between 7-9am M-F, THEN turn all Sonos speakers off).
I'm also waiting to take delivery on a set of Flic Wireless Smart Buttons which will either work directly with Sonos, or act as a trigger through SmartThings. The white button should be an unobtrusive way to have a simple ON/OFF button by the front and back doors.
I found this:
https://flic.io/shop/flic-2-single-pack
$30 for one though I think you can use multiple functions depending on the click pattern like one click for on it double click for off.
The problem is it uses bluetooth through a cell phone and if it uses yours then it wont work for her if you are not home.
They have a hub that can be uses instead but that ups the price by another hundred.
If you are computer literate, shouldn't be hard to use a microcontroller, micropython and web hooks on ifttt to do this.
I just got out my box of parts so. I'm gonna give it a go.
Hi, I came across this in the QLab group this morning and thought it light interest you :
https://groups.google.com/g/qlab/c/T33bUDooLy0
This is a small button you can hide somewhere which can send osc messages... I don’t think it’s the best solution for you gunshot problem but it might be a solution.
I have both Philips Hue and Lifx. I have them also linked by home automation via Home Assistant along with Flic buttons.
Guests: Press this button to turn on the lights, press these buttons to dim the lights or change modes.
And with Philips Hue, you have a hub that can work fully offline. So if they deprecate the service, your bulbs will still work with the dimmer buttons etc you've got. But in my 5 years of running Philips Hue things have only gotten better and all my bulbs are still working just as well, if not better than the day I bought them.
Some triggers have been mentioned https://blog.google/products/google-nest/works-with-nest/ but aren't here yet.
Possible options:
- If you have a Google Nest display you can access routines via the shade (possibly more tapping than you had in mind)
- You can use IFTTT buttons on your phone to trigger Google Assistant actions (are you counting a phone as a Wi-Fi remote?)
- You can use the Google Action Blocks app to set up Android Home screen buttons to trigger Google Assistant actions
- Flic buttons can probably be configured. We didn't find gen1 very reliable though so haven't really followed Flic 2.
I’ve used ‘flic’ buttons in the past, and they are now promising HomeKit support coming this year (we all know how that goes tho).. still, it’s a small footprint, and does its job
flic button and IFTTT will work. it's on the small size but they come in bright colors which might help?
smart plug with remote but buttons are still on the small side
smart plug with larger switch - I'm not familiar with this brand but it's cheap enough that it might be worth the risk
The only buttons that I'm aware of that work with LIFX bulbs are Flic buttons and Logi Pop buttons.
https://flic.io/ & https://support.logitech.com/en_us/product/pop-smart-button
Leveraging IFTTT, you could likely get one of these to cycle colors.
I'm not aware of any smart button that will work in a Decora wall-plate.
I purchased direct, although even then the hub was on backorder. Thankfully it shipped ahead of the estimated 4-6 weeks. They’re still available to buy from what I can see:
Setup was an absolute doddle, intuitive iOS app and a quick firmware update.
Have not experimented much so far, currently have one button toggling several bulbs in my living room. LAN protocol is rapid as expected, but HTTPS does lag noticeably (detrimental to the user experience).
On that front I have a cunning plan, or at least an idea of how I think things could work with scenes. Plan to dig into NodeRed this weekend, family responsibilities permitting!!
I’ve been looking into trying to make my own scroll and select functionality similar to the combined scroll/button control Audi uses for their media system. So far, I’ve found a few Bluetooth buttons/dials.
One of the best looking options, O6, is a pricey $99. That gets me closer to the Audi scroll-button control, but I’m not quite comfortable with that price considering they’re reporting a current compatibility issue with Siri.
There are buttons called Flic that are small, low powered sticky buttons that let you map three actions to a number of functions and apps: press, double press and press-and-hold. One button is about $35 and you can get 4 at $99.
There are other cheaper Bluetooth remote style devices that look like keyfobs that have pause/play and clip to steering wheels, but they reproduce a lot of controls I already have on my Niro steering wheel.
I’m curious about Flic and might end up getting one to see how it works, so I’ll follow up if I do. If pause/play is the only real function I can quickly add, I can stick the button somewhere on the side of the steering column so I don’t move my hand too far away from the wheel while driving.
That said, Apple could end up adding an onscreen pause/play button to CarPlay in the future, but they tend to defer to the car manufacturers for those types of media controls. (I don’t know of many cars that actually have physical pause/play buttons on the steering wheel.)
Oh...
RemindME! 3 months “Follow-up on BLE buttons and CarPlay”
Android Auto can be downloaded on any phone now.
And you can trigger hands free without any touch input. You can even get a bluetooth button (https://flic.io/store/) and have ti setup to trigger various actions (google voice, etc). Attach the button to the steering wheel and you have a hands free experience that gets close to native android auto
Doesnt require an "expensive" car (android auto and carplay are on plenty of low/mid end cars!). Android Auto and CarPlay can be added into many cars as well through a new deck. They are fairly expensive, but worth it.
I recently looked into this and wasn't able to find a definitive solution for what I wanted to do, the flic or the logitech pop buttons could be an option which you could make work via IFTTT.
There's also this cool button but I am not sure if it can easily be made to work with SmartThings
Yes, it is expensive for what you get but does look well built. I would only consider it if you thought you may use other zwave devices in the future. The Flic may be an option for you: https://flic.io/
I have a CR-200 as well as two Flic buttons and I'm happy that they work as well with Sonos as they do. I vastly prefer physical buttons over having to rely on my smartphone all the time.
I use a Flic - a handy little bluetooth button - connected to my phone to start/stop netflix/vlc. They have this brilliant tacky surface that means I could stick it right underneath my coffee table and reach it really easily. That remote never goes away, AND on top of that it can connect to several servers, which means if I'm watching on my laptop instead of our media center it'll still work.
It's great for spotify and all sorts of other junk, too.
Sounds like Flic is what you're after - they're programmable bluetooth buttons that run on a battery so can be placed anywhere. You can hook them up to your phone to control Homekit or you can buy the Flic hub for them all to attach to (recommended) which also works if your phone is out of bluetooth range to the button.
They're also doing pre-orders for a dimmer switch version of the button which looks super interesting!
I use a large screen android loaded with Gaiagps and car scanner. I mount it in with QR windshield mount. I point it so it looks directly forward. I use Flic smart buttonto control apps on the device including camera and video. It’s pretty quick and faster then navigating screens.
LIFX bulbs can be controlled locally over wifi. I have a couple Flic.io buttons (https://flic.io/shop/flic2-starter-kit) that manage the bulbs locally.
https://i.imgur.com/KrbpPSC.png
That being said, I think it's way better to go Z-wave for this. Inovelli makes a Z-wave bulb that supports direct associations (https://inovelli.com/rgbw-smart-bulb-z-wave/) so you can directly link a switch to a bulb so that they not only work locally, but will work locally even if the zwave hub (e.g. HA) is down.
Flic is about the only one I know. https://flic.io I buy them on offer and have a few round the house for various "physical" buttons. I have a caravan and use flics for everything! Great, well executed, but a bit pricey...
As far as I'm aware, this doesn't exist as a native trigger for Google Home. Personally, I would buy Flic and an Alexa. Fwiw, I've had no issue with Google home and Alexa coexisting for my home automation.
Flic does plan on adding Google support if Google opens up the option for third party devices to trigger a routine.
Check out https://flic.io/ you can pair the button directly to your phone and as long as you are within Bluetooth range you can make it play a sound (or many other options like a echo routine or whatnot)
As far as connecting directly from phone to phone, I've looked into that in the past and for iPhones/iOS I hadn't found anything that really worked.
A button like this, a service like this, and an app like this could work.
If you were on a Mac I could be more help, but with my stuff like that it’s all about creating a text file with terminal commands that syncs to my Mac and then runs.
Flic buttons can definitely handle this, they're extremely flexible. Paired to a smarphone, tablet, or the Flic hub.
I have five Flics doing various things around the house. One of them sends webrequests to control my Sisyphus table. Very pleased with them!
While not an official Amazon product like the button was, there is a 3rd party item that does exactly what you just requested called Flic. These are also not comically large like the echo button was.
The Flic Hub has an IR accessory that you can buy on their website. You can "teach" that IR accessory to repeat any IR signal when you push a Flic button.
I’d love this too - for some reason smart device companies seem to think we all want to control things with our voice or phone - when a button or set of buttons is far superior in many, many cases.
I think the flic buttons may be suitable for you - bu they are overpriced IMO. https://flic.io
This does not include the luminance sensor. Am assuming you already have that device.
How about the HomeKit wall switch that turns on the kitchen lights?
Using Shortcuts:
Check for appropriate conditions to turn on HomeKit smart plug that Espresso Maker is connected.
Get the luminance value. If value is greater than X then turn off the light.
Set Reminder or whatever else you need done.
​
There is the Flic; https://flic.io/ It is small. It is battery powered. I can be attached to a wall, without altering the wall. It is expensive.
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Every battery powered small button/switch that can be attached to a wall, uses either a hub or is a remote to a wall switch/dimmer.
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Another alternative could be the button on the HomeKit smart plug you use for the espresso maker.
I use Flic buttons. They're a bit expensive but work with a lot of products and services. Here is a blog post on how to get them to trigger Alexa Routines: https://okko.eu/flic-button-to-alexa-routine-1560e3844457
I'm sure there are plenty of others, but I just found these from a quick search: https://flic.io
You could rig them up such that yanking each chain and maybe pulling down a bit presses a different button. They could really do anything at that point, e.g. maybe one plays a really badass song on your phone, one calls 911 and puts them on speakerphone, one remotely sets off some fireworks outside your house or in the trunk of your car, one sends out a mass email to your friends and family to let them know that you've died, and one fires off the taser that's mounted to your belt.
I'd suggest looking at Flic - haven't used it personally but think it will give you what you're after;
"Button for LIFX - Control your lights with a simple push | Flic Smart Button" https://flic.io/applications/lifx
Has anyone given https://flic.io buttons try? Yeah, in some cases its another bridge, but frankly I gave up caring about that a while ago, and I like the click/dbl click/press&hold programing. Thinking about getting them in places i need silence quick access to a scene change or simple one and done event.
I found links in your comment that were not hyperlinked:
I did the honors for you.
^delete ^| ^information ^| ^<3
I have two button solutions I use, but it will depend on how your lights are connected/what home automation you already have setup.
Philips Hue has a $25 button you can use to trigger lights and scenes ... but this would require a Hue Bridge and Hue compatible lights. The Hue dimmer is a little more $$ but is smallish, transportable and gives you 4 triggers.
There is also FLIC. HTTPS://flic.io a button could be paired with a phone, or a central hub, and can integrate with a variety of home lighting solutions: Hue, Lifx, Wemo, IKEA, Lightify...
Trust me, you'll be disappointed in the performance of hue bulbs. After owning both bulbs, LIFX completely dominates Hue in both brightness and color. They're just way more vibrant. The only thing hue has are the accessories (which I happily returned today lol). But also, check out Flic 2. That's what I'm buying to use as a switch.
Facebook just put this 15% Flic Button discount in front of me that drops the price of the hub + three buttons to $136: https://flic.io/flic-super-campaign?utm_source=6213778967009&fbclid=IwAR2DN4dNExKphdg754WDUA_UI_pPRCcBmH7lCDj8CixVI2a1zjiaLF5QM6A
Hopefully the link will work for others interested in this deal.
They can be used with your phone (no hub), but that seems impractical to me. So for most purposes I would highly recommend a Flic Hub.
A starter kit (one hub + three buttons) is a bit pricey at ~$160 USD, but they are really flexible devices. Not only do they support a ton of products like IFTTT, Sonos, and Phillips Hue, they can detect a single click, a double click, and a press-and-hold so you can trigger three different actions with one button. One hub can handle up to 63 buttons -- more than I hope anyone would need!
He got it working with flic.io. It really is a darn shame there is no rudimentary API. Untangle is so close to being perfect!
How he designed it is that he goes to a URL (doesn't even have to be real), Untangle sees the URL and fires off the action to flip the users into the blackhole, or vice versa. Flic is programmed to go to website xyz.com to shut off the web and abc.com to turn it on. The trigger of turning it on stays in effect for 2 hours.
I'd really like to be able to set a timer and grant more time to them. Also have an automation that starts a visual timer next to where the kids are playing so they are always aware of the time.
I went the Flic button route, and then use the Flic hub. Flic buttons use BT so they aren't battery hogs, and the hub basically allows the buttons to communicate via wifi. They run closer to $30/each tho..
You can use any button that works with IFTTT or HomeAssistant.
I used the Logitech Pop Button in the past. There's also the Flic Smart Button.
I've been looking for this. There was an old app/web service that google bought I used for this very purpose. Thank you so much!
A killer feature would be integration with IFTT or some sort of IOT tech like Flic Buttons. If I could use a physical button to up the count or start and stop the times. I would place a button or two near my bed to mark start and stop times for reading etc.. etc...
You could look at Flic 2. I’ve got a bunch of the buttons all around and (of course) the IR blaster. HK is supposed to be coming, but it does support IFTTT to get it into a scene now. I use them for lights, my Bose 2:1 speakers, and my TV. I just use the buttons or the app, but hopefully HK will come in the near future. (They day it will)
That is gen 1. Gen 2 have more of a straight edge not rounded and have an etched line around edge not smooth.
See photo of gen 2 here. https://flic.io/shop/flic2-starter-kit
Gen 2 are also only white so your photo was white but if you see colored ones they are gen 1.
Can’t help with where to get in Australia but perhaps directly from flic.
Hello dear readers, I have the same question. I'm no stranger to scripting. But this is the very first time I would start using IFTTT (and Google Assistant). Like the OP I want, in a caretaker situation, that something happens when an action is NOT performed! My situation: When my wife does not hit the button of her alarm clock, I want to get a notification on my phone. The solution I thought might work: 1- Set an alarm on Google HUB 2- When the alarm goes, my wife has to hit a wifi-smart-switch (for example the Flic button: https://flic.io/). This button will, through IFTTT disable her alarm. 3- When she does NOT hit the button for two minutes, I need to get a notification on my phone.
Has anyone any pointers for us please?
The smart lock was just an example that you can trigger whatever else you have linked up with your smarthome system.
The smartthings button uses zigbee, so if you have one of the Echo Plus or one of the Echo Shows with zigbee built in, then probably yes. (I actually don't know for 100% sure. Maybe there is some limitation that even though Echo Plus has zigbee, it still doesn't natively recognize buttons as a thing.).
The Flic uses bluetooth, so that's why you NEED a Flic Hub, or your phone to be present. (see link halfway down "do i need a hub").
Also, the smartthings button is way cheaper than the Flic ($15 vs $35). But if you don't have the right Echo, then yes, you'd need a zigbee hub (like the smartthings hub). But on the other hand, the Flic also needs a hub - unless you are OK with the limitation that it will only work if your phone is present (and bluetooth/wifi on), so if your family/friends want to click the button when you are out... no joy.
To each their own on the limitations/drawbacks of each option.
Check into something like the Flic. It's a push-button you can adhere most places, and it will act as you want. It can even do more, if you pair it with a routine, such as to turn on your (smart) porch light, and/or make dog barking sounds through the Alexa, if you're concerned with security.
check out https://flic.io/ flic smart button switch with 3 options in one switch (push, Double Push, Hold). suggests use with a hub but I believe will work through phone bluetooth connection.
I moved into a house that had hue bulbs in every room. After a while, I set up home kit, and added my 3 lifx bulbs to it. I used HomeKit, and Flic buttons to control 6 hues and the 3 lifx in my room. There was a slight delay between the two, but it usually worked fine. Using Siri to control the lights around the house and in my room was great.
The native hue app will not let you control the lifx, and the native lifx app will not let you control hue. There are some 3rd party apps, like Lightbow that will let you control both without HomeKit or a Flic button.
I like the flics (https://flic.io/). Granted they are BT not wifi, but you get single, double, and hold events with the service running (https://www.home-assistant.io/components/binary_sensor.flic/)
Placement of the flic hub/rpi is kind of important because it uses BLE to notify. I do want a wifi solution for where the buttons are just too far from the hub.
Not exactly cheap, but I’ve bought a few of these to control my DIY smart blinds and they work really well. They support a ton of devices and platforms out of the box and I was able to hack them and add them to my HomeBridge server to act as HomeKit buttons.
Hello aussie_bob,
the serval project is about providing an alternative telecommunication mesh.
​
The OSO Project is about getting help from the people you want as easy and fast as possible.
It´s important that you can choose the kind of device by yourself because especially kids and older people often don´t want to wear a technically looking device. The device could be, for example a doll.
​
Currently we are supporting these 3 Devices:
- Android Smartphone plus or without the Flic Button
- Reachfar-Tracker
- NanoTracker
​
I hope I have answered your question.
Does it have to be Bluetooth? Would an NFC tag be a sufficient solution, or are you looking to not take your phone out of your pocket? If you're using mobile hotspot, you're probably plugging the phone in...would be trivial to add nfc tag to the charge location in your car
if not, the first thing to come to mind is something like this smart button, or maybe a bare bluetooth board that only serves as a connection point hard-wired in to your cig socket.
This is a fun one though, what would your ideal scenario look like?
It seems that your comment contains 1 or more links that are hard to tap for mobile users. I will extend those so they're easier for our sausage fingers to click!
Here is link number 1 - Previous text "hub"
^Please ^PM ^/u/eganwall ^with ^issues ^or ^feedback! ^| ^Delete
Thanks again, just got it working for play and pause. I really love this.
A list of other available http commands would be great. Or at the very least, whatever command is needed to "set brightness" (to 0, 0.5, and 1.0.) I'm poking around and experimenting and not having much luck. :(
This is a wonderful add-on and something I've been thinking about for awhile. My suggestion was Alexa/Google/Siri commands but in reality, Flic works very well too. And now, I might need their hub. :)
+1 for the Hue Dimmer. Good WAF, and tie in with Hue really easily.
Otherwise I've just gotten a batch of Flic Buttons and a Hub, they're a lot smaller and tie in with Hue easily too - but need the hub or it has to go via your phone.
I found exactly what I was looking for here. The only problem is they are more expensive and less functional than a Hue dimmer switch, which I could just keep by my bedside without the frame.
I'd use a Strava premium account for their live beacon feature, and possibly a Flic (that you can automate with Tasker) to start the activity and for the alert button.
Would a Fibaro Binary Sensor do the trick? Small enough to fit behind a normal faceplate, but needs low voltage DC power (9 to 30V DC), so might it might be tricky getting power to it.
http://manuals.fibaro.com/content/manuals/en/FGBS-321/FGBS-321-EN-A-v1.01.pdf
Flic make great little stick-on battery powered bluetooth buttons, but you'd need a controller with bluetooth.
Don't know what was mentioned in the thread last year, but my dash button is working quite nicely and pretty much acts as a "blank one".
I know of flic.io which is more expensive and uses bluetooth instead of wifi. Also you are always able to build your own wifi button using a dirt cheap ESP8266 microcontroller.
I feel the same way, it is a hassle to always pick up the phone and open an app to do some basic stuff. I have a bluetooth button that is connected to my phone which in turn will toggle my philips hue lights. It works very well but the drawback is that it can only be connected to my phone.
My BLE button https://flic.io/ It has support for IFTTT, LIFX lights, Harmony Hub and more
I've got 3 Flic buttons mounted above my existing wall switches which works with LIFX out of the box. The buttons are nice and they're working reliably, but they're toggling power slower than I'd like.
It takes about 1-4 seconds to toggle power after pushing off the button. Mine are paired with an iOS device and I'm told it's better when paired with an Android device. I'm hoping with future software updates they'll be able to make the integration faster.
Correct. If you want a physical button that you can press to turn the light off, check out the Flic. Its a bluetooth button that will communicate through your phone and it supports turning LIFX off.
Another way is to find a service (IFTTT, Stringify, etc) to automate shutting it off. Maybe have it shut off after X minutes... or have it shut off when you leave your house... or after no motion is detected with a smartthings motion sensor for 5 minutes... stuff like that.
If you have an iPad/Android device laying around at all times, you could use something like the Flic button, which has LIFX support.
I finally received mine, and while there are some major compatibility issues with Marshmallow, it would allow you add a physical switch.
You could check out flic. https://flic.io/
Their original shipping date got pushed back to November so it's still in preorder state. They have an IFTTT channel and SmartThings does as well so you would be able to use the button to trigger actions that way.
I don't see how MYNT is comparable to the DASH buttons. I guess MYNT uses a bluetooth connection so it always has to be connected to a phone - this is where I see the biggest difference. The DASH buttons use Wi-Fi, so I can place them anywhere I have a Wi-Fi connection.
What really is a comparison to the Dash button is this: https://flic.io/
We're making Flic: The wireless Smart button. (https://flic.io) Highway1 was amazing actually. We're Swedish so much added value was because it was in San Fransisco. They helped us with everything from pulling off the perfect pitch to making the product and brand ready for launch. We got a huge and valuable network from our experience as well. I can really recommend to apply!