Switchbot Universal Remote

[pergola.fabio]

You guys don’t use the Hub with the HA integration?

[eliz]

I didnt try it yet, but seems like this should do the job:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005772315510.html

It comes with Tasmota but apperantly it can be converted to ESP Home.

I got the idea from this post:

IR receivers in multiple rooms? IR triggers

That sounds complicated Are you running a Pi (with micro SD card + OS) just for the sake of receiving IR commands? Sounds just a tiny little bit over sized/complicated Easiest (no code) solution obviously would be just to use a ESP with IR reciever (pre-made for less than $5 or self build for maybe $2 ) and install esphome on it. And thank’s to the native api it just works Pre-flashed(freed) devices also exist, this one for example …

[eliz]

That doesn’t support “receive-anytime” afaics

You can “send” ir commands with it, but it doesnt seem to “listen” them

[pergola.fabio]

I think the most important is to send commands?

I now use the harmony , I send activities and commands from HA to my hub
Personally, I don’t care about receiving events…
Allthough, I need to know what activity is “active”

[iridris (Steven)]

I picked up one of these remotes just because it looks interesting - and knowing the HA community, someone will find a way to fully utilize it in ways I could never imagine!

Sadly, the Switchbot Hub I have turns out to not be one that supports Matter - so sounds like I might have to buy a new hub to enable that part of the functionality.

[SeraphicRav]

@pergola.fabio

You guys don’t use the Hub with the HA integration?

I am sorry, I am not sure about what you mean. Do you mean the Matter Integration or the SwitchBot Bluetooth one?

I think we are hacking around. We have multiple ways to attack the problem:

• Catch 1 of the 4 buttons pressing events available in Matter (but from my testing, the events are not reliably received…)
• Make the remote send IR signals to something and that something relies the signals as triggers to Home Assistant (thus is what eliz is trying). The advantage of this approach is that we can use more than 4 triggers
• Wait for Switchbot to make the device able to control matter devices
• Solution D

[SeraphicRav]

@iridris

Sadly, the Switchbot Hub I have turns out to not be one that supports Matter - so sounds like I might have to buy a new hub to enable that part of the functionality.

Even with a Matter compatible Switchbot Hub, it does not seem to work reliably…

[johnypony3]

Mine is out for delivery (Sunday), of course it’s fedex so I’ll get it by wed.

I have a harmony and while it controls my media, I was looking to control other aspects of my home.

I guess four buttons will work, not ideal. Anyone know if it works with the Xbox?

[SeraphicRav]

Hum… I don’t jave an XBox but I do not see it in the infrared devices.

Fir Bluetooth support, it is only Fire TV and Apple TV from my memory.

[spaghetti]

Do you guys think the universal remote + hub are suitable for HDMI switches, TVs, amplifiers and smart home devices? Or would you rather spend a lot more money on the Unfolded Circle 3?
Please note: I don’t have any other SwitchBot devices and don’t plan to buy any for the time being. I am only interested in controlling my devices using a remote.

[SeraphicRav]

Currently, the SwitchBot universal remote supports Switchbot products IR products, Fire TV and Apple TV. For other smart home devices, until we find a way with home assistant, there is nothing more we can do than waiting with hope.

[iridris (Steven)]

Has anyone opened up their remote yet to see what is inside?

FCC internal photos won’t be available until August 4th
https://fccid.io/2AKXB-W4600000

[JamieMe]

I really want to know the same.

Is it so difficult to open it?

[Yumanbeing]

I haven’t had any issues with the 4 buttons sending commands to the matter integration in Home Assistant.

What problems are you experiencing?

[Yumanbeing]

Did you go into the Switchbot app and add the matter buttons as devices?

It’s under third party accessories in the app. Once you add them, you can name them whatever you like.

Once that’s done, and they are added to the matter integration in Home Assistant, you should see “detected an event” when each button is pressed. It always says “initial press” for whatever reason, but on my installation it updates the time and detects the button press instantly.

[eliz]

I received Athom IR Receiver today. Installed ESP Home and started listening all the ir events and sent them to Home Assistant.

Now I can use the automations to trigger with the events, therefor now I can do whatever Home Assistant allows me with the IR devices in the Remote.

I added a Light and was able to control my lights with the remote. It works really fast.

alias: Toggle lamp
description: ""
trigger:
  - platform: event
    event_type: esphome.ir_lg_code_received
    event_data:
      data: "16187647"
condition: []
action:
  - service: light.toggle
    target:
      entity_id:
        - light.haa_438119
mode: single

[SeraphicRav]

In the Switchbot Android App, in my Hub 2 settings, in the “Matter setup (Beta)”, in the secondary devices, I added the Universal remote.

If I click on “Set up now”, it sends me to Google Home but nothing special is shown there.

For the Universal remote settings, in third party, there is only the following.

In Home Assistant, I have the button visible.

It seems the button press are recognized but I do not understand the conditions. Is there a special screen to show on the remote so that Home Assistant receives it?

[SeraphicRav]

Oh, that is great!
The link sends to a controller, is it the same device?

[eliz]

Yup. I got that one.

[Lainol]

Can this remote allow to create custom presets?
If yes… can the remote mix different “technologies” in one preset?

For example… creating a “movie” preset:

• volume + - and mute → IR blasting logitech speakers
• center circle (ok, up,down…) → controlling fire tv