iOS Shortcuts app

Hi,

In SC I have a relay controller setup for opening and closing my garage door.

I would like to create a shortcut within the iOS Shortcuts app that will open my door and do a few other things. But, right now all I see in the shortcuts app that's related to SC is to Start and Stop rooms. How do I make the relay appear thru SC in the shortcuts app?

The Shortcuts app is not really tied into the whole Siri Shortcuts system. It looks like it's tied into super common things, but actually it was a third-party app Apple acquired not long before they introduced Siri Shortcuts, so there was nowhere near enough time for them to integrate it correctly. Anyway, basically I would call getting things into the Shortcuts app luck-based. You need to get something cached into Siri so that it will be a recommendation. There is no explicit lookup.

Oh, okay thanks.

Any recommendations for how to get something cached?

Would it be by using it a few times?

Yes, using it. But the factors involved in how Siri prioritizes those are a mystery.

Ok well I’ll keep trying then.

Thanks

I have created macros within the Shortcuts app separate from SC. Is there a way to trigger that Shortcut from within SC, either by using a URL scheme or an SC command?

There seems to be a lot of excitement regarding the new Siri shortcuts in iOS 13. How will this impact SimpleControl?

There are a lot of new Shortcuts related features in V6. Still waiting on Apple as usual every September.

I have created multiple shortcuts utilizing Roomie Remote. Wanting to know if there is any update to this thread. My issue is that when i launch a specific Roomie activity through Shortcuts and then tell Shortcuts to open Roomie as the last command via scripting I can’t seem to find a way make it open to the specific activity I just launched. It’s opens Roomie with the last Activity I was using. I want this so that when I say “Start Living Room TV” it automatically pulls up the control pad on my phone.

I’ve got about 100 devices utilizing Roomie so I have certainly spent my time trying to figure this out. Hopefully I’m just looking over some simple command. I can’t find the “shortcut” for “go to x activity” anywhere. But as the above thread states it may not be that easy.

Hope that all makes sense.....thanks in advance.

I use this multiple times a day with an NFC tag on the dining table and it works great for me. If that activity isn't running, most likely you have a setup problem with your Primary Controller.

[screenshot]

I also use NFC tags. That first line is actually very helpful itself bc I couldn’t figure out a way to use a single NFC tag for on AND off of an activity. Didn’t think to make it look directly at the TV power. So simple.

So if you hypothetically had a Bathroom TV (with NFC) and your phone was currently on the Dining room activity...as soon as you hit that Bathroom NFC tag your Roomie remote App will also switch to the Bathroom activity? Because if I do that with mine it will certainly launch the bathroom TV activity but will remain on the dining room activity remote. At that point I have to manually switch to the bathroom activity on Roomie.

Obviously this is not a huge hassle but am trying to maximize the automation as much as possible, if possible.

My primary is an iPad Pro that is always on. If you still believe its a primary controller problem any quick recommendations on what to check.

Thx for your help...and the app.

There is an explicit "Set Room to X" intent in the next release.

Can you someone provide more information on how to go about setting an NFC tag to check the power state of a TV?

I would love some inspiration and ideas so would like to know what your roomie remote system is comprised of. What do you have for rooms and equipment and how are you controlling/automating it all?

I forgot to add something to the 8.6.2 release notes, so noting it here and then I'l add it for 8.6.3, but this is active right now.

The Set Room shortcut now works much better basically. You can do the following and expect it to be as reliable as NFC (which I wish was more reliable). I have found these to be usable enough that my house is now filled with NFC tags.

[screenshot]

Does anyone have any experience with iOS shortcut issues in Roomie?

I have several Siri Shortcuts that control inline activities that work perfectly well and have for years (such as volume up/down).

For the last 4-5 months I have a group of shortcuts that no longer work. As an experiment, I deleted the old versions and created new ones to try and get them working. The shortcuts mentioned above for volume up/down and TV on/off still work. I tested those as well by creating new shortcuts for them, and they still work with the new shortcut.

I have a View HD Toslink 4x4 for sound input of 4 different TV’s. I used to be able to say “hey siri, TV 4” and it would run a shortcut for the TV 4 activity routing sound for TV 4.

I have tried several different solutions from creating new shortcuts, even naming the activity a different name. I don’t know why some shortcuts work and some will not within the same room.

Any thoughts for other things I might try? The Roomie activities I am trying to create a shortcut for all work properly within the room, but it’s like shortcuts can’t control them.

After more experimenting it seems the issue is isolated to iOS shortcuts communicating with the “start activity” in Roomie.

The start activity in Roomie works when I activate it within Roomie. But I can’t get a Siri shortcut to start the activity when programming a iOS shortcut.

Could it be device specific? All other shortcuts using other devices with the “start activity” command work for me.

I am asking a Siri shortcut to simply start a working activity in Roomie, so it is hard to understand why it would have anything to do with the type of device.

If it’s an IR device I could imagine an issue here, but everything else is pretty much treated equally. However I would note every aspect of Shortcuts/Siri support was rewritten and fully updated for Roomie 9. I believe existing Shortcuts should continue to work in most cases but even this kind of thing would be going down completely different code paths. Anyway there will be a beta at some point.

Thank you for the response Will. The HD Toslink 4x4 is an IR device. I use a Global Cache iTach I2IR to bridge the gap between Roomie and the Toslink. I have 4 separate inline activities within Roomie (one for each TV) that change the Toslink input.

All activities work within the Roomie app. My sound bar is setup as an IR device as well through the same iTach, and Shortcuts/Siri work for this device to be activated by voice. The shortcut for soundbar can communicate with the start activity in Roomie so it might just be the Toslink device thing. Shortcuts/Siri worked for the Toslink for several years (stopped working late last fall) as well so it makes sense it might be a coding thing.

Either way, I'll be looking forward to testing the new Beta when it is ready. Hopefully in time for NFL/College FB season.

Thanks again.

Happy to report my Toslink 4x4 IR device is working again with Siri Shortcuts.

Once Roomie upgraded to this new build I created new shortcuts and it immediately worked.