Automations turning on lights when they shouldn’t.

[itchyfeet]

I have a couple of automations set to change the colour an brightness of lights in the house but not turn them on, so that if I do turn the lights on at that time they are the brightness and colour I like for the time of day (ie daylight colour during day light hours and warm white colour in the evenings).

The problem I am having at the moment is that google is turning the lights on - despite having no instruction to do so.

Any ideas how I can fix this?

[SmartHomeH-TAGS]

It depends on the brand whether they'll turn on or not.

Tuya/Smart Life won't turn on if you change its brightness, but my LIFX bulb will.

I don't know if there's a workaround solution, but I'll look into it.

[itchyfeet]

Thanks.they are Mirabella Genio lights. They’ve only stated turning on in the last couple of weeks, they’ve worked for years, without turning on. 

[SmartHomeH-TAGS]

Might be a temporary bug.

Have you tried Reconnecting the manufacturer's app to the Google Home app?

[itchyfeet]

Yes, I’ve tried rebooting my wifi router, I’ve unlinked the Genio app and relinked. I’ve tried deleting the automation and redoing it The issue has continued. 
i guess I could try completely resetting all the lights and relinking them. 

[sicsacol]

Hi @itchyfeet,

Thanks for reaching out to the community. I'm sorry to hear the automation you have set to adjust the color and brightness of your smart lights in your home is turning them on when it shouldn't. It sounds like the Google Home app is not executing the automation as set. I understand how concerning this must be, because if you turn on the smart lights manually at the time the automation runs, you can achieve the desired color and brightness. I appreciate the detailed information you've shared and the troubleshooting efforts you've made so far. No worries, let's work together to get this resolved. To help with that, I have some questions for you:

• Are you running the latest version of the Google Home app?
• Did you try reaching out to the manufacturer of your smart lights to see if there's an issue on their end?
• Are your smart lights part of multiple routines?

@SmartHomeH-TAGS, thank you for your help!

Any additional details you can provide will be helpful.

Cheers,
Jonathan

[itchyfeet]

HI Jonathan

Can confirm I am running the latest version of the Google Home app.

I haven't reached out to the manufacturer, as i don't believe it to be a manufacturer issue for several reasons: 

• the automations i originally set up have been working for years without issue
• its happening to all my lights in my house
• a work around i currently have set up is to use the custom command function to type in what I want the lights to do.  This means they are changing brightness but not actually turning on unless i specifically request them to be turned on. While not the best solutions, this appears to be working for now. 

The lights are part of several automations in my house.  I have two that are set to change the brightness (but not turn the lights on) - one in the morning and a couple in the evening, this issue was affecting all automations. Again leading me to believe this is a Google Home issue, not a manufacturer issue. 

Cheers

Erin

[swamp]

I have the same problem. The lights turn on with the change of brightness. They didn't do that previously. There is no command to turn them on.

[SmartHomeH-TAGS]

@swamp 

Do you have Gemini?

I don't have Gemini on my Google Home speakers or on my phone and if I change a light's brightness it doesn't turn on.

But "Ask Home" (Gemini) in the Google Home app now controls my smart home and when I change the brightness of a light; it turns on.

[swamp]

When using home automations it turns the light on when it used to just change the brightness. If I ask my phone or a google speaker it just changes the brightness. I'm not sure about Gemini. It hasn't rolled out in Australia yet I don't think.

[SmartHomeH-TAGS]

@swamp  I live in Australia too.

Yes, Google Home automations shouldn't be Gemini in Australia yet.

But it depends on the brand of bulb you're using. My TP-LINK Kasa and LIFX bulbs will turn on with a change in brightness, but my Smart Life (Tuya) bulbs won't.

[swamp]

These are grid-connect bulbs

[swamp]

If I write it as a custom command "set kitchen lights to 50%" it works and doesn't turn them on. If I use the device and set it to 50 even without using the command to turn them on, it turns them on anyway now.

[SmartHomeH-TAGS]

There's going to be a lot of changes happening over the next few months as Gemini rolls out around the world. We just have to be mindful of that and edit automations accordingly.

Do you have the Early Access Google Home app?

[swamp]

No, I didn't know there was one.

[SmartHomeH-TAGS]

You need to sign up to it, but there's no going back after you have. Although you can still use the old Personal and Household Automations in Assistant Settings.

On the Settings page in Google Home look for Early Access. You probably won't get it straight away. I didn't.

 

[swamp]

Ok, I've clicked on it. Now to see what new and interesting ways Google breaks things.

[SmartHomeH-TAGS]

But don't forget you can still use the old routines. They will work just as they have done before.

There will be advantages like Conditions and you can search for devices and automations to select and edit.

I love this search feature...

 

[swamp]

It gets frustrating when you ask it to do something and it does something random. You like a clown in front of guests.

[SmartHomeH-TAGS]

Keeping your commands as short and simple as possible is best.

I use the same one word commands that turn devices ON and OFF...

https://youtube.com/shorts/5z69ruHrU3I?feature=share